"Hi just wanted potential customers and JM Hatchery to know how pleased we were with the colored rangers. I have never had such a great bird show up at my house ever - when we received our day old chicks they were all alive and bright eyed and bushy tailed! We did not lose any during or after shipping and none of them had pastey butt (not stressed from shipping). We butchered at 13 weeks and all the birds dressed out from 4.11 - 7.10 lbs, most dressed out at around 6lbs and above. I also want to thank Joel for his patiences in answering all my questions. I am hoping to re-order in a couple weeks and doing it all over again before christmas - since we do are own butchering I need to be done before it gets to cold. <br /> <br /> From my house to yours---We thank you!<br /> Michelle"

"I just wanted to say that these chickens live up to their name! The Freedom Rangers that I ordered from your hatchery are now 5 weeks old and bulking up nicely. We are raising them as a small flock of backyard meat chickens. From day one they have been active and curious, and once they went out on pasture they displayed all of the foraging activity that I had been hoping for. They roam around eating lots of grass and the occasional insect, watch the sky vigilantly for hawks, and scoot quickly to cover if they spot any danger. This is very important because I wanted them to be truly freerange, and now they can have their freedom during the day, and get locked up in the chicken tractor at night. They are appropriately wary of people, but since my boys handled them so much as chicks they are not alarmed when we come near, and consent to be held and herded around as needed. All around our experience has been very positive so far, and we can't wait to see how they taste!"

"We have a small organic fowl farm in Climax NY, Susie's Climax Creations. Your Freedom Rangers have surpassed our expectations even with the terrible heat spell we had thru July. We had to schedule to take them to the "salon" two weeks earlier then expected! They filled out wonderful. Thank you for your birds and great service Susie"

"Raised my second batch of 25 this year. No losses raising up to 9 weeks until transport. Feed conversion rate to market whole chickens on certified organic grain with free access to weedy forage was 3.55 and birds averaged 4.06 lbs market weight. They do forage - not as aggressively as hens, but quite a bit. Everyone who has had them love them - far superior taste. I unfortunately lost some birds in transport to processing due to the extreme heatwave this week - nothing I can blame JM for - just realize that they can still be quite susceptible to heat at these weights. If I had Cornish, I hate to think what my losses could have been."

"After raising the traditional white breeds of broiler birds and never being quite satisfied I researched what other producers were raising on pasture and found "Freedom Rangers" referenced a number of times. I decided to give them a try and gulped at the price. I went ahead and ordered 50, feeling a bit nervous. The birds arrived on Saturday and were very lively. Unlike my previous ventures all 51 thrived and I had no leg or health issues and they did nicely on pasture. They ate a lot! Right when I began to worry about them sizing up properly, I checked the purchase date and realized they were right on track. To summarize they were much more vigorous than the "white broilers", sized up at 8 weeks and dressed out around 4 - 4.5 lbs on average. The surprising and delightful result was an amazing taste that we were not anticipating. A friend who purchased a bird from me reported the flavor was amazing and asked what I did differently. I had to try one right away and sure enough, even though I did nothing differently in raising them, from other years, they were far superior in flavor. While the cost is a bit steep, they are such a superior bird. I am very pleased and am ordering again!"

"Received the group of 50 rangers today in the mail and all are doing well. A vigrous and healthy bunch. Thanks!"

"I just wanted to tell you I bought 50 ranger chicks,they were so healthy.I now have them in freezer and they taste great.will be ordering more.Thanks"

"Ordered 60 Freedom Rangers from J M Hatchery. Got 62 in the mail this morning. Great Looking Chicks! All were alive and very very active, not sluggish in anyway. Had contacted the hatchery several times and the staff was always very helpful. Nothing but good things to say about these folks."

"Your chick arrived on Friday as planed. Thankn you so much for sending healthy, beatiful, active chicks. We have ordered from other hatcherys over the years and by far your are the best. Keep up the good work. IHN Ginger"

"Here is a better, more readable version minus the ms word line brakes..... Last summer when we visited California, Kate and I had dinner at Chez Panisse (the famous Alice Waters restaurant in Berkley) and a number of us ordered "Brick Chicken." It was the most delicious, juicy, flavorful chicken I had ever tasted. The succulence of the dish came not only from the simple manner in which it was cooked, but also from the first-rate flavor inherent in this particular bird. As I am told, I can be a serious food snob (although I like to consider myself just a "locavore foodie") and the quality to me not just of the cooking, but the produce, meat, fish, etc.. at Chez Pannise is always exceptional. My theory, derived from the many cooks in my life and good meals I've had, is that the quality of the ingredients determines the quality of the meal. I know lots of people share this view, yet even I find in the local, sustainable, organic/bio-diverse food movement there seems to be a lack of discourse about taste. That local, sustainable, organic/bio-diverse food TASTES better. To me, this is an end unto itself. Given those philosophies, that I love a good project, that we secretly want to be farmers, and the prospect of having chicken that tasted that good all the time, I set out to find those birds the very next day with the intent of raising a few myself and eventually eating them. I first called the reservation line at Chez Panisse and sat on hold forever as always. But I was determined and waited, and waited… when the usual gentleman got on (I cannot remember his name, but he is very nice and always obliging) I asked him my question, “Where did you get the chicken I ate last night?” He immediately put me in touch with the chef. I suddenly felt honored to have waited so long. I was going to talk to the chef at Chez Panisse! Chef was just as accommodating and told me they got them from a local couple who pasture raised chickens: Alexis and Eric at Soul Food Farm. I waited until I returned to Philadelphia to contact Soul Food, but when I did I was met yet again with accommodation and friendly discussion. Alexis told me the birds she raised came from JM Hatchery in New Holland, PA., practically just around the corner from me. This pleased me even more, no boxes to ship across country. I quickly emailed JM Hatchery to find out more about the birds. Joel, the proprietor, was a very nice guy and emailed me countless times to discuss the HUGE order I was placing 8 months from then: 6 chicks. I went and picked up those birds today, and here begins the next step of my journey. The prospect of raising these birds (and eventually eating them) excited Joel as much as it did me. I couldn’t have found a friendlier and more helpful group of people along the way. Thank you Chez Panisse, Soul food Farm, and JM Hatchery. Bon appétit!"