Freedom Rangers
Our choice for broilers (meat birds) is the Freedom Ranger. We wanted a faster growing, large bird, but weren't crazy about the commercial Cornish cross. These chickens were developed in France for the French Label Rouge Free Range Program in the 1960's. They have either red or tri-colored feathers, and yellow skin. They reach a dressed weight of about 5-6 lbs by 12 weeks - so a little longer than your commercial birds, but less than your heritage breeds. We sometimes let our roosters go a few extra weeks because we like a bigger bird for the freezer. They are good foragers, and do well in the "chicken tractors" (as written about by Joel Salatin.) Fully mature, the roosters push 12lbs (as seen below - "Andre" is about the size of a turkey hen). Please order in advance, we do not hatch these weekly, especially for larger quantities.
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