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.
They did better in a day-range system than in a pasture pen.
and Grey Rangers were of an acceptable size (3.5-4#). My customersI realize you were raising them as broilers, but do you have any
who tried the other two complained they were too small and too tough.
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.
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.
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.
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