I have just a few minutes before having to go check on baby chicks and turkeys, refill water jugs, replenish feed trays, and check the heat lamps.  You see, right about now, that's how we spend our days.  We have so many babies on our farm and more on the way!  Here's an inventory of what we are currently caring for (and this is just what is being brooded, never mind what's on pasture):

• 50 Narragansett turkeys
• 250 Poulet Rouge chicks
• 100 Bourbon Red turkeys

coming next week:

• 50 Bourbon Red turkeys
• 250 Grey chicks

Now, about the chickens...we had written a post a while back explaining that we did not want to raise the traditional Cornish/Rock as our meat chickens and that we were excited to have found the Golden Rangers.  We have been pleased with these chickens and have enjoyed raising them, but unfortunately, the company we purchased the day-old-chicks from has gone out of business.  We have already ordered and received 250 new broiler chicks though from another hatchery, and we feel that it was a blessing in disguise.  We have been interested in the Label Rouge movement in France and wanted to raise breeds similar to this, hence the Golden Rangers.  The naked-neck chickens were our real aim, but we just couldn't find them anywhere in America, until now!  We found a supplier in Alabama who has taken the original strain of naked-neck chickens from France and simply bred them to put the feathers back on their necks because he found people liked the look of them better this way.  I say "simply" but actually he's a geneticist and I'm sure there was a lot of time put into this "simple" procedure.  Anyway, after searching him out, we decided to try some of his "Poulet Rouge" or "Naked-Neck Red" chicks for our next batch of broilers.  They are slower growing than the Cornish/Rocks, but still a relatively fast growing meat bird.  Also, they range much more than the Cornish which means they will forage well and should grow steadily but not too fast for their own good.  They are almost 3 weeks old and doing fantastic!  I was so upset on our first batch of Golden Ranger chicks that we lost the traditional 5%, but so far with the Poulet Rouge we have only lost 2 - not 2%, just 2 chicks out of 250!!  I can't wait to see them grow more and venture out to the pasture. 

After many conversations with the geneticist in Alabama, we became intrigued with what he is doing.  His interest seems to lie in taking traditional breeds of chickens and breeding them for characteristics that make them strong on pasture.  In particular he began this venture because he saw a lack of supply in the free-range market place.  He is able to retain the great "chickeny" taste of a traditional bird and the instincts of heritage breeds, but selectively breed them for faster growth on pasture.  Before you begin to think that this is how the Cornish/Rock disaster started, let me say that throughout his breeding, one of the characteristics he values is that the chickens continue to act like chickens - they will reproduce on their own, they will forage for grass and insects, and they will know to get up away from the feeder and get a drink of water when it is hot outside! 

We have been pleased with the Poule Rouge chicks, but we decided to try yet another breed of chicks for our next batch because he has told us about some chickens that he has derived from Barred Rocks.  He calls them Greys and says that they are of excellent quality.  We figured that it would be a good idea to compare the breeds and get feedback on taste before settling on our favorite.  We are very excited to receive them next week and are grateful for the relationship we have found with this hatchery.  Their service has been great and their knowledge of pasture-raised poultry and free-ranging chicks has been very helpful to us.  

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