Hi from New Hampshire

[baymule]

Yes, I have raised Cornish Cross, I got chicks. I kept them past the golden standard of 6 weeks and let them get to a hefty carcass size. I have raised them twice and documented it right here on SS. Here's links to my threads.

Cornish Cross Spring 2018 Cost/Profit/Loss or Freezer Meat

I got 30 Cornish Cross chicks this morning, one was dead, leaving 29. They cost $1.60 each. We got week old CCX chicks at TSC a few days ago for FREE. We got 25, one died leaving 24. So now we have 53 CCX chicks. I will post cost, any sales, and freezer meat. Y’all join in...

www.sufficientself.com

Cornish Cross Spring 2019

I ordered 50 CCX chicks through Tractor Supply on April 8,2019. There was very little information, such as, where they were coming from or when they would ship, like you get when dealing directly with a hatchery. I finally got a notification that they were shipping and would be here on April 12...

www.sufficientself.com

If you want to stock the freezer in a short time, it is a great way to do so. I still like the meat of a scrawny young layer breed rooster better. LOL I haven't found my "it" breed. I currently have Easter Eggers and they are fun for the colored eggs. I have a line on two breeders for Jubilee Orpingtons, which I love for their beautiful coloring. The two breeders will be at a chicken swap in April and I am going to buy a trio.

The Dixie Rangers sound interesting......I'll have to check into those! @Lazy Gardener how do they compare to the Cornish Cross for growth rate and taste?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Yes, I have raised Cornish Cross, I got chicks. I kept them past the golden standard of 6 weeks and let them get to a hefty carcass size. I have raised them twice and documented it right here on SS. Here's links to my threads.

Cornish Cross Spring 2018 Cost/Profit/Loss or Freezer Meat

I got 30 Cornish Cross chicks this morning, one was dead, leaving 29. They cost $1.60 each. We got week old CCX chicks at TSC a few days ago for FREE. We got 25, one died leaving 24. So now we have 53 CCX chicks. I will post cost, any sales, and freezer meat. Y’all join in...

www.sufficientself.com

Cornish Cross Spring 2019

I ordered 50 CCX chicks through Tractor Supply on April 8,2019. There was very little information, such as, where they were coming from or when they would ship, like you get when dealing directly with a hatchery. I finally got a notification that they were shipping and would be here on April 12...

www.sufficientself.com

If you want to stock the freezer in a short time, it is a great way to do so. I still like the meat of a scrawny young layer breed rooster better. LOL I haven't found my "it" breed. I currently have Easter Eggers and they are fun for the colored eggs. I have a line on two breeders for Jubilee Orpingtons, which I love for their beautiful coloring. The two breeders will be at a chicken swap in April and I am going to buy a trio.

The Dixie Rangers sound interesting......I'll have to check into those! @Lazy Gardener how do they compare to the Cornish Cross for growth rate and taste?

My DR came from MMc. I've no doubt that each hatchery sells it's own "brand". (different parent genetics to produce the particular hybrid they are marketing.) MMc no longer carries a bird similar to the ones I had. An extensive hatchery search came up with Rainbow Rangers at Meyer. The photo shows color patterns and description matching the DR I had from MMc. In the photo, all MY pullets resembled the 3solid light red birds at front left of the pic, while all the males resembled the very light red/buff.white bird with tail pointing at 2 o'clock.

https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?prodID=RRBS



I wonder how Freedom Rangers would compare to the DR?

Thanks for posting your results with CXR. I think that the grow out stats and results are well worth posting! The DR do not grow out quite as fast, nor do they yield quite as large a carcass. They are ready for freezer before the cockerels reach sexual maturity. I would plan on processing at about 12 weeks, while a similar CXR carcass would likely be processed between 8 - 10 weeks. DR are a bit longer through chest, and much longer through the leg than a CXR of similar dressed weight.

IMO, the benefit of DR: They are sex linked or auto sexing (not really sure which) The females are a light red, solid color: similar to NH Red. IIRC, the females have yellow/willow colored legs. The males are lighter in color, with a combination of red/buff/white feathering. Kind of like a muddied barred pattern. Their legs are bright yellow. And their legs are massive in diameter compared to the pullets. I found the distinct coloring of the males carried through in the second generation even when the chicks from DR were sired by a red based EE.

Dr pullets make great layers. CXR: Not an option!

Taste: I really can't speak to that, since I've not been able to do a side by side comparison. It's been decades since I raised CXR. I found that the DR were great, perhaps not quite as mushy tender as the CXR. CXR easier to process b/c of the white feathers, and they are being processed while a few weeks younger, thus more tender, easier to pluck.

The DR are more active than the CXR. I would be willing to bet that the viability is higher. It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison, of feed conversion rates, with each flock being given access to the same housing, range, same feed schedule. If one were to raise them without access to range, the CXR would win the feed conversion race. On range, I bet it would be equal, or perhaps the DR winning the race.

If I wanted to get a lot of meat in the freezer on a tight time schedule, I'd most likely opt for CXR. I also think they are cheaper to buy. If time was not an issue, and if I had plenty of SAFE range available, I'd opt for the DR.

 

[baymule]

I may have to look into them. My one chicken customer likes the CX, as do my DD and family. The chicken customer pays for our CX consumption, so it is a good deal for us. Son in law calls our freezer the grocery store LOL LOL.

 

[NHMounttainman]

DR are not at all flighty. They quickly get too heavy to even consider that option. As for dealing with your electronet, it would be an excellent option in your orchard for your DR or CXR. It will keep out all land predators. All you would then have to worry about would be aerial preds. I've found that it's fairly easy to thwart them.

You would do well to put up the electronet, then run some fish or mason's line between the trees. You could even tie strips of mylar to those lines. Any open areas could then be further booby trapped by driving fiberglass fence posts into the ground. Also, give them several covers to duck under. Trick is to place these in such a fashion that the birds can't use them as platforms to launch themselves over the e-net. I feel fairly confident that this would provide decent safety for any full sized birds that stay INSIDE the electronet.

(Knock on wood). I've had huge hawk issues over the last 4 years. Brazen, bold evil creatures they are. They hang out in the woods to the west of my yard. They would often sit in the trees, and taunt me. I could get within 10' of them, and they'd just sit there and yack at me. They would perch on the top rail of the chicken run. They would run back and forth on the ground in front of my cockerel grow out pen to terrorize them.

My neighbor feeds the birds, which attracts the crows. In spite of other neighbors shooting the crows... (in an ignorant attempt to keep them from digging the grubs out of their lawns. HELLO???? Those crows are doing you a favor!!!) The local crow population is a bit higher than in previous peak hawk years. So... last year, I put electronet around my covered chicken run in a dual attempt to thwart Mr. Fox, and give the birds access to grass. In the open electronet area, I placed fiberglass fence posts about every 5 - 10'. While hawks can easily fly into an electronet enclosure, I've found that when the enclosure is littered with "spikes" they are not willing to risk injury to their wings to do so. The hawks are still around, but I did not sustain any hawk losses last summer.

Finally, if you don't have a good population of crows, I suggest that you attract them. A platform feeder with corn would do the trick nicely. You might have to put up some sort of baffle to keep the wild turkeys from breaking your crow feed budget!

great advice ~ thank you!

 

[NHMounttainman]

My DR came from MMc. I've no doubt that each hatchery sells it's own "brand". (different parent genetics to produce the particular hybrid they are marketing.) MMc no longer carries a bird similar to the ones I had. An extensive hatchery search came up with Rainbow Rangers at Meyer. The photo shows color patterns and description matching the DR I had from MMc. In the photo, all MY pullets resembled the 3solid light red birds at front left of the pic, while all the males resembled the very light red/buff.white bird with tail pointing at 2 o'clock.

https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?prodID=RRBS



I wonder how Freedom Rangers would compare to the DR?

Thanks for posting your results with CXR. I think that the grow out stats and results are well worth posting! The DR do not grow out quite as fast, nor do they yield quite as large a carcass. They are ready for freezer before the cockerels reach sexual maturity. I would plan on processing at about 12 weeks, while a similar CXR carcass would likely be processed between 8 - 10 weeks. DR are a bit longer through chest, and much longer through the leg than a CXR of similar dressed weight.

IMO, the benefit of DR: They are sex linked or auto sexing (not really sure which) The females are a light red, solid color: similar to NH Red. IIRC, the females have yellow/willow colored legs. The males are lighter in color, with a combination of red/buff/white feathering. Kind of like a muddied barred pattern. Their legs are bright yellow. And their legs are massive in diameter compared to the pullets. I found the distinct coloring of the males carried through in the second generation even when the chicks from DR were sired by a red based EE.

Dr pullets make great layers. CXR: Not an option!

Taste: I really can't speak to that, since I've not been able to do a side by side comparison. It's been decades since I raised CXR. I found that the DR were great, perhaps not quite as mushy tender as the CXR. CXR easier to process b/c of the white feathers, and they are being processed while a few weeks younger, thus more tender, easier to pluck.

The DR are more active than the CXR. I would be willing to bet that the viability is higher. It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison, of feed conversion rates, with each flock being given access to the same housing, range, same feed schedule. If one were to raise them without access to range, the CXR would win the feed conversion race. On range, I bet it would be equal, or perhaps the DR winning the race.

If I wanted to get a lot of meat in the freezer on a tight time schedule, I'd most likely opt for CXR. I also think they are cheaper to buy. If time was not an issue, and if I had plenty of SAFE range available, I'd opt for the DR.

Thank you - this is SO helpful!

 

[flowerbug]

moose! arg! deer are bad enough... i suspect minimum of 8ft fence for them... never had to deal with them.

 

[NHMounttainman]

moose! arg! deer are bad enough... i suspect minimum of 8ft fence for them... never had to deal with them.

This guy walked through our orchard about 3 weeks ago.
I don't think that any fence stops a moose. The don't see well, are not very bright, and can be very aggressive. I've had one walk straight though electric poultry netting and dragged it hundreds of feet - tearing it to shreds. other than being big oafs, they don't do much damage - unless something follows them through the fence they've destroyed.The camera is set at about 5 feet off the ground. So the moose' hump is probably 7-7.5 feet.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I ❤ moose. He's a beauty!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Gotta love the randomness of a moose. Looks like God took all the left over bits and pieces, as He was wrapping up day # 6, and tossed them together to use them up. The duck billed platypus and the lovely moose were among the "random left over" creations.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

Thank you for the welcome. Happy to discuss geothermal with you at any time.
Question on turkeys - we have have a ton of wild turkey in the area (and a very short and restricted hunting period) - will I have issues with wild turkey interfering with my turkey flock?

Hi!! You will definitely learn a lot from our forums. please stay active and enjoy!