Red Rangers

[Farmer-John]

I raised this breed last spring/early summer. I'll be getting more early May this year...April was just too early for me last year.
I enjoyed this breed both in the pen and on the table. They act like chickens - sure they LOVED their feed, but they also foraged nicely, ate every bug out there, and were true 'chickens'. We processed ours at 12wks. Started at 10 1/2wks with some of the louder roos. Certainly got quiet quickly after that!
Weights were around 5#'s, some hens were a touch under 4#'s. I kept feed in front of them 2x/day (7am and 4pm) - then when they were outside, they also could eat/forage/catch what they could. If I recall, they were feathered enough to go outside at 3 1/2wks. I didn't use any fermented feed with these, just ACV in the water - had no losses, no health issues either. All around good experience.
Oh, there were 25 birds in our flock of meaties.

Great information... Thanks very much... I want a bird i can range and not pen up all the time. I have 34 layers right now and they have run of the place..

Thanks again,, Very helpful.

 

[Farmer-John]

Buff Orpington on the left and a red ranger on the right. Both hatched a week and a day ago

Very helpful pic... they seem to be growing 2/3-1.

Thanks again.

 

[erinchelsea]

We raised Red Broilers from Welp Hatchery along with our CX last summer. I think you will really enjoy them. They really act like "real" chickens, roosting and spending time outside, certainly don't eat as much as the CX though we did limit the food intake anyway since they all ate together. They did take longer to finish out, 12 weeks or so and finished weights were 3-5 lbs. I was impressed the first time I cooked one how much richer and more flavorful the broth was than from a CX. The extra few weeks really did make a difference in flavor.

 

[Farmer-John]

We raised Red Broilers from Welp Hatchery along with our CX last summer. I think you will really enjoy them. They really act like "real" chickens, roosting and spending time outside, certainly don't eat as much as the CX though we did limit the food intake anyway since they all ate together. They did take longer to finish out, 12 weeks or so and finished weights were 3-5 lbs. I was impressed the first time I cooked one how much richer and more flavorful the broth was than from a CX. The extra few weeks really did make a difference in flavor.

Awesome, thanks for the info.. I've ordered slow whites from welp and had really good luck with them. I butchered the at 12 weeks, roos of 5lb and hens between 3-4lbs. I prefer the taste of the dual purpose birds but with feed costs rising the feed to weight ratio is getting rather pricey. They, are always ranging but i would say that only accounts for about a 10% decrease in grain feed. when i hatch chicks the roo's still get grown out though, but when we really need to put some meat in the freezer we opt for the slower growing broilers. Looking forward to raising out the Red's..

Thanks again for the information..

 

[arthurpete]

I just got another batch of freedom rangers which i assume is similar if not the same as red rangers. I have had great success with the previous two batches. The ones in the fall put on alot more weight up to and after 9.5 weeks. Most of the weight was in fat and feather. I ended up using roughly 550lbs of Countryside Organic feed for each batch and wound up with $2.24 and $2.77/lb which was good enough for me. I am interested to see if this spring batch produces similar results to the previous spring. I am starting them earlier this year so maybe that will factor into it. Here are the numbers.....

Fall

Weight at 9.5 weeks

Males - 6.8/5.6/7.4/5.4/7.8/6.4/6.8/7.4………..6.7 avg


Weight at 11.5 weeks

Males - 8.0/8.8/9.4/9.2/7.4…..8.56 avg
Females – 5.2/6.6/7.6/7.4/7.8/6.0/6.4/6.4/7.4/6.4/6.8….6.72 avg

7.08LB AVG.....$2.24/lb



Spring

Weight at 9.5 weeks

Males - 5.6/4.8/5.2/4.6/4.4....4.92 avg


Weight at 11.5 weeks

Males - 7.6/6.8/7.6/6.2/5.8/6.8/6.6/6.0/7.0/6.2.....6.6 avg
Femals - 5.6/5.8/5.8/5.6/6.6/5.8/5.0.....5.75 avg

5.45 LB AVG.....$2.77/lb

.

 

[Farmer-John]

I just got another batch of freedom rangers which i assume is similar if not the same as red rangers. I have had great success with the previous two batches. The ones in the fall put on alot more weight up to and after 9.5 weeks. Most of the weight was in fat and feather. I ended up using roughly 550lbs of Countryside Organic feed for each batch and wound up with $2.24 and $2.77/lb which was good enough for me. I am interested to see if this spring batch produces similar results to the previous spring. I am starting them earlier this year so maybe that will factor into it. Here are the numbers.....

Fall

Weight at 9.5 weeks

Males - 6.8/5.6/7.4/5.4/7.8/6.4/6.8/7.4………..6.7 avg


Weight at 11.5 weeks

Males - 8.0/8.8/9.4/9.2/7.4…..8.56 avg
Females – 5.2/6.6/7.6/7.4/7.8/6.0/6.4/6.4/7.4/6.4/6.8….6.72 avg

7.08LB AVG.....$2.24/lb



Spring

Weight at 9.5 weeks

Males - 5.6/4.8/5.2/4.6/4.4....4.92 avg


Weight at 11.5 weeks

Males - 7.6/6.8/7.6/6.2/5.8/6.8/6.6/6.0/7.0/6.2.....6.6 avg
Femals - 5.6/5.8/5.8/5.6/6.6/5.8/5.0.....5.75 avg

5.45 LB AVG.....$2.77/lb

.

Nice job of data collection.. I certainly appreciate the information, very useful to me.

Thanks again..

John

 

[Farmer-John]

Ordering 75 Red Rangers tomorrow, plus what I have in the bator (21) right now should hold me for a while.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the great information.

I plan to keep a detail record of consumption vs dressed weight so when the day comes I'll post up the results.

thanks again,

John

 

[Vina8]

Thanks for this thread and great information. I wanted to add some meat chickens to my flock and wasn't excited by the CX. I ordered some Red Ranger chicks this evening to try out.

 

[Farmer-John]

Absolutely.... looking forward to seeing how these grow out for me vs the other broilers I've fed out.

And there was a lot of great information posted on my thread, very thankful for the BYC's insight.

10 days until my hatch and my delivery of broilers... Gonna keep me busier than I already am.

 

[Farmer-John]

75 broilers due in March 5th... After that, I need to add another 50+ layers to the coop. Chicken madness I tell you!!