Freedom Ranger Chickens
"This breed of chicken, makes a wonderful meat bird. They grow healthy and are great for free ranging. A must have for any family wanting to raise their own chickens for meat or eggs."
Oct 17 2009, 21:31 PMby Rosie
The best non-white broiler strain
"If you're looking for an alternative meat chicken, these cannot be beat. At 12 weeks, I had dressed weights that averaged close to 6 lbs. Out of 150, I only lost one past the first week. He died at 11 1/2 weeks. Anyone who raises cornish cross would likely expect at least 5 or 6 deaths when only raising to 8 weeks. Mortality is very low in these. They are a beautiful bird, too. It's amost a shame to eat them, but they taste so good..."
Oct 06 2009, 09:26 AMby UncleHoot
11-14 weeks, 6-9lbs!
"I raised about 300 of the Broilers over last summer and they were absolutely wonderful! I processed them between 11 and 14 weeks. The meat was unbelievably tender (and delicious) and they weighed between 6 and 9 pounds! They are great grazers and have much more personality than other chickens that I have come to know.
Not only will I never raise anything else, but my neighbors too are becoming converts!"
Sep 25 2009, 11:01 AMby Anonymous
Freedom Rangers on Pasture
"We raise JM's colored broilers/Freedom Rangers in chicken tractors (Polyface/Salatin style) on pasture on our farm in Gibsonville, NC. We've done one set of Cornish X as well, but that was the last one you will ever see on our farm. Our family and our customers prefer the slower growing colored broilers. They forage well on pasture and are a much more attractive bird. We have had no issues with dressing out these birds either."
Sep 23 2009, 07:41 AMby Asgard Farm
Excellent Freedom Rangers
"I have to say what a pleasure to raise. We purchased 100 Freedom Rangers on July 1 and they are so much better than cornish rocks - AKA the "un chicken." Every chick has survived, are growing, and we plan to process 35 this week and let the rest finish our until October. We will be back as customers next year."
Aug 25 2009, 22:47 PMby Mark G
Comment: Colored Range Chicks
"We are MORE than satisfied with our Colored Range Chickens. There is no comparison between these and the Cornish Crosses that we have raised for years. If only we had known about these earlier, we would have rasied these, and not wasted our time on the Cornish. What a change from watching the Cornish sit in the feeder, and die like flies from heat, heart problems, and failed legs. Now we watch these healthy, happy birds enjoy endless roaming like chickens were meant to do! Never again will we raise anything but your birds! Thanks!"
Aug 24 2009, 00:21 AMby Scott Schaible
OUTSTANDING
"Excellent birds & great customer service!!!
I'm not one to give praise when undeserved, but we are sold on J.M. Hatchery.
We ordered 100 colored chickens, 15 guinea, 15 muscovy, & 15 campbells. Out of all those we lost only one chick and that was after there was a mistake with the post office and the chicks were an extra day with the post office.
We'll have to post after processing the birds in order to report more."
Aug 06 2009, 16:38 PMby Old McRonald's Grass Fed Farm
very pleased with these chicks!
"We ordered 100 of these last summer and were very pleased with the end result. We free-ranged all day from 4 weeks on, with supplemental feed only at night.They happily forgaed just like any other chicken. Butchered most at 11 weeks, average dressed weight was 4.5 pounds, with some monsters well over 6 pounds. All were still fully feathered and beautiful, unlike the bald, nasty looking cornish broilers. Kept a few back for our flock and they have been decent layers, laying usually every other day, calm, friendly, easy to manage chickens. We kept one rooster who is now nearing a year old and when last weighed a few months ago, was 16 pounds! He has only recently began limping some, likely from jumping down from roosts and incessanty chasing hens, and so he will unfortunately end up in the freezer as well. Otherwise, not one of the other chickens had any leg issues at all, and the few losses we had were accidental, save for one that dropped dead for no obvious reason at 9 weeks. They all were very meaty, tender, and tasted fabulous, customers were delighted and increased their orders this year. Just order 150 more- you will not be disappointed with these birds!"
Jul 27 2009, 13:12 PMby michelle schwake
Good experience raising and eating these
"We butchered our rangers at 11 weeks, with none dressing at less than 5#, and some up over 7# dressed weight. They remained vigorous, calm, and thrifty, and continued to forage in the pasture even at those high weights. They never got any medicated feed or other medication, and never got sick. Very easy birds to manage, and beautiful to look at. And they are delicious and meaty."
Jul 13 2009, 03:27 AMby Heather Houlahan, Brandywine Farm
4-H Broiler chicks
"We ordered (50) chicks for my 3 kids' 4-H broiler chicks. They arrived last Friday and are doing great. I am so anxious to see how they do. We only have 7 weeks to get them up to a minimum of 4 pounds (max. of 7 lbs.). Everyone in our county orders from one hatchery and gets cornish rock X's. We didn't want cornish rocks and my sister has ordered from JM Hatchery in the past and been very pleased, so we thought we would give it a try. It's only been 3 days now, but they're doing great and we haven't lost any of them - despite the fact that we have 2 Jack Russell dogs who would love to have a few for a meal. I'll have to post again later to let you know how they did at the county fair. It's August 14th. If we win, I'm sure that everyone will want to know where we got them from."
Jun 29 2009, 10:15 AMby Jenny Hodge
