What are these?

[lisag1288]

Hello everyone. When I bought these chickens at tractor Supply, I was told they were broilers. After watching them c
grow for awhile, they are obviously not Cornish X. I called the store and they told me they might be Leghorns. I was under the impression that Leghorns, even the different colors have white ear lobes? These guys have red ear lobes. Could these be Freedom Rangers? Any help will be greatly appreciated! they are 8 weeks old. Seem to be good foragers. We have them in a chicken tractor set up.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

They appear to be a "ranger" type broiler - often sold as red rangers, etc. They are not as fast developing as Cornish X so are more appropriate for processing around 14-16 weeks vs the 8(ish) of Cornish X.

 

[donrae]

Agree with the above, they're a red slow broiler.

 

[lisag1288]

Thanks for your input. I don't want to dispatch a good laying chicken if that is what I have. I considered adding them in with my laying hens but I've read that the cost of feed for that type of bird can get very expensive.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Thanks for your input. I don't want to dispatch a good laying chicken if that is what I have. I considered adding them in with my laying hens but I've read that the cost of feed for that type of bird can get very expensive.

Some folks do use them as laying birds - they make a good dual purpose flock but are not *as* productive as hens bred specifically for production and they aren't quite as efficient, but it isn't nearly the same as feeding fast broilers.

 

[drumstick diva]

agree with OlGreyMare's posts

 

[donrae]

That's where you'll just have to decide for yourself. There are folks who have held hens of that type over and they've made decent layers. Not stellar like your production birds, but decent enough. The flip side is they're bigger and eat a lot more than say a red sex link. Some folks are okay with that, some need the birds to be more cost effective.

And just cause I see you've got at least one cockerel, the posts I've read where folks tried to keep a broiler male with their production layer hens doesn't always end well. The roosters get pretty darn large, and they also seem to be aggressive maters, so the hens wind up taking things pretty hard. Just something to think about.