Ranger issues?

[LaurenRitz]

Far left is a Buckeye. Middle is a larger Ranger pullet, far right is the Ranger cockerel.

 

[Wildgrass]

Thank you for sharing this! I'm doing my first ever meat birds this year and was feeling great about having Rangers, up until about 2 weeks ago when I started seeing mobility issues in the bigger roosters. Their slaughter date is tomorrow, but if it wasn't, I would have a lot of birds I needed to cull for humane reasons right now. I hadn't known this was an issue with the breed, or with feeding high-protein feed.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I harvested the Ranger cockerel tonight. Live weight, 5.75 lbs. Finished weight 4.5 pounds at 11 weeks.

I discovered that on top of his mobility problems he was having difficulty breathing. The carcass doesn't have a lot of fat on it, surprisingly. He looked massive, but apparently it was mostly feathers. The organs looked normal.

The feathers came off easily, but left behind a large amount of very visible pin feathers.

 

[Ridgerunner]

At 11 weeks he was probably undergoing a juvenile molt. They outgrow their feathers and have to replace them. The exact age for that can vary but that is why you see pin feathers.

Cockerels and roosters tend to not have a lot of fat on them. Pullets and hens do. That's a sexual thing as the girls use that excess fat to live off of when they go broody. If you want to make schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) you need to butcher a hen.

 

[LaurenRitz]

At 11 weeks he was probably undergoing a juvenile molt. They outgrow their feathers and have to replace them. The exact age for that can vary but that is why you see pin feathers.

Cockerels and roosters tend to not have a lot of fat on them. Pullets and hens do. That's a sexual thing as the girls use that excess fat to live off of when they go broody. If you want to make schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) you need to butcher a hen.

Process for making schmaltz? Is it just like rendering other fats?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes. You can always do an internet search for recipes but it is essentially what we did when rendering pork fat to make lard.

 

[Morrigan]

Process for making schmaltz? Is it just like rendering other fats?

On the second page of the link I talk about how I made schmaltz. I've done it several times now. Super easy, as well as delicious. It's my go-to fat for sautéing and roasting vegetables.

Talk to me about chicken fat