Ranger breeding project

[nicalandia]

I get the feeling if I take any decent type of Dual Purpose bird and feed them Milk Soaked Grains for the last couple weeks of their lives they probably will be comparable to Bresse. I won't know until I do a side by side comparison though.

I have the same feeling.

 

[speedy2020]

I am told its the texture of the meat, Half of which comes from what they are fed more than genetics. If Had access to affordable Bresse I would get them to see what they fuss is but I get the feeling if I take any decent type of Dual Purpose bird and feed them Milk Soaked Grains for the last couple weeks of their lives they probably will be comparable to Bresse. I won't know until I do a side by side comparison though.

The White American Bresse taste much better than other dual purpose breed. My favorite breed would be White American Bresse and Dorking. I don't give them any special feed or milk. If you able to get the breed, give it a try. If you have any questions, checkout the Bresse Thread.

 

[nicalandia]

The White American Bresse taste much better than other dual purpose breed. My favorite breed would be White American Bresse and Dorking. I don't give them any special feed or milk. If you able to get the breed, give it a try. If you have any questions, checkout the Bresse Thread.

I've been searching for a quantitative research on the matter(Warner-Bratzler shear force test) as opposed to subjective tests, but I can't seem to find one. Perhaps the Europeans have done this and it's a matter of more research from my end.

 

[Morrigan]

I think there probably are subtle differences in taste amongst different breeds. At least, in the totally subjective opinions of my husband and myself, dorkings were the best tasting chicken we've had thus far (vs. home-raised CX, red broilers, naked necks, and various barnyard mutts). The slow white broilers I got from Privett, probably came in second.

I recall a study that has been posted in these meat forums, that sussex were the best tasting in a side-by-side test with several other heritage breeds. That got me thinking about about raising sussex for meat, as I already have some as egg layers, but I enjoy their personalties so much, I feared too much angst at butcher time.

I would love to try a Bresse raised in a more normal homesteading fashion.

 

[speedy2020]

I think there probably are subtle differences in taste amongst different breeds. At least, in the totally subjective opinions of my husband and myself, dorkings were the best tasting chicken we've had thus far (vs. home-raised CX, red broilers, naked necks, and various barnyard mutts). The slow white broilers I got from Privett, probably came in second.

I recall a study that has been posted in these meat forums, that sussex were the best tasting in a side-by-side test with several other heritage breeds. That got me thinking about about raising sussex for meat, as I already have some as egg layers, but I enjoy their personalties so much, I feared too much angst at butcher time.

I would love to try a Bresse raised in a more normal homesteading fashion.

If you like Dorking taste, you would love White American Bresse. It is very similar in taste. I used to raise Dorking, but hard to find new bloodline. They are growth pretty slow and not a lot of meat at 6 months. I also don't recommend beer making barley feed in the last 2 weeks. It ruin the meat.
I will be working on new Ixworth x Bresse meat project soon. Hopefully, I can get few characteristics on the cross (tasty, calm, less flighty, little quieter than Bresse, cold hardy, and pea comb).

 

[Chickenheadmate]

If you like Dorking taste, you would love White American Bresse. It is very similar in taste. I used to raise Dorking, but hard to find new bloodline. They are growth pretty slow and not a lot of meat at 6 months. I also don't recommend beer making barley feed in the last 2 weeks. It ruin the meat.
I will be working on new Ixworth x Bresse meat project soon. Hopefully, I can get few characteristics on the cross (tasty, calm, less flighty, little quieter than Bresse, cold hardy, and pea comb).

How would you describe the taste? Gamey

 

[speedy2020]

How would you describe the taste? Gamey

Little gamey and sweet.

 

[zebradreams07]

Oof, I got busy and this thread went crazy! I'll try to catch up on everything later, but here's my plan at this point:

I just got my third group of ranger chicks - I have some from two different hatcheries, so far they seem the same. Out of the older ones I have nine pullets and one keeper cockerel. A couple of the pullets aren't as nice, so I'll probably cull those once I decide which to keep from the current batch. I got 25 this time, so I should have plenty to choose from! Hopefully another nice cockerel too. The other I was going to keep committed suicide the other day Aside from that they've been really healthy though. The oldest are about 12 weeks, and as big as my standard layers. I just moved them into a separate coop; since they're supposed to start laying young, I'm hoping to get a small hatch in the fall to at least make sure it's going to be worth it to feed them through the winter, and I want to make sure they're only bred to the Ranger roos and not my Jersey Giant.

As far as outside breeds, I've decided the only thing I'm going to introduce is Buff Orpington. They're nice heavy birds with good mothering abilities, plus they'll still pluck out clean. I'd like to move the project birds to a different color in the long run, so they can be distinguished from the hatchery rangers. and I've always loved buffs. I'm trying to select lighter reds to keep which are already pretty close to a dark buff - especially when they're young. Buff is a different gene though, so once I bring that in they won't revert back to red. I have two buff hens in the new pen - one of whom raised my first batch of rangers - and two red hens that I think are half buffs, and look just like the rangers. One of those is a proven broody, and the other had a full sister that was (lost that one of course.) I'm going to attempt to track which hatching eggs are from which hens via food dye on the cloacas, which has worked for me on my layers, so hopefully I can tell which are making better chicks and cull the ones who aren't. Although if I have multiple roosters I won't know which ones they throw - unless I set up another breeding pen, but I can't keep adding more while still giving them room to forage, so I think I'll just swap out roosters whenever I get one that looks better. Hopefully a nice buff rooster in the first or second generation so I can bring the color in early, rather than down the line when I've refined it more.
So far I've been able to raise all 3 groups under broodies - with two co-mothering the newest 25 I'll put as many as I can under hens, whether or not they're actually part of the breeding project, but I know in order to have enough to choose the best to retain and still have genetic viability I'll need to incubate some larger groups. I'm hoping to arrange a partnership with someone who wants to raise meat birds for them to grow them out and keep the culls for butcher in exchange for me choosing the best breeding stock to take back.

tl;dr my goals are:
Large, fast growing birds that still have longevity as breeding stock, as well as hardiness and good foraging ability; strong inclination towards broodiness - hopefully a couple clutches a year per hen. Plus buff coloring, eventually culling out all the reds. I'm toying with names based on that - does "Olympic Golds" sound too much like a proprietary hybrid?

MTA: my birds will NOT be proprietary, trademarked, etc. I want to create true-breeding birds that people can raise themselves. However, I will not be selling them as such until they're well established and consistent; just as ranger crosses for meat.

 

[speedy2020]

Oof, I got busy and this thread went crazy! I'll try to catch up on everything later, but here's my plan at this point:

I just got my third group of ranger chicks - I have some from two different hatcheries, so far they seem the same. Out of the older ones I have nine pullets and one keeper cockerel. A couple of the pullets aren't as nice, so I'll probably cull those once I decide which to keep from the current batch. I got 25 this time, so I should have plenty to choose from! Hopefully another nice cockerel too. The other I was going to keep committed suicide the other day Aside from that they've been really healthy though. The oldest are about 12 weeks, and as big as my standard layers. I just moved them into a separate coop; since they're supposed to start laying young, I'm hoping to get a small hatch in the fall to at least make sure it's going to be worth it to feed them through the winter, and I want to make sure they're only bred to the Ranger roos and not my Jersey Giant.

As far as outside breeds, I've decided the only thing I'm going to introduce is Buff Orpington. They're nice heavy birds with good mothering abilities, plus they'll still pluck out clean. I'd like to move the project birds to a different color in the long run, so they can be distinguished from the hatchery rangers. and I've always loved buffs. I'm trying to select lighter reds to keep which are already pretty close to a dark buff - especially when they're young. Buff is a different gene though, so once I bring that in they won't revert back to red. I have two buff hens in the new pen - one of whom raised my first batch of rangers - and two red hens that I think are half buffs, and look just like the rangers. One of those is a proven broody, and the other had a full sister that was (lost that one of course.) I'm going to attempt to track which hatching eggs are from which hens via food dye on the cloacas, which has worked for me on my layers, so hopefully I can tell which are making better chicks and cull the ones who aren't. Although if I have multiple roosters I won't know which ones they throw - unless I set up another breeding pen, but I can't keep adding more while still giving them room to forage, so I think I'll just swap out roosters whenever I get one that looks better. Hopefully a nice buff rooster in the first or second generation so I can bring the color in early, rather than down the line when I've refined it more.
So far I've been able to raise all 3 groups under broodies - with two co-mothering the newest 25 I'll put as many as I can under hens, whether or not they're actually part of the breeding project, but I know in order to have enough to choose the best to retain and still have genetic viability I'll need to incubate some larger groups. I'm hoping to arrange a partnership with someone who wants to raise meat birds for them to grow them out and keep the culls for butcher in exchange for me choosing the best breeding stock to take back.

tl;dr my goals are:
Large, fast growing birds that still have longevity as breeding stock, as well as hardiness and good foraging ability; strong inclination towards broodiness - hopefully a couple clutches a year per hen. Plus buff coloring, eventually culling out all the reds. I'm toying with names based on that - does "Olympic Golds" sound too much like a proprietary hybrid?

MTA: my birds will NOT be proprietary, trademarked, etc. I want to create true-breeding birds that people can raise themselves. However, I will not be selling them as such until they're well established and consistent; just as ranger crosses for meat.

You may want to keep more than 1 rooster. I have rooster before and died sudden at 4 months old. It is nice to have a backup.

 

[zebradreams07]

You may want to keep more than 1 rooster. I have rooster before and died sudden at 4 months old. It is nice to have a backup.

Yes, I'm planning to have two. Right now I have one picked out from my "red" ranger batch, and I'm planning to keep another from this larger group of "freedom" once they're big enough to tell sex and quality. Hopefully they'll get along - I usually have a one rooster policy, but I want to have more genetic variety as well as insurance in case I lose one. Maybe three if I like some of these younger ones well enough. Or I could keep an F1 if I do get a hatch in this fall. Either way, I need to make sure I have at least one surviving rooster in the spring so I can get going right away. I'd have to wait months if I needed a hatchery replacement.

I did read something about rangers laying through the winter. I don't love the idea of dealing with chicks in the cold, and I won't have any broodies, but I'd be able to make progress and have more F1s ready by spring, instead of just feeding the foundation stock all winter without getting anything out of it. Right now my egg sales are paying for the project, and I'm sure the layers will slack off even under lights.