Thinking of an experiment

[MissE]

So excited! ! Would you mind posting a pic of your RANGER Roo? Maybe next to an australorp. I am curious about his size.
I just ordered 25 Red Rangers strait run. I am going to try and keep a Roo or two from the batch also!

So excited! ! Would you mind posting a pic of your RANGER Roo? Maybe next to an australorp. I am curious about his size.
I just ordered 25 Red Rangers strait run. I am going to try and keep a Roo or two from the batch also!

Well, my Australorp was being camera shy, but she's about the same size as the Sussex and Calico Princess standing next to the Ranger. He's huge, but pretty mellow. He did get some frostbite, as you can see on his comb, but other than that, handled temps of more than -40 like a champ.

He used to have the most beautiful iridescent green and black tail feathers. Now he can only grow a couple feathers and then they fall out thanks to my jerk of a dog. Last April, my 11 month old (at that time) GSD grabbed him and managed to carry that 15 lb rooster over 150 ft at a dead run before the poor guy broke free and dove under a rock pile. Only damage was loosing all the feathers on his back end, since that was the only part of him sticking out of the hole. A year later and his butt is still bald.

 

[MissE]

Eggs went in the the incubator Sunday afternoon. Candled a few this evening. I've never done this before. There were certainly signs of veins in most. There were a couple where I really couldn't tell. Will check again in a few days.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

Well, my Australorp was being camera shy, but she's about the same size as the Sussex and Calico Princess standing next to the Ranger. He's huge, but pretty mellow. He did get some frostbite, as you can see on his comb, but other than that, handled temps of more than -40 like a champ.

He used to have the most beautiful iridescent green and black tail feathers. Now he can only grow a couple feathers and then they fall out thanks to my jerk of a dog. Last April, my 11 month old (at that time) GSD grabbed him and managed to carry that 15 lb rooster over 150 ft at a dead run before the poor guy broke free and dove under a rock pile. Only damage was loosing all the feathers on his back end, since that was the only part of him sticking out of the hole. A year later and his butt is still bald.

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Wow amazing!! He is like double the size of your ladies! I love it!! I cant wait to hear how quick the offspring grow.

 

[MissE]

Day 12. Pulled 7 SS eggs that weren't developing. The other 9 look great, and all 5 Australorp eggs are developing. Not a surprise with the Australorp. She is my rooster's favorite and has hardly any feathers on her back. 2 of the SS show sign of piggie back rides, but pretty sure the third doesn't get a lot of lovin'.

I'm already considering getting another batch of eggs ready to go...

 

[MissE]

Wow amazing!! He is like double the size of your ladies! I love it!! I cant wait to hear how quick the offspring grow.

He's more like 3 times the size.

Most people hope for mostly females in a hatch. Not me. I'd be thrilled if they're all boys. I may need to keep one boy as a back up rooster since the RR aren't known for longevity, and hoping to fill some freezer space with the rest. May keep a pullet or two, but will probably sell the rest at POL.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

He's more like 3 times the size.

Most people hope for mostly females in a hatch. Not me. I'd be thrilled if they're all boys. I may need to keep one boy as a back up rooster since the RR aren't known for longevity, and hoping to fill some freezer space with the rest. May keep a pullet or two, but will probably sell the rest at POL.

Amazing, he is super cool! I am super pumped to get my Ranger chicks here. Delivery date is 4/14. I plan on keeping 3 promising roos and hope at least one makes it to mate with the ladies too.
I always hope for more roos in my hatches too. I use then the same as you, just looking to fill my freezer

 

[Parront]

He's more like 3 times the size.

Most people hope for mostly females in a hatch. Not me. I'd be thrilled if they're all boys. I may need to keep one boy as a back up rooster since the RR aren't known for longevity, and hoping to fill some freezer space with the rest. May keep a pullet or two, but will probably sell the rest at POL.

I could see eating all of them, male and female, like I would if I had ordered a batch of Rangers from the hatchery. I am sure the females would be good eating, female Cornish-X are.

 

[MissE]

I could see eating all of them, male and female, like I would if I had ordered a batch of Rangers from the hatchery. I am sure the females would be good eating, female Cornish-X are.

Oh, I am so not opposed to eating every one of them, I just want to have enough males to get an idea of average weight to see if its worth doing again. We really like 6+ lb processed weight for chicken dinner. I don't mind the smaller ones for soup or stock, we just don't eat as much that way.

The female Rangers from my first batch were decent size, but still considerably smaller carcass size than the males. The second batch females were kept to see how they laid. Only have 2 of them left. One lays eggs over 90 grams. The other one has eggs in the 80 gram range. They certainly were not bad for meat or eggs, but don't seem to live very long.

When we raised CX, the females were only a week behind the males for size. Depending on the number of birds we had, we sometimes would process the males one week and the females the next.

 

[Parront]

Oh, I am so not opposed to eating every one of them, I just want to have enough males to get an idea of average weight to see if its worth doing again. We really like 6+ lb processed weight for chicken dinner. I don't mind the smaller ones for soup or stock, we just don't eat as much that way.

The female Rangers from my first batch were decent size, but still considerably smaller carcass size than the males. The second batch females were kept to see how they laid. Only have 2 of them left. One lays eggs over 90 grams. The other one has eggs in the 80 gram range. They certainly were not bad for meat or eggs, but don't seem to live very long.

When we raised CX, the females were only a week behind the males for size. Depending on the number of birds we had, we sometimes would process the males one week and the females the next.

Have you tried to hatch those big eggs? I like the big chickens, too. I roast them like a small turkey, and they taste better to me than turkey. I used to keep the Cornish-X until they were ~10 pounds dressed, very good eating that you can't buy at the store.

 

[MissE]

Have you tried to hatch those big eggs? I like the big chickens, too. I roast them like a small turkey, and they taste better to me than turkey. I used to keep the Cornish-X until they were ~10 pounds dressed, very good eating that you can't buy at the store.

I haven't. The Rangers don't breed true, so who know what I will get. Can't say I haven't thought about it, though. I could try. Best thing about those kinds of experiments is you get to eat your mistakes. Now that I have an incubator it seems a shame to not keep it going.

I will take chicken over turkey any day. Biggest CX I had was 9 lbs. Did it low and slow on the grill. Even with company, there was plenty of leftovers. Everyone loved it.