Red broiler care

[Iguanahunter]

Hi, I just received 15 red broilers from Ideal, any tips for care in order to keep them healthy? I plan on keeping tge females and some roos to further breed them, and I would like them to mature at a healthy pace. Thanks!

 

[RUNuts]

Select a good flock grower feed at 18 to 20% protein. Stay away from the high protein meat bird specialty feeds. Treat them like chickens and you will be fine. Proper care and space.
Have fun!

 

[Chickenheadmate]

Select a good flock grower feed at 18 to 20% protein. Stay away from the high protein meat bird specialty feeds. Treat them like chickens and you will be fine. Proper care and space.
Have fun!

What would happen if they were fed game bird feed?

 

[Iguanahunter]

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

What would happen if they were fed game bird feed?

The higher the protein in the feed the feed the bigger and faster they grow. If you are raising them for meat that's what you want. If you are raising chickens that are bred to grow big and fast for eggs instead, that can be counter productive. Rangers are not Cornish X but they can still get big enough to have health problems or maybe even get too big to breed successfully. The higher the protein level in the feed the more you are pushing that envelope.

I have never raised Rangers, either for meat or breeding, but if I were raising them for a breeding program I'd start them off at an 18% protein feed the first few weeks. Once the were feathered out, about four weeks, I'd switch to a 16% protein feed. They won't grow as big or as fast as if they were on a higher protein diet but they will be as healthy if not more so as they age. The genetics potential for growth will still be there in future generations. Bigger does not necessarily mean healthier.

 

[Iguanahunter]

Makes sense, right now my flock is eating 20%, I'll have to lower that then.

 

[RUNuts]

@Ridgerunner - well stated. Why 16%? Is this for nonlayers? Or supplement for free range?

@Iguanahunter - an acquaintance is using a 20% organic for his layers. Both our flocks appear healthy.

By game or meat bird feed, I was thinking 24%+. Some use that to feed their CX meaties which leads to excessive growth leading to health issues if feed is not restricted. I had CX success on the same 18% flock grower that the layers are on.

I have mine on 18% and seem to be doing well and not getting fat. These are layers & pullets so I am encouraging large eggs. I'll go do a little research. Thanks for the information.

 

[Iguanahunter]

Forgot to show my 3 year old red broiler hen, she's a beast at 7 pounds and shaped like a football!

 

[Ridgerunner]

@Ridgerunner - well stated. Why 16%? Is this for nonlayers? Or supplement for free range?

You can get all kind of opinions on what percent protein to feed chickens. There are a lot of different reasons people keep chickens. I think their goals should factor in to how the chickens are fed. If you are raising them for show, you not only need to feed them a diet that gets them big (each breed has a target size and that size is generally fairly big compared to mostly other chickens of that breed) but also a diet that helps keep their feathers soft and shiny. If you are raising them for meat they tend to gain weight more quickly on a high protein diet. If your chickens are for eye candy supplementing their diet with a few Black Oil Sunflower Seeds is probably a good idea, the oil in the sunflower seeds helps keep the feathers looking really nice.

Where I am, the standard Layer is 16%. That is for laying hens if that is all they eat, not meant as a supplement. That's what the commercial layers eat. Most hens will lay quite well on a 16% protein diet. If you provide them with treats, either low protein or high protein, then you can change that. It's not how much protein is in one bite, it is how many grams of protein do they eat all day from all their foods. Even that is not correct, it's more of an average over a few days.

I do think chickens' bodies adjust to their normal diet. If they are used to eating a high protein diet it might be a good idea to feed them a bit more protein than otherwise. If yours free range or forage for a lot of their food you've surrendered control of how much protein they will eat anyway. Lots of moving parts to this.

Why I suggest a 16% protein regimen for those Rangers intended to be kept as a breeding flock is to not grow them tremendously large. Don't get them so big they will injure a leg hopping down from a roost or even just a low perch during the day. Try to reduce the chances they will have breeding problems or health problems because of size.

The more protein they eat the larger the eggs will be. The hens should lay hatchable eggs on a 16% protein diet. They do not have to be huge to hatch.

For the vast majority of our laying flocks I don't think it matters if they eat a 16% or 20% protein feed, either as a standalone diet or with treats as long as the treats don't constitute a large part of the diet. If the chickens can forage for a lot they'll manage that without me trying to micromanage them. But this is a specialty case, trying to get breeders out of chickens meant to convert feed into meat quickly. I think a lower percent protein will be beneficial.

 

[Iguanahunter]

Update! Two weeks in, I've got two runts. All are alive and eating like pigs, so I suspect they are like that because of genetics. I have them separated while they grow from the others.