The much anticipated (ok, well the anticipation was driving me crazy anyway!) Freedom Ranger chicks arrived via USPS this morning. All 50 babies looked great and were peeping their little heads off. Odin, Soren and I unloaded them into the brooder and showed each one the waterer. They drank a considerable amount, rested, then found the feeder.In the case of this poor little fellow, the 
excitement of the trip caught up with him mid-meal. He fell asleep right on top of the feeder! How cute is that? And on the subject of cuteness, it seems really wrong to me that meat birds should be so darn cute! I ordered red and bronze Rangers, and as you can see in the picture above the colors are pretty and variable from bird to bird. Pretty neat!
excitement of the trip caught up with him mid-meal. He fell asleep right on top of the feeder! How cute is that? And on the subject of cuteness, it seems really wrong to me that meat birds should be so darn cute! I ordered red and bronze Rangers, and as you can see in the picture above the colors are pretty and variable from bird to bird. Pretty neat!
As we do with most things, raising the Rangers will be a learning project for the kids. We're going to keep track of the cost of feed, how quickly the birds gain, cost of processing, etc. I'm curious to see what the total cost per bird will turn out to be. We're raising the Rangers naturally. They're on a non-medicated commercial chick starter right now. Once they're bigger they'll go outside into bottomless cages called chicken tractors where they can 'free range' in safety. The cages get moved every day to give the birds fresh ground to range on. We will not be using any chemicals, hormones, antibiotics or coccidiosis meds. The end result will be birds that have had a good life, were butchered humanely, and will provide extremely healthy high quality meat for my family. As a breed the Rangers have been bred specifically for organic/natural farmers that need a hardier, healthier bird. If you'd like to learn more about Freedom Rangers visit: http://www.freedomrangers.net/
1 comment:
Hi Elizabeth,
Your little chicks are cute. I am sure the kids are having a lot of fun with them. Good on you Elizabeth. When the time comes, and if you don't have the will to whack'm, just give me a call... I can come visit and take care of things for you. Hey, its a skill set my Grandma Anderson taught me with my first Boy Scouts ax on her farm!
Hey, some news from here... Thomas and "Ma Hadiyah minallah" (Arabic for "gift from God") sweetheart Karen left a couple of hours ago, heading back to North Carolina.
It was really great seeing Thomas. They arrived Friday right around midnight. We had a nice breakfast Saturday at Waffle House (Thomas' selection) with Karen's sister, his "Aunt Sally." The waitress came over and told us a gentleman had paid for our breakfast. She told us the man had told her to tell Thomas "thank you from a grateful nation." I am so glad people are supportive of the troops today, unlike those terrible Vietnam era days. Anyway, while I love all my children equally, and appreciate the special competencies each of you have and the accomplishments you're achieved... we can all choose to be honored by the duty to country Thomas is rendering, and recognize we've got a courageous war hero in the family. I count my blessings having each of you in my life... and ask Father in Heaven to keep you all -- especially Thomas -- safe and out of harm's way.
Following Breakfast, we ran up to the mall to do some shopping. As we were walking along, I saw a young boy about 6 or 7 pointing at Thomas and talking excitedly to his mom. I stopped Thomas and we went over to say hi. The young boy shook Thomas' hand as his mother explained how they were part of a group that baked cookies and sent them to the soldiers in Iraq. The little boy had diligently helped his mom many times with the cookies. Thomas was the first soldier in uniform her son had actually seen. He was so awe-struck by your brother in his uniform! Thomas was very good with the young boy, talking to him and thanking him for his cookies.
We went ice skating next and the guy sold us tickets at half-price. He thanked Thomas for his military service. That was neat. We proceeded to skate our butts off. Thomas can sure tear up the ice. Elizabeth, I remember skating you around when you were a newborn baby, back in 1976 when my dad was my current age (55). I was 23 at the time and having a lot of fun ice skating with my dad. Yesterday, watching Thomas go, go, go on the ice reminded me of those long ago days. As linear as life is without any "exact" repeating of events, times or places... it never the less gives each generation opportunities to follow in the footsteps of prior generations. As I once skated, Thomas can now skate and as my father once skated, I now [attempt] to skate (my dad was a great skater!)... we'll see how Thomas and his future kids do on the ice. Say... when are you and my grandkitzels going to get out on the ice with me? We need to make that happen!
From the rink, we went to the theater and I happened to run into a friend of mine from my Organic Chemistry class. He works at the theater. I introduced him to Thomas. He was happy to give us free movie tickets. Wow! Thomas and I were definitely on a roll. I think we should have bought a lotto ticket! It was an "okay" flick and from there we went home to a fantastic brisket supper Karen had put together. Let me tell you, Karen can cook and her Lebanese influence is awesome. Sally, Rob (Karen's son) and Ben (Karen's daughter Marielle's husband) came over to honor Thomas. Rob served as an Army Ranger and is an Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran. As you can imagine, Rob and Thomas shared a lot of stories and laughs, as only two combat veterans can, keeping us all in stitches as the two of them entertained us with their stories and experiences. Thomas went through several hundred photos with us as well. Everyone agreed that the photos were great and that Thomas was well and truly my son... a chip off the old "photo nut" block. They still shake their heads at the +6,000 photos I took during the year I was in Iraq. I had Thomas take me to GoodleEarth and he gave me a solid briefing on the situation there in East Baghdad / Sadr City. Amazing area of operations! Thomas definitely has a target rich environment.
It was a really quick Saturday, but one we all enjoyed. Before you knew it, it was Sunday morning, we had said our goodbyes and they were off. HOOYAH Thomas! Good on you Thomas! God bless you my son... During supper one night in Melbourne, my friend Peter Cosgrove (Australia's former Army Commanding General) advised to me to share with young Thomas "Be courageous, but not silly... and take good care of your mates." Excellent advice. It was the same advice he had given to his son, a young Aussie digger serving in Afghanistan. I've got to get up with the good general and let him know how Thomas is getting on.
Well, hey, my MBA degree arrived from Wright State University on Friday... it sure is pretty! I am looking forward to whipping this house into show-quality shape, selling it, wrapping up my studies here in Toledo, and heading south to Charlotte. Isn't life wonderfully awesome? I love you Elizabeth. Give Kendal a "manly" hug from me and hug and kiss my grandkitzels for me.
Love,
Dad
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