Trouble with colored rangers already... (in a good way?)

[Chicky Tocks]

ahhhsoooo...yeah I don't know much about meat birds. I wish I had the guts to raise some and fill my freezer. Maybe some day. All it takes is one bad roo to give you that gift for processing.

 

[vermontgal]

My rangers went outside in their tractor at 8 days old. Since then we have had a few nights close to freezing (32F) - they have a 100w heat emitter and a 17w seedling heat mat, and they seem fine.

They seem to really like the seedling heat mat. I was tracking temps in the brooder, and in their first week they were acting like they were warm enough with brooder temps in the low 80s. That is, when awake they were active and running around with no loud distress chirps. When sleeping they slept next to each other on the heat mat but without piling.

They are now 15 days old and feathering fast.

 

[TimG]

Mine are the same age as Vermontgal's. They are in a brooder with 3 week old Cornish crosses. The Cornish crosses are much bigger, but have far fewer feathers and are less active than the rangers; I'd have more confidence in the rangers' ability to withstand any cold than the Cornish crosses'.

 

[maf2008]

Where can I get colored rangers and what breed or cross are they with cornish crossx is it cornish x rir, orpington, or what ??? is the cross.

I want to get the eggs and hatch my self. What hatcheries are good as shipping the ranger chicks? thanks

 

[PurpleChicken]

http://jmhatchery.com/

He has the day old chicks and might ship eggs.
It's a lot cheaper to buy day olds.

Rangers are a hybrid/cross of strains not available.

Cornish are said to be a cross of a Cornish and White Rock but
any Cornish X you get from hatcheries are highly modified lines.

Forget about crossing any breeds to produce a commercial
broiler. Many have tried and failed.

 

[maf2008]

Hi... where did you get your colored rangers? I want about 24 or to get some hatching eggs. Thanks

Quote:

 

[TimG]

I bought them from someone who ordered more than she wanted (to meet the minimum order amount) from JM Hatchery. I found her in the chicken swap section of BYC, she had posted that she'd have some chicks to bring to the swap and turns out she is just a few miles from where I live.

Another BYC forum member bought 100 from JM and was able to sell all she didn't want through craigslist -- she had them sold before they arrived and as I recall she only kept a dozen or so.

The minimum order at JM is 25 ($2 per bird) and the price goes down to $1 per bird for orders of 100.

 

[vermontgal]

I'm the one who ordered 100 and sold the other 90 via craigslist. It worked out well for everyone. By ordering 100 chicks, I got the best price ($1 per bird plus $20 shipping for the 100 - shipping depends on your distance from PA). I sold the chicks in lots of 10-35, priced below hatchery prices for those smaller quantities. I required a min order of 10. I made a little $ for my time, and my own chicks were free. The folks I sold to got cheaper chicks than they would have otherwise, and I got the small quantity (12, since they send 2 extras) that I wanted. Right in my ad, I told folks that if they wanted 100 themselves they should just order from the hatchery.

I could have sold another 100 by the time I pulled the ad, and it seems likely that I could have kept going. But, I wasn't seeking to go into business reselling chicks - just find an economical way to get the dozen I wanted.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey!

we have the same kind - but ours are about 3 weeks old. wow - the cute kinda wears off but it takes a while!

we received some 'normal' chicks in that shipment along with the meaties.. once you compare it kind of freaks you out. i've avoided meaties for a long time b/c they are just so weird (eeek!) so this is our first run.

if you want cute - then geez get ducklings! ours are cute on overload and my new favorite thing is being the 'duckling lifeguard' as they swim around

 

[vermontgal]

Mine are now about 3.5 weeks old and they are not so cute any more. This is good. I have a lot of boys (cockerels) in the bunch, and they are both scared of me and nippy.

They are huge compared to my layers at that age. The boys' feet / legs are almost as big around as my hen's legs are as adults! They are definitely much more meaty than the layers (even my chunky chicken BR layer Liz who is, I believe, a carbohydrate addict), without being as vile as the Cornish x.

They have all sorts of nicknames, collectively - Chunky chicken, nuggets, finger lickin', meat-a-boos, etc. I've been telling the boys that I'm oogling their breasts.