Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

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)