Umm.... My white broilers aren't white.

[miss_thenorth]

They look like my red broilers. I ordered 12 red and 12 white. they don't get as big as fast as the white, but they are meat birds. I think they are like what I have. Mine are called Bonnie's heavy reds. I am not computer savvy (or camera savvy for that matter) but will try to post pics later.

 

[aladatrot]

Yes, the combs are very pale in color (I think that's what yall are referring to). Also, I don't know if you can tell from these photos, but the chickies exhibit a barred pattern on the wings like a barred rock only brown and black instead of white with black.

What is a red broiler supposed to look like? Does anyone have any photos at this stage of development?

Many Thanks
M

 

[miss_thenorth]

Quote:
I will go out right now and take pics. When hubby comes home I will get him to help me upload them. Mine are almost 5 weeks old right now though.

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, here's one way to tell if they are broilers or not. When they are 8 weeks old, and if they weigh more then 4 lbs, they are broilers. If they weigh more like 2, they are layers!

 

[aladatrot]

Thanks a lot. I feel so stupid for not knowing what kind of birds I am feeding, but I guess this is how you learn the ropes when you are a newbie like me.

M

 

[FutureChickenMan]

They have the posture of a broiler.. and Ideal does Red, Black and white broilers. If the feed store guy didn't explicitly tell them he wanted only white broilers and would not accept substitions, you could have some red broilers. The red broilers will take a couple weeks longer to mature.

You're chicks do have some RIR marking (look at the wings); at least to my eyes. Here's a white broiler next to a RIR. They are the same age in the photo.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Here's my Bonnie's heavy reds--about 5 weeks old.

eta, when mine were day olds, they were yellow, with an almost brown spot on their heads, as opposed to the white broilers who were just yellow.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

exactly right, white broilers look exactly like leghorns at day 1. By day 4, the broilers are bigger.. and by week 1 you can tell the broilers aren't leghorns and vice versa.

 

[aladatrot]

Thanks for all the replies and photos. I will repost more photos in a few days to see what yall think they look like at that point. I only have 7 of these birds, so no matter what they end up being, I won't have broken the bank on them. If they are red broilers and reds take longer to mature, then I will have a little more feed in them than I would have had in white broilers.

What is the reason for someone to have red broilers if they take longer to mature? It would seem that with broilers, folks would want them to grow off as fast as possible. Two weeks would add a lot of cost to the bottom line if a person were raising a sizable number of them.

Again, thanks for the photos and replies.
M

 

[FutureChickenMan]

The red and black broilers are "free rangeable" birds. Meaning, they're more active; they'll move more than 10 feet away from the feed dish.

Hit up greyfields (or maybe he'll chime in) he's raised a few red broilers (freedom rangers). You could also search the forum for red broilers or freedom rangers you should get lots of hits.