[Homestead] Freedom Rangers
EarthNSky
erthnsky at bellsouth.net
Fri Jan 2 00:00:37 EST 2009
I knew you would jump in with good information, but I had no idea you
had raised them before! The Poulet Nu sounds like something I would
like. I did read a lot about pastured birds, and I was hoping you would
comment.
>
> The four strains were a heavy New Hampshire-sized red (Bronze
> Ranger), a slightly smaller grey (Grey Ranger), a considerably
> smaller barred (Gourmet Black), and a naked neck (Poulet Nu). I
> raised all four as an experiment a few years ago. The good things
> were that they were much more active foragers and adapted quickly
> from brooder to pasture. The bad things were that they grew more
> slowly (needing at least two weeks longer to get to roughly the same
> weight as a Cornish Cross), and the roosters were much more
> aggressive.
That sounds great to me. As much a aggressive roosters are a pain, they
are helpful in thwarting predation, else they are the first to
die-probably most expendable anyway<g>.
> They did better in a day-range system than in a pasture pen.
Can you be more specific as to why?
Only the Bronze
> and Grey Rangers were of an acceptable size (3.5-4#). My customers
> who tried the other two complained they were too small and too tough.
>
I realize you were raising them as broilers, but do you have any
knowledge as to how well they lay? I assume they are brown egg
layers..just wondering if they are good winter layers...how good are
their brooding instincts?
>
> Moyer's Chicks in PA have an Italian meat bird, the K22. It is
> supposed to have similar qualities to the Freedom Rangers. I haven't
> tried them.
You seem to have a lot of knowledge about hatcheries. Perhaps in a
separate post you can give us a run down of your favorite ones, telling
us what to avoid, who might have interesting stock, etc.
>
> Several hatcheries offer "black" or "red" broilers. These are, I
> believe, Australorps or NH crossed with a Cornish-cross parent breed.
> When I tried them against fast Cornish, they ate about a third less
> feed and grew proportionately more slowly. I had a similar result
> when I tried slow Cornish from Privett. Some didn't get much above 2#
> dressed, even after 12 weeks. I kept the rest of the pullets to see
> how they do as layers.
And?? are those pullets laying yet?
Since I am not selling meat birds, the extra weeks needed for these
crosses as well as the Freedom Ranger birds, really don't affect me
much. My feed bills are minimal anyway. I do want a decent size bird
for my efforts, though...2# birds just wouldn't cut it.
What would you recommend for me to try Karen?
I've raised the Cornish and Cornish X meat birds before-the ones Murray
McMurray offers. For a while, I had a dark cornish rooster and hen, and
tried to make crosses with him, but really did not have much luck. The
best meat bird crosses I have had were unintentional crosses from my
Turken rooster. He was twice as large as the average rooster, and his
offspring also had good size. Since I did not have a large scale
experiment going on and I wasn't incubating eggs, I ended up with less
than a dozen meat birds, but they were all turken crosses and had the
naked necks' size and feathering, rather lack thereof. Those birds were
4# plus at 12 weeks. Tasty.
This year, I'll be putting all the extra roosters in the freezer as they
become PITA's or as they mature. I may even freeze some hens if I can't
sell them. Layers are selling for $8-12 here, so if I can sell them...
>
> I wrote an article for the APPPA Grit! Newsletter a couple years ago
> on the state of alternate broiler breeds for pastured poultry, and
> not much has changed -- for fast growth, you buy Cornish Cross; if
> you have customers who want something different, the heavier meat
> breeds or the new genetics from Europe may do well, if your customers
> will pay the premium price.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association???
I really, really dislike those CC birds. They are big, fat, lazy,
white, nasty birds. I'd rather end up with something smaller than deal
with them. By new birds from Europe, I assume you mean the Freedom
Rangers and the K22? or something else?
Bev
--
"The world is my country, all mankind are my
brethren, and to do good is my religion."
Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)
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