Hi guys! This is a great video, but I'd like to add a little something for anyone who's hesitating between the two: I raised Freedom Ranger, Red Ranger, etc: from a few sources like MurrayMcMurray, Hoover Hatchery and off course the Freedom Ranger. I don't raise them like you do with the small hoops. I let them free range from about 3-4 weeks under a large mesh canopy (10X16 hoop house with chicken wire all around) then totally free range in the semi-wooded half acre parcel that we have fenced from then on till about 10-12 weeks. This way, I feed them very little and they go around and forage very well. They don't develop the bald spot on their breasts and act much like a heritage breed would, except they grow much faster. Just my experience, though. Cheers!
I still maintain this is both the most interesting, and important series in the homesteading arena this year! This is a great breakdown of important things to look for when looking ahead for next years planning--it's harvest time for me in my first year and I've got about 50 birds down, and 80 or so to go! Thanks for the good work!
I've been watching these chicken comparison videos with interest. It's so educational. Even though I will never have my own homestead, I love learning about it. Blessings to you and your family. 😊❤🐔🐔🐔🐔😊❤
The main reason Freedom Rangers are preferred by so many folks is that, unlike Cornish Cross, the Freedom Rangers free-range to a much higher extent thereby costing less in feed and creating less mess than you are seeing. I believe that by keeping the FR in the tractors you are negating the potential cost benefit.
Nice video comparison, we raised the Cornish Cross, Red Rangers and Freedom Rangers. There are some major differences (pro and con) between the Cornish and the other two in our opinion.
This is THE most in depth comparison of the two I think I’ve ever seen. Love it! Thank you for “geeking out” for all of us. Much appreciated! God Bless and have a wonderful weekend!! ~Lisa
Thank you for posting these video of the chickens. My husband and I have been talking about raising our own chicken to put in the freezer. This is very informational for us. Hubby loves the chicken tractor also. You guys rock!
Opinion. ..I let freedom rangers Range...food cost greatly lowered ..natural food protein. Crickets and small grasshoppers are plentiful this time of year. And supplement a evening rationing for extra weight. These birds are known for being good for grazing. Unless of course some folks live in areas they can't do that.
As someone comparing breeds this video was fantastic! Looks like Cornish have the greatest feed conversion, but whether that one number is the ultimate factor remains to be seen!
Since you have a mechanical feather remover, you might not notice if dark pin feathers are left with the freedom rangers. For a hand plucker like me a white bird gets extra points just for that.
I LOVE your breakdown of the math! Thank you! However, I'd like to suggest a very important adjustment that will shed more light on your gains and losses. It seems all your figures are calculated around the birds that survived. That misses the whole-farm or whole-brood perspective. That would be like a business calculating the success of a certain product on only the units that sold. That fails to inform business owners about the waste and inefficiencies of the units that didn't sell. Those are serious expenses because unlike products that sell, products that don't sell have no sales to balance the books! I suggest a more telling way to compare the two breeds of chickens would be to include in your calculations figures about the birds that died. That would really change the math! Think, for instance, what a waste it is to invest feed into a chicken that ends up dying before harvest! If one breed dies more often than another, the resulting waste and inefficiencies of the weaker breed should show somewhere in your math. Imagine what die-off numbers would do to the feed/bird, weekly gain/bird, and especially feed conversion numbers. Pouring five weeks of food into a bird that dies on the sixth week and never goes to harvest is a waste of a /lot/ of food! It definitely changes your income/expense balance, so you would surely benefit from showing it in your calculations.
Awesome info..we raise the Cornish and I also included the pine chip bedding for over all costs too..we will be doing the chicken tracker next year so there is no beding cost.
i think in the end the taste will make up for it all.... even tho i dont eat meat, my guys prefered the freedom rangers more then any bird. and we do all organic feed, so it was to them even better. blessings.
I am enjoying this series... i had made up my mind that the next meat birds we raised were going to be freedom rangers.. i have raised cornish in the past on wire and had a lot of problems with being to heavy to support themselves ( feed 24/7). This comparison not only gives me the facts and figures, but i've also learned a bit about animal management and not providing an all-you-can-eat buffet 24/7. I've also heard that soaking their feed before feeding reduces overall feed consumption and increases feed efficiency.. i have thought about doing that too, but have to go back and re-visit that info... Thanks for these comparisons!
Very good comparison series. I like how you are covering more than just the weight of the birds and feed. The breakdown math is very informative as well.
This is great guys. We raised the Cornish Cross for the first time this year and it wasn't the best experience for us newbies because several died and different stages. So I'm contemplating trying the Freedom rangers. I would really like to hear what you do with dead chickens? No one really talks about it. Bury, burn, bag and trash it, or some other useful??
Processed 7 of our current crop of Cornish yesterday, the largest of 22, (probably roosters, had red combs developing) which were 6wks/2 days old. Live weights ranged from 8lb down to 5lb-12oz, then 1.3/4lb to 2lb less finish carcass.
Very interesting. Thank you. At the end of the study I would like to know the total cost per bird (which I think you will probably do anyway) but also the amount of time/work you spent per bird. Thanks again! I really enjoy your channel.
When they are butchered it would be interesting to see if there was a difference in ratio of white to dark meat. Some people have a strong preference for one over the other.
Maria Hurley we raised chickens years ago and butchered all of the rosters due to them attacking the hens one at a time. They were mostly dark meat. Didn’t care for it too much. Different flavor than what I was used too. It was ok in soups though
i dont worry bout feathers as i skin the birds that way no feathers blowing around,, other then tat i,m enjoying your videos,, have a blessed and safe day
Both chickens changed a lot over the last week! They don’t look like chicks anymore. I like the look of the rangers better, but that has nothing to do w/eating them for sure. You don’t really need pretty meat 😆. Anyway, I find this series very interesting! Thanks for all the work you put into it.
I am super curious about the taste difference, if there is any. Will you be doing the processing of each of the chickens on video? I'm sure another deciding factor on whether people raise CC vs FR is if there is any difference in the processing such as defeathering or gutting. Just a thought...
New subbie here and first time commenting - lol. I have concluded that I must be a nerd too!!!! I find this fascinating and I don't know why, LOL! I love to garden and have learn a bunch about the art by watching you'al but I don't EVER indent to raise chickens for their meat. WHY AM I SO INTRIGUED?
Hey Kevin and Sarah, Have you ever considered raising capons? If you don't know what that is, it is castrated roosters. They are more doscile and uninterested in the hens, so, the only thing they want to do is eat and get BIG and FAT. Isn't that what it's all about? Do a search on capons and you can learn how to do the conversion yourself, if interested in raising a bigger bird that is. Just a thought, I am 65 and only heard about this two or three months ago. Any way, good luck in all your endeavors and keep up your good work. God bless.
Great video guys, as always you guys have some of the best videos and information on RUclips in the Homesteading world! Thanks for sharing. This is a super interesting comparison!
additionally, we do raise our own meat chickens, we have noted the same for us. also try brineing them after they are dispatched. it really enhances the flavor.
you have done a wonderful job. an outside observation, when you move the tractors, you put the feed where the water was dumped, can you move them a bit more so there is no overlap? LOVE and HUGS, well done thanks you!!!
Great video, looking forward to seeing how it all pans out, especially wrt end totals when factoring in mortality which I suspect will have a significant impact.
Thanks for the continued saga... of Freedom Ranger vs. Cornish Cross Meat Chickens...Just the FACTS!!... I understand that you were wanting a complete equal process where straight run or just cockerels are concerned.. And tho I can't speak of the Freedom rangers.. We always get straight run, and We have about the same amounts in weight no matter sex, There are always some we let go a little longer that are smaller because the lard butt biggest bird hog the food area... and they are both sexes. And we have had pullets that were actually bigger then the cockerels in the first round of butchering. Fun to see this week by week. Thanks for sharing your findings.. :)
To make it worth my while for the family, we would have to raise 80 cross rock at a time. That's figuring at 99 per lb at the store for the same chicken
Interesting! I wonder if the FR will end up rallying but it sure looks like the Cornish X will be the best option. I'm really curious though, I wonder if someone who has the space & setup (because I don't lol) could do a comparison like this for fully pastured birds and see what happens. I suspect that's really where the Freedom Rangers shine.
Very good studies of rangers to cornish. However having hens mixed in with the rangers if adjusted feed the rangers would have eaten more total if they were all males. do you have half and half hens/roosters or 10% hens ?
Gosh, I find this fascinating. I know I wouldn't be good at this 'cause I'd have given all of the chickens names and I would have grown attached to all of them. I guess I'm just too much of a softy to raise my own meat. I do, however, find all of this information quite interesting and I know that this series will help other homesteaders. Good work!
artist45 I've thought of doing this in the near future, and have thought of the same problem as you. I think if I had one or two, I would have a problem as well, but when it's a bunch of them, they become anonymous. Also when there's tons of other stuff to do, it's not possible to sit around and "play" with them, and get to know them. Just think about how good they'll taste! 😁
Miss mart pants I think it's awesome that people can be someone who isn't able to do it, but still respect those that do. Far too many one sided people it seems nowadays
Thanks so much for showing the differences. I always love to watch your channel because my fiance mike and I have been slowly transitioning to a self sustainable homestead ourselves. We are looking to buy a house soon with some property, so I can have my dream garden and a few animals on the farm of course! This really helps me with the farming aspect of it!. I have my garden all set up, but we don't even have a house yet.. lol Go figure. ,😅
Thanks for the info. My only concern with either breed is the fact that you have to have an outside source. Sort of why I want to go with more of a multipurpose bird that I can use for meat and eggs.
I need to weigh my Cornish! I have a mix and the roosters are noticeably bigger. They are almost 7 weeks old and just don’t seem as big as yours now! Have you ever had to postpone butcher day due to size issues?? We are planning it for next sat when they are about 8 wks.
Neat stuff, wish I could fast forward into the future to see the end results. You are taking this to 8 weeks? I can't remember. The taste test might be interesting too.
So interesting! Wondering if you might have considered soaking feed first? I've heard that doing so decreased cost by 20% with little difference in weight gain. Thank you for sharing this!
As yall get closer to the big harvest. Which breed has more fat and the colors of the fat. I let my rangers grow for a year and let them lay eggs but the fat color on them well lets just say, hmmm. Have a wonderful weekend. And thank you both for the update.
Hmmm, so at the completion of this series, I assume you will know the cost per bird to raise and the meat weight vs. plucked and gutted bird. To me, they are both worth the effort. Will you be doing a taste comparison? LOL They sure do have big feet! Do you dry them for your dogs? So 47 meat birds raised on feed store purchased food. Just think if you had to produce their feed too! Great series. I've never had chickens in my life, so this is such great exposure to how it's done. The end cost per bird will be an interesting conclusion. Costco sells organic whole chickens for about $10/bird, but who knows where or how they were raised.
Organic has become a misused label. Commercial organic feed is still not like free range or pastured. I am becoming suspicious of the marketing gimmicks used.
Very cool. Are you going to weight bones Separate on harvest? May have been camera angle but one's feet looked bigger. Bone vs meat may be a factor. TY
Do y'all mind sharing what percentage of protein your feed (beyond the chick starter) contains? I switched to a higher protein content with my current batch and am seeing higher losses even though I'm still 12 hours on and 12 hours off feed. It could be coincidental, but I'd love to compare with your statistics. Thank you for doing this experiment! I had planned to do the EXACT same thing next year and y'all are saving me the trouble ;-)
Sarah, are you planning on selling any loofahs at the farmers market? I have seen some easy melt and pour soaps with loofahs in them and I think they would sell Really Well. God bless!
When you are factoring the conversion, you are comparing a mix of male/female vs. only male because you are using the total feed consumption of each group. Could that make a difference?
Enjoying this series. What sticks in my mind are all of the negative things that I've heard regarding the health of a Cornish Cross. Heart attacks and not able to walk come to mind. It makes me wonder if I would be eating some unhealthy mutant chicken. I have no experience raising them so I'd be curious to hear what you think about that? If I missed that in a previous video, I apologize.
Almost Homestead i think either breed is probably both mutant. Neither look like blessd by CREATOR, AS THEY ARENT HEALTHY ENOUNGH TO HAVE DARK RED COMBS AND WATTLES. PINK WATTLES ARE UNHEALTHY. IVE ONLY RAISED CHICKENS AND GARDEN food. I WAS TOLD BY AN ANCIENT CHICKEN BOOK, TO GIVE CHICKENS GREENS FIRST THING IN THE MORNING AND FEED IN THE AFTERNOON. My chickens are fully feathered and amazingly red in the combs
Shanah - Not sure what you mean by ''blessed by our CREATOR'.' All the myriad of creatures on this earth have their origins in the animals that our LORD brought to the Ark. Very few of today's animal or vegetable foods are unchanged even over a few centuries. Cattle and horses are 2 examples of breeding for size or milk or meat production. That is the case with these two cross breed varieties of chickens. Bred for rapid maturity and meat production. They might be compared to a flower developed for color, size, fragrance. I hope this helps. Re: feeding greens .. YES INDEED - the egg yolks of greens-fed hens are orange, probably full of V-A, & of course the taste is worth the effort!
Thank you for sharing these videos I am learning a lot and I am interested in raising meat birds in the future and this has been a big help in understanding how to raise and care for them. I do have one question...is there a reason that the birds are bald in places? Thanks
Would it be possible for a final cost on food once the birds are ready for processing just to give newbies an idea on the cost of raising their own chickens? Maybe what type of food that you are using :)
I'm concerned that the chickens are reacting to confinement so closely with other chickens. Fewer chickens in that size tractor and area available for roosting. My plans for starting up a small flock include much larger mobile housing with providing more ground-space per bird.
Enjoying your series. Look at the size of those Cornish legs in comparison to the FR's. I've noticed our roosters tend to eat more than hens so should you factoring that to reflect if the FR's were all roosters since you're adjusting the rations for the three absent CX's? 👍
Your vids get my 'inquiring mind' into high gear. Went online for pix of 5 wk chicks. Both the CC & FR are twice the size of regular chicks. Comparison of feathering interesting. Trivia: are the combs of the FR bigger than CC? BTW will you give a shot of your trees once they turn red & yellow? Here in AR the dogwoods are already bright red, with scattering of yellows. Wish your folks could have stayed for fall color extravaganza.
Freedom rangers should do just that. Range. Keeping them in a tractor keeps the from building muscle while hunting insects. They would do all this and the Cornish would just sit there. Don't treat a ranger like a Cornish. Rangers convert insects and they are survivors. They have instincts Cornish don't. Thinks of all the feed you would save by keeping the insect population down.
Do you think the Cornish will be ready to process earlier than the Freedom Rangers? If you have to feed the FR longer, won't that shoot the better feed conversion?
Hi guys! This is a great video, but I'd like to add a little something for anyone who's hesitating between the two: I raised Freedom Ranger, Red Ranger, etc: from a few sources like MurrayMcMurray, Hoover Hatchery and off course the Freedom Ranger. I don't raise them like you do with the small hoops. I let them free range from about 3-4 weeks under a large mesh canopy (10X16 hoop house with chicken wire all around) then totally free range in the semi-wooded half acre parcel that we have fenced from then on till about 10-12 weeks. This way, I feed them very little and they go around and forage very well. They don't develop the bald spot on their breasts and act much like a heritage breed would, except they grow much faster. Just my experience, though. Cheers!
I still maintain this is both the most interesting, and important series in the homesteading arena this year! This is a great breakdown of important things to look for when looking ahead for next years planning--it's harvest time for me in my first year and I've got about 50 birds down, and 80 or so to go! Thanks for the good work!
Sarah you have such an easy smile. It's so nice
I've been watching these chicken comparison videos with interest. It's so educational. Even though I will never have my own homestead, I love learning about it. Blessings to you and your family. 😊❤🐔🐔🐔🐔😊❤
The main reason Freedom Rangers are preferred by so many folks is that, unlike Cornish Cross, the Freedom Rangers free-range to a much higher extent thereby costing less in feed and creating less mess than you are seeing. I believe that by keeping the FR in the tractors you are negating the potential cost benefit.
Nice video comparison, we raised the Cornish Cross, Red Rangers and Freedom Rangers. There are some major differences (pro and con) between the Cornish and the other two in our opinion.
This is THE most in depth comparison of the two I think I’ve ever seen. Love it! Thank you for “geeking out” for all of us. Much appreciated! God Bless and have a wonderful weekend!! ~Lisa
Thank you for posting these video of the chickens. My husband and I have been talking about raising our own chicken to put in the freezer. This is very informational for us. Hubby loves the chicken tractor also. You guys rock!
Opinion. ..I let freedom rangers Range...food cost greatly lowered ..natural food protein. Crickets and small grasshoppers are plentiful this time of year. And supplement a evening rationing for extra weight. These birds are known for being good for grazing. Unless of course some folks live in areas they can't do that.
How long does it take them to reach butcher size by raising them in that way?
Kevin always has the best shirts.
As someone comparing breeds this video was fantastic! Looks like Cornish have the greatest feed conversion, but whether that one number is the ultimate factor remains to be seen!
It's not mess it's compost.
Yes, and dog food.
Since you have a mechanical feather remover, you might not notice if dark pin feathers are left with the freedom rangers. For a hand plucker like me a white bird gets extra points just for that.
Just so you know, the chicken plucker removes those pin feathers as well. But hands are definitely Gods perfect tools.
wow.. the numbers really tell the story.. I am curious about the end results. Thanks for laying this out this way. Enjoy your visit.
Good thing those bald spots are. Less feathers to pluck😊. Thanks guys, I look forward to your videos.
Yes! When you've plucked chickens...you realize that LESS feathers aren't a bad thing. Haha!
I LOVE your breakdown of the math! Thank you! However, I'd like to suggest a very important adjustment that will shed more light on your gains and losses. It seems all your figures are calculated around the birds that survived. That misses the whole-farm or whole-brood perspective. That would be like a business calculating the success of a certain product on only the units that sold. That fails to inform business owners about the waste and inefficiencies of the units that didn't sell. Those are serious expenses because unlike products that sell, products that don't sell have no sales to balance the books!
I suggest a more telling way to compare the two breeds of chickens would be to include in your calculations figures about the birds that died. That would really change the math! Think, for instance, what a waste it is to invest feed into a chicken that ends up dying before harvest! If one breed dies more often than another, the resulting waste and inefficiencies of the weaker breed should show somewhere in your math. Imagine what die-off numbers would do to the feed/bird, weekly gain/bird, and especially feed conversion numbers. Pouring five weeks of food into a bird that dies on the sixth week and never goes to harvest is a waste of a /lot/ of food! It definitely changes your income/expense balance, so you would surely benefit from showing it in your calculations.
Awesome info..we raise the Cornish and I also included the pine chip bedding for over all costs too..we will be doing the chicken tracker next year so there is no beding cost.
i think in the end the taste will make up for it all.... even tho i dont eat meat, my guys prefered the freedom rangers more then any bird. and we do all organic feed, so it was to them even better. blessings.
I am enjoying this series... i had made up my mind that the next meat birds we raised were going to be freedom rangers.. i have raised cornish in the past on wire and had a lot of problems with being to heavy to support themselves ( feed 24/7). This comparison not only gives me the facts and figures, but i've also learned a bit about animal management and not providing an all-you-can-eat buffet 24/7. I've also heard that soaking their feed before feeding reduces overall feed consumption and increases feed efficiency.. i have thought about doing that too, but have to go back and re-visit that info...
Thanks for these comparisons!
I am not raising chickens but I still enjoyed seeing both of you doing this comparison. Ty
Yes enjoying and look forward to your weekly video's updates. What you find out will make a difference for me next year. Thanks.
Thank you for doing this series. I appreciate all the time and work you put into it.
Good info ours is on the way.
I think this comparison is very interesting.
It will be so interesting to see the outcome of this experiment. I do enjoy watching ALL your video's , especially the cute baby goats lol. TFS
Very good comparison series. I like how you are covering more than just the weight of the birds and feed. The breakdown math is very informative as well.
This is great guys. We raised the Cornish Cross for the first time this year and it wasn't the best experience for us newbies because several died and different stages. So I'm contemplating trying the Freedom rangers. I would really like to hear what you do with dead chickens? No one really talks about it. Bury, burn, bag and trash it, or some other useful??
Processed 7 of our current crop of Cornish yesterday, the largest of 22, (probably roosters, had red combs developing) which were 6wks/2 days old. Live weights ranged from 8lb down to 5lb-12oz, then 1.3/4lb to 2lb less finish carcass.
Very interesting. Thank you. At the end of the study I would like to know the total cost per bird (which I think you will probably do anyway) but also the amount of time/work you spent per bird. Thanks again! I really enjoy your channel.
Fun watching that comparison each week. Even though I'm not a chicken farmer, I find it very interesting to watch.
When they are butchered it would be interesting to see if there was a difference in ratio of white to dark meat. Some people have a strong preference for one over the other.
Maria Hurley we raised chickens years ago and butchered all of the rosters due to them attacking the hens one at a time. They were mostly dark meat. Didn’t care for it too much. Different flavor than what I was used too. It was ok in soups though
Have you thought about saving 1 rooster and a couple hens to try to raise some freedom rangers? Love the comparison.
i dont worry bout feathers as i skin the birds that way no feathers blowing around,, other then tat i,m enjoying your videos,, have a blessed and safe day
Both chickens changed a lot over the last week! They don’t look like chicks anymore. I like the look of the rangers better, but that has nothing to do w/eating them for sure. You don’t really need pretty meat 😆. Anyway, I find this series very interesting! Thanks for all the work you put into it.
Loving these comparisons. Also loving all of Kevin's t-shirts - you have a great sense of humor Kevin!
I am super curious about the taste difference, if there is any. Will you be doing the processing of each of the chickens on video? I'm sure another deciding factor on whether people raise CC vs FR is if there is any difference in the processing such as defeathering or gutting. Just a thought...
good day to you Kevin and Sarah !! thanks for sharing another awesome update on & off the homestead 👨🌾🎥👍✝
Just to let you know, week 5 and 6 are switched around in the playlist. Great videos, keep it up guys!
New subbie here and first time commenting - lol. I have concluded that I must be a nerd too!!!! I find this fascinating and I don't know why, LOL! I love to garden and have learn a bunch about the art by watching you'al but I don't EVER indent to raise chickens for their meat. WHY AM I SO INTRIGUED?
It's ok to be nerdy! Lol.
Really enjoyed the comparison thus far. I cant wait to see the final results. Thanks. God bless!
Hey Kevin and Sarah, Have you ever considered raising capons? If you don't know what that is, it is castrated roosters. They are more doscile and uninterested in the hens, so, the only thing they want to do is eat and get BIG and FAT. Isn't that what it's all about? Do a search on capons and you can learn how to do the conversion yourself, if interested in raising a bigger bird that is. Just a thought, I am 65 and only heard about this two or three months ago. Any way, good luck in all your endeavors and keep up your good work. God bless.
Great video guys, as always you guys have some of the best videos and information on RUclips in the Homesteading world! Thanks for sharing. This is a super interesting comparison!
Thank you SO much!
Mortality rate will have to be a factor as well. 3 Cornish lost.
Barbara Guthrie I grew 30 Cornish Cross once and didn’t lose any.
Thank you for doing this comparison as it helps me in my research for raising my meat birds in two years.
thank you for the great effort you guys are taking to provide this information. great analysis. you guys are an inspiration to all of us. GOD BLESS
additionally, we do raise our own meat chickens, we have noted the same for us. also try brineing them after they are dispatched. it really enhances the flavor.
Honestly depends what you feed them which determines their growth and weight but theirs many ways to grow your meat chickens
you have done a wonderful job. an outside observation, when you move the tractors, you put the feed where the water was dumped, can you move them a bit more so there is no overlap? LOVE and HUGS, well done thanks you!!!
Great video, looking forward to seeing how it all pans out, especially wrt end totals when factoring in mortality which I suspect will have a significant impact.
Very nice comparison . Love the chicken math.
Thanks for the continued saga... of Freedom Ranger vs. Cornish Cross Meat Chickens...Just the FACTS!!...
I understand that you were wanting a complete equal process where straight run or just cockerels are concerned.. And tho I can't speak of the Freedom rangers.. We always get straight run, and We have about the same amounts in weight no matter sex, There are always some we let go a little longer that are smaller because the lard butt biggest bird hog the food area... and they are both sexes.
And we have had pullets that were actually bigger then the cockerels in the first round of butchering.
Fun to see this week by week. Thanks for sharing your findings.. :)
To make it worth my while for the family, we would have to raise 80 cross rock at a time. That's figuring at 99 per lb at the store for the same chicken
yes keep going
Rangers you can use them for eggs where the other one you can't
This is a great series. You are answering all my questions without even having to ask.
Your comparison on the chickens has been very interesting & informative 😃
Interesting! I wonder if the FR will end up rallying but it sure looks like the Cornish X will be the best option. I'm really curious though, I wonder if someone who has the space & setup (because I don't lol) could do a comparison like this for fully pastured birds and see what happens. I suspect that's really where the Freedom Rangers shine.
I only prefer the rangers because they can run with the flock better than the Cornish crosses, but yes, the Cornish are probably more cost effective.
Very good studies of rangers to cornish. However having hens mixed in with the rangers if adjusted feed the rangers would have eaten more total if they were all males. do you have half and half hens/roosters or 10% hens ?
Excellent Comparison ! Thank You.
You know you will have to do a taste test with both when that come to harvest
Yes very educational thanks for the information 💯🙏
Gosh, I find this fascinating. I know I wouldn't be good at this 'cause I'd have given all of the chickens names and I would have grown attached to all of them. I guess I'm just too much of a softy to raise my own meat. I do, however, find all of this information quite interesting and I know that this series will help other homesteaders. Good work!
artist45 I've thought of doing this in the near future, and have thought of the same problem as you. I think if I had one or two, I would have a problem as well, but when it's a bunch of them, they become anonymous. Also when there's tons of other stuff to do, it's not possible to sit around and "play" with them, and get to know them. Just think about how good they'll taste! 😁
Me too! I'm way too soft hearted for animals, but its great that people are doing this. I was honestly raised that way too
Miss mart pants I think it's awesome that people can be someone who isn't able to do it, but still respect those that do. Far too many one sided people it seems nowadays
the REAL HEALTHY NESS OF A CHICKEN IS COMB AND WATTLE COLOR! DEEPER RED TOP AND BOTTOM IS THE MEAT ID EAT.
Awesome! Thank you again for sharing the video. Great job!
Thanks so much for showing the differences. I always love to watch your channel because my fiance mike and I have been slowly transitioning to a self sustainable homestead ourselves. We are looking to buy a house soon with some property, so I can have my dream garden and a few animals on the farm of course! This really helps me with the farming aspect of it!. I have my garden all set up, but we don't even have a house yet.. lol Go figure. ,😅
Thanks for the info. My only concern with either breed is the fact that you have to have an outside source. Sort of why I want to go with more of a multipurpose bird that I can use for meat and eggs.
I need to weigh my Cornish! I have a mix and the roosters are noticeably bigger. They are almost 7 weeks old and just don’t seem as big as yours now! Have you ever had to postpone butcher day due to size issues?? We are planning it for next sat when they are about 8 wks.
Great job on the comparison. It sounds like Kevin is leaning to the Crosses.
Kevin, your shirt is fantastic!
Neat stuff, wish I could fast forward into the future to see the end results. You are taking this to 8 weeks? I can't remember. The taste test might be interesting too.
Have you done a comparison like this with rabbits? That would also be interesting!
So interesting! Wondering if you might have considered soaking feed first? I've heard that doing so decreased cost by 20% with little difference in weight gain. Thank you for sharing this!
As yall get closer to the big harvest. Which breed has more fat and the colors of the fat. I let my rangers grow for a year and let them lay eggs but the fat color on them well lets just say, hmmm. Have a wonderful weekend. And thank you both for the update.
This is great. Thank you.
Hmmm, so at the completion of this series, I assume you will know the cost per bird to raise and the meat weight vs. plucked and gutted bird. To me, they are both worth the effort. Will you be doing a taste comparison? LOL They sure do have big feet! Do you dry them for your dogs? So 47 meat birds raised on feed store purchased food. Just think if you had to produce their feed too! Great series. I've never had chickens in my life, so this is such great exposure to how it's done. The end cost per bird will be an interesting conclusion. Costco sells organic whole chickens for about $10/bird, but who knows where or how they were raised.
Organic has become a misused label. Commercial organic feed is still not like free range or pastured. I am becoming suspicious of the marketing gimmicks used.
Very cool. Are you going to weight bones Separate on harvest? May have been camera angle but one's feet looked bigger. Bone vs meat may be a factor. TY
Have a great day!
Jenenda
I really like that Chicken Shirt.
Love factual info! Thanks for sharing!
Do y'all mind sharing what percentage of protein your feed (beyond the chick starter) contains? I switched to a higher protein content with my current batch and am seeing higher losses even though I'm still 12 hours on and 12 hours off feed. It could be coincidental, but I'd love to compare with your statistics. Thank you for doing this experiment! I had planned to do the EXACT same thing next year and y'all are saving me the trouble ;-)
Sarah, are you planning on selling any loofahs at the farmers market? I have seen some easy melt and pour soaps with loofahs in them and I think they would sell Really Well. God bless!
When you are factoring the conversion, you are comparing a mix of male/female vs. only male because you are using the total feed consumption of each group. Could that make a difference?
That shirt on Kevin is awesome!
Enjoying this series. What sticks in my mind are all of the negative things that I've heard regarding the health of a Cornish Cross. Heart attacks and not able to walk come to mind. It makes me wonder if I would be eating some unhealthy mutant chicken. I have no experience raising them so I'd be curious to hear what you think about that? If I missed that in a previous video, I apologize.
Almost Homestead
i think either breed is probably both mutant. Neither look like blessd by CREATOR, AS THEY ARENT HEALTHY ENOUNGH TO HAVE DARK RED COMBS AND WATTLES. PINK WATTLES ARE UNHEALTHY. IVE ONLY RAISED CHICKENS AND GARDEN food.
I WAS TOLD BY AN ANCIENT CHICKEN BOOK, TO GIVE CHICKENS GREENS FIRST THING IN THE MORNING AND FEED IN THE AFTERNOON. My chickens are fully feathered and amazingly red in the combs
Shanah - Not sure what you mean by ''blessed by our CREATOR'.' All the myriad of creatures on this earth have their origins in the animals that our LORD brought to the Ark. Very few of today's animal or vegetable foods are unchanged even over a few centuries. Cattle and horses are 2 examples of breeding for size or milk or meat production. That is the case with these two cross breed varieties of chickens. Bred for rapid maturity and meat production. They might be compared to a flower developed for color, size, fragrance. I hope this helps. Re: feeding greens .. YES INDEED - the egg yolks of greens-fed hens are orange, probably full of V-A, & of course the taste is worth the effort!
ty
Thank you for sharing these videos I am learning a lot and I am interested in raising meat birds in the future and this has been a big help in understanding how to raise and care for them. I do have one question...is there a reason that the birds are bald in places? Thanks
Would it be possible for a final cost on food once the birds are ready for processing just to give newbies an idea on the cost of raising their own chickens?
Maybe what type of food that you are using :)
I was wondering how much larder and freezer space you need to provide for your family over the year. :)
I'm concerned that the chickens are reacting to confinement so closely with other chickens. Fewer chickens in that size tractor and area available for roosting. My plans for starting up a small flock include much larger mobile housing with providing more ground-space per bird.
I’m enjoying this series very informative
Enjoying your series. Look at the size of those Cornish legs in comparison to the FR's. I've noticed our roosters tend to eat more than hens so should you factoring that to reflect if the FR's were all roosters since you're adjusting the rations for the three absent CX's? 👍
Your vids get my 'inquiring mind' into high gear. Went online for pix of 5 wk chicks. Both the CC & FR are twice the size of regular chicks. Comparison of feathering interesting. Trivia: are the combs of the FR bigger than CC? BTW will you give a shot of your trees once they turn red & yellow? Here in AR the dogwoods are already bright red, with scattering of yellows. Wish your folks could have stayed for fall color extravaganza.
Freedom rangers should do just that. Range. Keeping them in a tractor keeps the from building muscle while hunting insects. They would do all this and the Cornish would just sit there. Don't treat a ranger like a Cornish. Rangers convert insects and they are survivors. They have instincts Cornish don't. Thinks of all the feed you would save by keeping the insect population down.
If you soak your grain you can save 20% on your feed bill
Do you think the Cornish will be ready to process earlier than the Freedom Rangers? If you have to feed the FR longer, won't that shoot the better feed conversion?
GOOD VIDEO!!!
What hatchery do you use/order from? I know you have said it before, but I have forgotten.
You should try actual free ranging an see how much it off seats the feed
Keep it up, this is great.
Great job