Anyone try Red Rangers as egg layers?

I was curious how well the Red Rangers" lay. I was thinking about buying 20 straight runs for meat and thought I might save one or two for egg laying...

A breeder I spoke to told me he gets a large egg a day from his Red Ranger hens. I haven't seen anything online to support the claim, but don't think he had any reason to lie. I hope to have my coop set up in the next couple of months. I'm going to try a few of them myself & will post my results. At worst they'll be good eating.

MrNick said:

A breeder I spoke to told me he gets a large egg a day from his Red Ranger hens. I haven't seen anything online to support the claim, but don't think he had any reason to lie. I hope to have my coop set up in the next couple of months. I'm going to try a few of them myself & will post my results. At worst they'll be good eating.

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I've decided to go with Cornish Crosses (due to time constraints, need to butcher before an upcoming vacation) but I might grab a female Red Ranger just to see how it does... I'll also be ordering an ISA Brown, should be a really good layer that's a little easier on the feed bill.

I got three ducks, three dual-purpose for eggs, and 12 Red Rangers for meat on 7/8/14.

Unfortunately, we had a freak accident last night that killed one of our DP chicks, so I'm planning on keeping the two smallest Ranger hens we have as replacement egg layers for the one we lost and see how they do since I'm not really in a position to brood more chicks right now and I don't want to miss out on eggs.

From what I understand, Rangers can be hit or miss at egg laying since they are hybrids that were developed to be specifically meat birds. BUT since they are hybrid between RIR's and LS's which are both excellent layers, I've heard from a few reliable sources who've kept them that Red Rangers can be prolific layers of large brown eggs. It will really depend on the individual chicken.

So it's pointless to raise them with the express purpose of being DP's because you may well end up with a dud in the laying department, and they eat a lot more than true DP's so they aren't cost efficient for the purpose.

However, if you need a replacement hen in an a backyard flock such in my case, they could well make an excellent substitute. If my pullets turn out to be good egg layers, they will solve my problem for my situation very efficiently.

It's not like I can't eat them if they don't work out, right?

I'll report back to this thread when they get old enough to lay so future folks who need this answered can get some information.

Ok, so as promised, I'm back to report on my Red Rangers as layers.

They started laying in mid-December and I'm getting an egg a day from each of them even in the middle of winter with no supplemental light. They lay beautiful large brown eggs, and I'm getting at least one double-yolker a week.

Have had no issues to speak of with them or with production.

I consider this experiment a success and will be keeping my favorite Red Ranger as a layer and selling the rest.

Ibicella said:

Ok, so as promised, I'm back to report on my Red Rangers as layers. 


They started laying in mid-December and I'm getting an egg a day from each of them even in the middle of winter with no supplemental light. They lay beautiful large brown eggs, and I'm getting at least one double-yolker a week.


Have had no issues to speak of with them or with production. 


I consider this experiment a success and will be keeping my favorite Red Ranger as a layer and selling the rest.


 

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Just wondering, about how old were they when they started laying? I have one in a flock with my white leghorns and just curious as to what to expect.

My dixie rainbow (which is the same as a ranger but from a different hatchery, from my understanding) layed her first egg at 19 weeks and after a few soft eggs has been reliable for about 4-6 eggs a week. They are very pretty dark brown too

mosleym said:

Just wondering, about how old were they when they started laying? I have one in a flock with my white leghorns and just curious as to what to expect.

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we kept 3 they began laying week 15!!!!!! We get 5 a week from 2 and 3 a week from one but almost always hers are double yolkers

So. Have just stumbled upon this thread...
I got a RR pullet nearly matured when my flock was reduced to one bird by captors. Didn't know it was a "meat bird", just the size needed to give 2nd thoughts to the hawks. She's huge! She started off laying in late fall with some weird eggs, but has since been giving alternately large and giant moderately brown eggs, the latter being double yolk eggs. And spring has yet to arrive so she may improve further. I hope she will prove better at foraging than at hogging layer feed...

cochinsarecute said:

we kept 3 they began laying week 15!!!!!! We get 5 a week from 2 and 3 a week from one but almost always hers are double yolkers

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Red rangers or freedom rangers?