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  • From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Freedom Rangers
  • Date: Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:00:37 -0500

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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