I'm raising 40 Red Ranger chickens this Spring/Summer of 2022 from day-olds to slaughter weight at 12-weeks old and will be meticulously recording feed consumption, costs, weekly weight gain, and anything else of note. Use the Table of Contents below to jump to the Weekly Updates which will eventually show you exactly how much it costs to raise these meat birds on pasture. If this is something you are curious about trying for yourself but are having difficulty finding the exact breakdown of raising meat birds, bookmark this page to follow along with my project.
We are entering our second year on the homestead and as we got off running in the first season, we are continuing the experimentation and amping up food production even more.
This season we are aiming to raise Red Ranger chickens (also called Rustic Rangers and Freedom Rangers) on pasture from day-old chicks to slaughter weight at 12 weeks old.
Twelve weeks is considerably sooner than the dual-purpose heritage breeds we did last year which can take as long as 6-months.
Jump to:
- About The Red Ranger aka Rustic Ranger aka Freedom Ranger
- Preparation & Initial Costs
- Feed Costs:
- How We Are Cutting Down On Feed Costs:
- End of Week 1 Update — The Chicks Have Arrived (March 30th 2022)
- End of Week 2 Update — Rapid Growth (April 6th 2022)
- End of Week 3 Update — Get OUT of My House! (April 13th 2022)
- End of Week 4 Update — Birds Are OUT! (April 20th, 2022)
- 💬 Comments
About The Red Ranger aka Rustic Ranger aka Freedom Ranger
The Red Ranger/Rustic Ranger/Freedom Ranger chicken breed is classed as a slower-growth meat bird that is an alternative to the Cornish Cross (White Rock Cornish X) meat chicken breed.
The Red Ranger is known to be an excellent forager that does well on pasture-based systems. This quality has been completely bred out of the Cornish Cross while simultaneously breeding in an insatiable appetite so that they essentially sit by their food source and eat, and eat, and eat and gain.
If the bird is not duly slaughtered in time it will grow so big that its heart bursts — but that is only if its legs don't break under the massive weight of the bird first.
This is the most common chicken we all eat.
The Red Ranger is a dual-purpose breed that can be kept as an egg layer too. They will produce roughly 180 eggs starting at about 18-weeks annually if allowed too.
This also means that you can breed them yourselves and incubate and hatch your own Rustic Ranger chicks at home.
The downside is that it takes the Red Ranger an additional 4 weeks to grow large enough to slaughter — that means an additional 4 weeks of feed costs, cleaning, and care.
After enough research, I decided I really didn’t want to raise Cornish Cross chickens. The descriptions of them sound absolutely disgusting and it seems more of a cruelty to keep this breed alive than anything.
Last spring we incubated and hatched Bresse chickens, a dual-purpose heritage breed from France as well as gorgeous English Orpingtons — another dual-purpose heritage breed. Both are incredible breeds and although I am not continuing with the Bresse (with much hesitation trust me) I am holding on to my beautiful flock of Orpingtons.
Preparation & Initial Costs
Order your chicks early before they sell out.
And as soon as you have your day-old Red Rangers ordered and a set date for pick-up — count 12 weeks ahead and BOOK YOUR CHICKEN PROCESSOR IMMEDIATELY.
I cannot tell you how many people think they can book a processor at the last minute or even a week or month before!
My chicken groups are full of panicked chicken keepers with dozens of birds that they cannot get a processing appointment for.
Book ASAP. I would call around ahead of time to find the best price too.
Have chicken crates ordered too (shop around for used) or figure out a safe transportation system for your birds. A large dog cage works too — it's what we had for our Orpingtons and Bresse last year.
Dog crates are easy to come by cheaply used, but make sure your chicken processor will accept birds transported that way first.
The Upfront Costs & Prep Work:
We will be using the same amazing Deep Litter System Method we use in our primary coop. This saves so much time and money to begin with and is so much easier than the alternatives.
Date of Pickup: March 23rd, 2022
Cost: $2.85 per chick straight run.
$114.00 total for 40.
Slaughter Date: June 16th, 2022
Cost: $3.50 per bird.
$140.00 total for 40
So far the Red Ranger chickens have cost me $6.35 per bird and they haven't even been born or picked up yet, never mind fed for 12 entire weeks.
(Keep in mind that these are Canadian dollars and that your own costs will vary.)
We are not doing the slaughtering ourselves this year as we did the last year.
In a normal year, no problem. But we were (and still are) renovating the old farmhouse. We are also expecting our second baby sometime in June of 2022 — right around the same time the chickens are ready.
I do not fancy going into labor while being elbow-deep in chicken guts while my toddler cries in horror at the expanding scene in front of him.
As I’m also running my first Straw Bale Gardening experiment this year, it's a busy spring and summer on the homestead.
Nonetheless, slaughtering your own is obviously going to save a lot of money.
Feed Costs:
I feed a soy-free, GMO-free chicken grower feed from Windy Field Farms.
Although not certified organic, the farm practices minimal pesticide/herbicide use (only as necessary) and a healthy system of crop rotation to keep the need for pesticides down and the soil healthy.
Finding organic feed here that isn't mostly just soy and corn has proven impossible. Never mind, finding a whole grain feed too. I may look into mixing or growing my own, but not this year
It costs $22 per 25KG bag or $860 per bulk tonne of poultry grower.
We are not set up for bulk totes so we have to buy in bags but get a volume discount for ordering a certain amount too.
How We Are Cutting Down On Feed Costs:
We are raising our red rangers on pasture and limiting feed to certain times to keep them foraging for food and hunting for bugs.
See: How To Free-Range Chickens (4 Methods)
We are also fermenting the feed first and looking at even more creative ways to save money on feed costs. I actually have an article on that and will be implementing many of the tips I write about in 25 Ways To Save Money On Chicken Feed.
Here is what I'm primarily focusing on:
- Fermenting their feed
- Pasturing and free changing
- Kitchen scraps
- Scrambled eggs from laying flock
- Compost
- Hanging Maggot Bucket
If You Are Processing Yourself:
Make sure you have restraining cones ordered in advance. Last year they sold out in many places.
This is the one we used. I really like the stainless steel construction and the large size and found it accommodated both my Bresse and Orpington chickens as well as our large ducks.
Figure out if you're going to pluck by hand or rent/borrow/buy a chicken plucker — although the best time to figure out a plucker (if buying) was December or January when they go on sale.
Make sure you have a sharp dispatching knife so that you can quickly and humanely slit the throat.
Have stainless steel buckets for collecting blood, viscera, feathers etc.
If this is your first time slaughtering a chicken and you're nervous about slitting the throat for the first time, consider using a pair of very sharp, long-handled, garden shears and lopping off the head in one quick and sudden motion instead.
End of Week 1 Update — The Chicks Have Arrived (March 30th 2022)
Wednesday, March 30th 2022
We picked up 44 Red Ranger (Rustic Ranger) chicks at Frey's Hatchery in St. Jacob's.
They had given us an extra 4 chicks to account for early losses which I thought was nice.
And since I ended up losing two chicks in this first week, it was very much appreciated.
(I also called the hatchery the night before and got them to add 6 day-old Azure Blue chicks to my order. They'll grow up to lay 295 BLUE eggs annually!)
I did not weigh them that first day, but I have weighed them daily since then by randomly picking up 8-12 chicks, putting them into a bowl, and using my kitchen scale to achieve an average.
I'm also keeping track of how much feed they're going through and I'm fermenting their feed.
(If I wanted to be super detailed and thorough, I would separate the chicks into two brooders, give one dry feed and the second fermented. I could also band a random selection of chicks in each group and only weigh them — but we will have to wait to be that specific next year!)
I'm impressed by quickly they're growing and how vigorous and healthy they are.
I'm brooding the chicks in my kitchen dining room using a second-hand playpen for a brooder with chopped straw (my preferred bedding) and two Titan Heat Plates. The heat plates give me peace of mind that I won't burn my house down.
(If you want more information on raising baby chicks, I recommend my article on Brooding & Raising Chicks and also When Can Baby Chicks Go Outside?)
Daily Weight Gain
March 23rd - no weigh-in (lazy)
March 24th - 44 grams
March 25th - 49 grams
March 26th - 60 grams
March 27th - 67 grams
March 28th - 71 grams
March 29th - 74 grams
March 30th - 76 grams
Feed Consumed
The 42 Red Ranger chicks have consumed a total of 8,000 grams of grower feed, (fermented) in the first 7 days of their life. That is 17 lbs of chicken feed or 8KG.
They also receive one scrambled egg daily (free) from my laying hens.
I already can't wait to get them out of my kitchen and into their coop on pasture. I wish it were electrified like my primary coop — they would be out there already in that case.
End of Week 2 Update — Rapid Growth (April 6th 2022)
Wednesday April 6th 2022
Weekly Weight Gain: 200 grams
From an average of 76 grams to 200 grams in one week is a huge jump!
At the end of two weeks the 42 Red Ranger chicks have consumed 20,000 grams of fermented feed. Soon the 25KG bag will be done.
The chicks have also moved down into the basement and out of my kitchen. They are healthy and energetic and eating nonstop.
I have to clean out their playpen brooder twice a week now or the smell and waste buildup is just overwhelming.
Soon they will become too big for the playpen too.
Very soon.
This is pretty easy to be honest. We have two playpens set up with a layer of cardboard at the bottom, a layer of newspaper on top of the cardboard, and then a thick layer of chopped straw tops it all.
When I'm ready to clean the brooder, I move the chicks, the feed and water, and their heat plates into the sparkling clean playpen that is already set up and waiting. Then I gather up the top layers of newspaper and chopped straw and put them into a bin before taking it out to the compost pile.
It takes a few minutes.
With the chopped straw there is no dust and it just feels more hygienic. this is what I use outside in the coop for my main flock of Orpingtons too and it's the perfect material for Deep Litter.
I stopped weighing the chicks daily as it's rather pointless and I'm just going to weigh them weekly from now on. I'm still taking daily photographs though as it's fascinating to watch them grow and change.
In two weeks they move outside onto the pasture which is already showing signs of bugs and green growth.
I have to setup the hanging maggot bucket feeder this week too.
Very pleased with this experiment so far. I've decided to do the same thing with Muscovy Ducks once the Red Rangers have been slaughtered. I actually prefer duck meat and eggs and Muscovies are an excellent pasture bird with incredible foraging abilities.
End of Week 3 Update — Get OUT of My House! (April 13th 2022)
Wednesday April 13th 2022
Weekly Weight Gain: 300 grams!
Look how big they are now! I continue to be amazed at how fast they grow, especially compared to the Orpingtons and Bresse I hatched last year.
Look how feathered the chick is in the picture above!
We're moving the birds out this weekend. My husband has brought electricity to the shed/coop they will be living out the rest of their days in.
They will have their heat plates and a thick layer of chopped straw bedding and lots of water and feed.
I plan to keep them locked up in the coop for the first week before allowing them daily roaming and foraging time.
Raising birds inside, especially 42 Red Rangers + 6 Azure Blues + 6 Olive Eggers is DISGUSTING. You basically have to clean their brooders out every other day or the entire house starts to smell like a barn.
We don't have a garage built yet or any other suitable space where they can live, so they're going out a week early.
I'm SO thrilled. Very excited to deep clean the house just to feel more normal and sanitary.
(Oh and although unrelated, but I'm presently incubating 50 duck eggs in my living room — I think my husband might leave me?)
End of Week 4 Update — Birds Are OUT! (April 20th, 2022)
Wednesday, April 20th 2022
Weekly Weight Gain: 470 grams!
We brought electricity to the Red House (what we call that coop/shed) and set up the brooder inside of a smaller plastic container.
The half with their heat plates is covered with a blanket over top as well since we've had snow and below 0 degrees temperatures.
So far everything is fine and the birds are thriving.
My house no longer smells like a barn!
Some more photos, they're certainly not winning any beauty contests at this age, though most chicks enter an ugly phase at this time anyways:
This weekend I will let them roam free for a little bit and get used to being on pasture. I'm not going to start withholding feed yet though to encourage foraging — that is coming very soon. And I still have to get the hanging maggot bucket ready, I'm being lazy because this is such a simple task.
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Recommended Books
Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. This is a classic that everyone should have if they are planning on raising chickens. This book technically has everything you need within the pages. That being said, if you are looking for more organic and natural approaches to chicken-keeping, I recommend this book alongside something that will serve that purpose too.
The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers. This is my favourite. The most comprehensive guide to date on raising all-natural poultry for the small-scale farmer, homesteader, and professional grower. The Small-Scale Poultry Flock offers a practical and integrative model for working with chickens and other domestic fowl, based entirely on natural systems.
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