Red Broilers...not impressed.

[Buster52]

Nice to know, but what is the difference supposedly between a red broiler and freedom ranger?

Nothing. It's the same bird with a different label.

 

[FarmGirl01]

I raised a mess of Red Broilers a few years ago. They are slower growing than the Cornish X and are better at foraging for food. I didn't have any leg or health issues. But I wouldn't raise them again. Not enough meat and to long to grow out.

 

[crenees]

We got them from Ideal. Got some bantams at the same time and they are perfect. Yea, could just be this batch of ones? This is our first time with this breed too.

I just rec'd my second round of red broilers from Ideal and have never had any issues...we did have one with spraddled legs but found the following website, followed the instructions and now he's doing just fine, running around with the best of them (although I did keep him separate from the others for a little over a day to make sure he didnt get too trampled)...had them for a little over a week now and they are all healthy, happy and eating voraciously (I give them all yogurt mixed with corn crumbles for the first few days to make sure their immune systems get a boost...I also put a tbsp of apple cider vinegar in every gallon of water)...they've almost doubled in size already...

http://poultryhelp.com/spraddle.html

Just got done butchering my first chicken from my first batch of meaties and ended up with a 4lb carcass (picture below)...although I did let them grow for around 13 weeks (I'm not in a rush and wanted chickens that would forage around the yard instead of sit next to the feeder and poop all day lol)...and as a side note, I never lost any of the chicks in the first round until we put them outside and a raccoon got to them through the fence one night (the coop was too dark and they'd taken to sleeping outside next to the fence)...I would call Ideal and let them know the issue since I've never really heard anything but good things about their chicks except for people disappointed with the growth rate of the broilers (that's just their nature though to not grow as fast as the Cornish X who are specifically modified for an unnatural growth rate)...send them photos, etc. and see what they have to say...

 

[Supermommy486]

Thanks! We've done the vitamins and acv. And we definitely tried the splints that site had, but it still didn't work. Unfortunately he drowned though so I don't know if he would have made it to processing. Other than the sudden deaths of two, other issue are blue legs (like a circulation problem maybe?) so who knows what caused it. We have debated trying them again since we have never had issues with any of our other chicks we have got from them.
Ours are only 7 weeks old so we shall see what they dress out at.
I'd hate to call them this late in the game though. But I do wonder if others have called and complained about this batch.

 

[crenees]

Thanks! We've done the vitamins and acv. And we definitely tried the splints that site had, but it still didn't work. Unfortunately he drowned though so I don't know if he would have made it to processing. Other than the sudden deaths of two, other issue are blue legs (like a circulation problem maybe?) so who knows what caused it. We have debated trying them again since we have never had issues with any of our other chicks we have got from them.
Ours are only 7 weeks old so we shall see what they dress out at.
I'd hate to call them this late in the game though. But I do wonder if others have called and complained about this batch.

Poor little thang Guess he just wasnt meant to make it...I think the fix only works if it's done within the first few days so maybe with the travel time, etc. he'd already passed that threshold (I did have to keep on changing the one's band-aid as he kept stepping into the water bowl and ruining the adhesive...little bugger)...I know my Australorps had "bluish" legs just due to their natural coloring but circulation def seems like an option with Red Broilers who generally have yellow feet (now that I think about it I did have one oddball in the last batch that had really pale legs that seemed to be almost see-through but he never seemed to be the worse for it)...

I dont think Ideal would mind hearing from you...even after 7 wks...who knows you might even get some type of credit to your account given and I'm sure they'd appreciate knowing if a certain batch was "defective"...

As a side note, I misspoke earlier about the age I let mine reach (the roo I butchered on Tues was actually only 10wks old)...I still have 2 more (a roo & a pullet) so I'm looking forward to see what the difference is in size...

Good luck and hopefully you'll finish out the remaining weeks with no more issues!

Courtney