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Sadly no. She was clearly a she, and beautiful bird, but never laid an egg. (And, no, there was zero chance she was a rooster). When she was 10 months old, I found her sitting the the run, with both legs completely paralyzed. It happened literally in the course of a morning. She came out...

I didn't keep a son from Big Boy. By the time I knew I needed a new rooster, he was already causing too much damage to the hens trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to mount them. However, I really wish I had saved an offspring from my Amaracuna rooster. He was large enough and a fantastic...

It's been whatever rooster I have on hand -- Amaracuna, Naked Neck and currently, a Maran. I've also gotten some free-bee males from hatcheries. They Wyandotte's were surprisingly big and tasty. I kind of wish I had kept one for breeding. The marans are quite tasty, but the rooster I kept...

I greatly prefer raising Rangers over CX. Now, I only raise Rangers, along with heritage birds for meat. I actually like the way heritage tastes slightly better, but I value the larger size and efficiency of the rangers. I raise my rangers in small batches of 8 to 10 at a time, and they are...

Nice write up. Thanks for sharing. But, for some reason, I was not able to access the links you embedded -- I got the "oops . . ." message. Make sure you get a very wide gauge netting. I have a 2 inch gauge, and my netting will collapse under the weight of a few inches of snow. Luckily...

On the second page of the link I talk about how I made schmaltz. I've done it several times now. Super easy, as well as delicious. It's my go-to fat for sautéing and roasting vegetables. Talk to me about chicken fat

Very good point. A large, sharp hatchet makes the job much easier.

I found that there are a fair number of inconsistencies between ranger type broilers -- both between batches from the same hatcheries and, even moreso, from hatchery to hatchery. I've had some held-over ranger hens live for 2 to 4 years without any special treatment and feeding, but I've had...

My dogs get almost all the leftover chicken around here. The one exception is if I have chicken that got cooked with onion or spicy chilies. The chickens go crazy for those scraps. They don't know those scraps were once a flock mate. Don't ask, don't tell. . .

I still remember with great fondness the day my first broody hen hatched her chicks. Seeing a mama hen with her chicks is my favorite part of raising chickens. Enjoy!

Well said. For what they ultimately give me, those little meat birds deserve the best care and attention I can give them.

How do you otherwise like to eat chicken? I agree, I wouldn't stew it. Short of that, anything goes. Grilled, fried or pound the breasts into a piccata? I would use fast cooking techniques to enjoy the tenderness of the meat. But, if you like roast chicken, that would be good as well...

Yeah, mine are in one of my coops with the rooster and some layers. For the last few years, I've ordered a dozen hatching eggs from Freedom Ranger. Usually, I get anywhere between 1 and 6 to hatch. This year 9 hatched, plus one barnyarder egg I threw in. It's quite the horde. Rooster is...

You really can't beat those CX for efficiency. Bit envious right now. At 5 weeks old, my 9 freedom rangers are making a total mess out of my coop. Sleeping in the nest boxes, eating and pooping everywhere. The thought of being able to butcher tomorrow and having 4.5 lb. birds sounds pretty...

Pretty impressive. For comparison, I have some freedom rangers at that exact age right now. They would maybe dress out at 2 lbs. I don't plan on butchering them for another 4 weeks.

Nice! How many weeks old was that?

Pullet

The bulging crops do sound weird and not normal. However, on the tan livers, I've found that once hens start laying, their livers turn from red to tan. In fact, I've never processed a layer that hasn't had a tan liver. It worried me the first time I saw it. I remember doing some...

I've crossed a Naked Neck rooster with red ranger and SWB hens. The offspring were good-sized, dressing out between 4 and 5 lbs @ around 13 weeks. I tried to keep one of the rooster crosses to breed going forward, but he was too big, clumsy and hard on the hens. I I now have a Blue Maran...

It's not surprising that fresh growing things are good for chickens. Of course, wiithout access to sophisticated resources and testing, it's impossible to really know exactly what the nutritional content is for the extras you give them. But, on a practical level, I try not to get too bogged...