We have 20 Colored Rangers chilling on ice tonight.
And it's all because of you folks, so thank you for posting all your ideas and advice because you never know who might be out there following along! We couldn't have done it without you.
These are our first meaties. Our only other bird experience is a couple of banties and some Pekin ducks. We keep these for yard ornaments and eggs, and we've only had them 18 months. Well those birds have a good size coop and run they share, so we figured we'd try the Rangers, too.
Here's how it went:
Researched on BYC
and ordered 25 Rangers from JMHatchery. They shipped 26, and all of them lived. We put molasses in the water for a few days, then apple cider vinegar. Used unmedicated feed, 20% starter/grower the whole time. Almost lost one at 2 weeks, when she probably got squished. Found her laying on her side and lethargic. We dunked her beak
in molasses water several times, then some yogurt, then quarantined her overnight so she could catch her breath. She made it!
The brooder was just a corner of the coop with the red heat bulb. Started at 90* but quickly went down to 75*. They were plenty warm and started exploring the outside run by 3 weeks. Then we had non-stop rain, so I had to keep them in the coop for a couple of weeks longer then I would have liked. They had lots of room to run around in there, though.
Once they were larger than the banties and it stopped raining, they spent most of the time out in the big run with the banties and the duck. The gate is open anytime I am home, so everybody is free to leave the run to roam the fields. Some of the rangers met me at the gate each day and seemed to enjoy exploring the fields, although they didn't venture near as far as the older birds and needed help finding home in the evening. Not a whole lot of scratching going on, but they definitely ran around in spurts and stretched their wings for fun. Then they'd usually find a sunny place in the dry grass and take a nap. They were fun to watch because they were so big they kind of rock back and forth running. They ate quite a bit of grass, but they had all the feed they wanted all day so they really weren't working too hard to get food.
Anyway, they were not too hard to raise at all. The banty hens stayed at the top of the pecking order. Cracked us up to see one little banty able to walk up to the feed pan and a dozen Rangers freak out and scatter. Yes, they shared the 20% feed.
Soooo....we raised 26 Rangers. 20 were processed today in 2+ hours. Killing cones, slit the arteries, dunked and ran through the plucker we borrowed. They came out clean! Pulled a few pin feathers with big tweezers, cleaned them out, and dropped them in cold water in a giant new trash can. Ran a cold hose on them all day, now they are covered in ice and water. Rock salt in the water.
No weights but I am pleased with the size I am seeing. We processed at 11 weeks. I already know how to spend less next time (less bedding and don't buy feed by the bag!) Overall, it was a great project and if they taste as good as they look we'll do this from now on! I've got a great run for birds, but meaties should go in a tractor, I think. We'll probably build one next time.
That's enough for now. Thank you for holding our hands through this project. You didn't even know you helped, did you?!
(I'll have questions for how to manage the lucky remaining 6 that are sleeping soundly in the coop tonight.)
These are our first meaties. Our only other bird experience is a couple of banties and some Pekin ducks. We keep these for yard ornaments and eggs, and we've only had them 18 months. Well those birds have a good size coop and run they share, so we figured we'd try the Rangers, too.
Here's how it went:
Researched on BYC
in molasses water several times, then some yogurt, then quarantined her overnight so she could catch her breath. She made it!
The brooder was just a corner of the coop with the red heat bulb. Started at 90* but quickly went down to 75*. They were plenty warm and started exploring the outside run by 3 weeks. Then we had non-stop rain, so I had to keep them in the coop for a couple of weeks longer then I would have liked. They had lots of room to run around in there, though.
Once they were larger than the banties and it stopped raining, they spent most of the time out in the big run with the banties and the duck. The gate is open anytime I am home, so everybody is free to leave the run to roam the fields. Some of the rangers met me at the gate each day and seemed to enjoy exploring the fields, although they didn't venture near as far as the older birds and needed help finding home in the evening. Not a whole lot of scratching going on, but they definitely ran around in spurts and stretched their wings for fun. Then they'd usually find a sunny place in the dry grass and take a nap. They were fun to watch because they were so big they kind of rock back and forth running. They ate quite a bit of grass, but they had all the feed they wanted all day so they really weren't working too hard to get food.
Anyway, they were not too hard to raise at all. The banty hens stayed at the top of the pecking order. Cracked us up to see one little banty able to walk up to the feed pan and a dozen Rangers freak out and scatter. Yes, they shared the 20% feed.
Soooo....we raised 26 Rangers. 20 were processed today in 2+ hours. Killing cones, slit the arteries, dunked and ran through the plucker we borrowed. They came out clean! Pulled a few pin feathers with big tweezers, cleaned them out, and dropped them in cold water in a giant new trash can. Ran a cold hose on them all day, now they are covered in ice and water. Rock salt in the water.
No weights but I am pleased with the size I am seeing. We processed at 11 weeks. I already know how to spend less next time (less bedding and don't buy feed by the bag!) Overall, it was a great project and if they taste as good as they look we'll do this from now on! I've got a great run for birds, but meaties should go in a tractor, I think. We'll probably build one next time.
That's enough for now. Thank you for holding our hands through this project. You didn't even know you helped, did you?!
(I'll have questions for how to manage the lucky remaining 6 that are sleeping soundly in the coop tonight.)
