Slow growing freedom rangers

[Hamster0425]

Today marks the start of our 5th week with our Freedom Rangers. We have a straight run of 24. They live 300+ sq ft area and are very active.

They seem small to me. Obviously I knew the hens would be, but the males too. I've been using the feed chart of this forum, at 75% due to fermented feed. I grabbed a couple of larger looking ones and they're about 1.5 lbs, which is about a week behind where I expected them to be based on other reports I've seen.

What gives? I bumped up their feed this morning to match the chart, but am still fermenting. Am I missing something? It's our first time with meat birds and I knew they'd be slower growing than the Cornish but I admit I'm disappointed (though the birds do have a ton of character, which I appreciate).

 

[Torinik]

Back in the days, 40+ years ago, around here, people would lock the birds they wanted to fatten up in as small a space as possible. Be it meat birds (CX?) or any other kind. This to keep them from moving around too much and burn off what they'd just eaten, instead of that food going to adding meat on their bones. Nowadays you probably wouldn't get away with it; it's messy, smelly and not so kind to the bird. That's why those tractors look like a really good idea, you can keep them on a small space and move them to a fresh patch whenever you judge it's time to do so.

I have mine foraging and even restrict their food a bit, because some will just keep eating to the point where they look they're about to explode. Foraging (and playing) also means less interest in the high-quality, meat-adding growing mix. They'd much rather eat grass and bugs, and whatever else they can actively destroy, when they get the chance. And run and do that low to the ground fighter-jet thing they do. All that means less meat on the bones.
To me this is worth it. I get a skinnier and tastier bird that walked around a lot and had a very varied diet but probably cost me more in bought feed than if I had them locked up in a limited space. Other people might have other preferences, which is fine and understandable of course.

In short, they might be behind because they move around too much. And also, boredom makes them eat more.

 

[iwltfum]

Growing broilers is kind of a touchy science and can take a couple tries to get them exactly how you want and at the speed you want them to grow. There could be a number of factors involved. I would just try to grow them out for a little longer than you expected to. They will probably reach weight eventually unless something went really wrong in the brooder to permanently stunt them. I have grown freedom rangers to 4.5lbs dressed in 7 weeks, but I've also seen it take several weeks longer. That's one of the down sides of not going with cornish cross, but IMO it's well worth it for a healthier bird.

 

[Hamster0425]

Thank you for the replies!

I think I just need to adjust my expectations. These are busy, active birds and aren't fed a super high feed full of soy, so they're probably doing exactly as they should. That said I did increase their feed so hopefully they gain a bit more this week. We are unfortunately locked into a butcher date so no delaying!

 

[Hamster0425]

Follow up question...

The birds are starting to put on some weight now! Still small, but I can visibly see growth this week.

Anyway, I need to order more food to finish out this project. Would you stick with the 20% crumble or should I switch to an 18% pellet? We are locked into a butcher date of that effects your answer.

 

[iwltfum]

Follow up question...

The birds are starting to put on some weight now! Still small, but I can visibly see growth this week.

Anyway, I need to order more food to finish out this project. Would you stick with the 20% crumble or should I switch to an 18% pellet? We are locked into a butcher date of that effects your answer.

How far off is your butcher date?

Glad they are starting to put on some weight for you!

 

[Hamster0425]

How far off is your butcher date?

Glad they are starting to put on some weight for you!

June 22 - They'll be close to 11 weeks.

 

[iwltfum]

June 22 - They'll be close to 11 weeks.

What I would do is continue feeding 20% until the last two weeks since you had a growth issue earlier. You could also mix the two feeds half and half for the next week or 10 days and then switch them over completely to 18% for a little smoother bulking process. I like to finish mine on 16% for the last two weeks, but since you want them to bulk as fast as possible, sticking with the 18% at the end is probably a better option.

 

[Hamster0425]

My again!

Today is 7 weeks, 2 days for our FR. I just grabbed some big looking ones to try and do a weight check (lol). They are in the 3-3.5 pound range, and those are the big ones. As a reminder, they are "free ranged" in a open run, not a tractor. They're active, happy chickens eating 5.5 lbs of fermented non gmo, soy free food a day. 20% protein.

We have 26 days left until our butcher date. I asked if we could move it a week if need be, but no response.

This still just seems small. I'm trying to adjust expectations based on our growing conditions, but I feel we will be lucky for a 5 lb live weight by butcher. That's a pretty small eater all said and done.

Do I need to up their feed even more? If I switched to 12 on, 12 off, any idea how much I'd go through?

Or am I actually on an ok pace and they'll have another growth spurt or two?

 

[Morrigan]

I think you will see a fair amount of growth over the next 3 weeks, however, if they do allow you to move the butcher date, I would do so. I think I butchered my red broilers (from Moyers) at around 13 weeks for the roosters and 16 weeks for the hens. They were nice and big -- around 6 lbs dressed. I didn't not ration food at all with them, as they seemed to self-regulate their eating much better than the CX.