A Barbezieux Thread.

[brandymulvaine]

That shouldn't be too many, but fertility declines in th winter. Also, sometimes a roo just doesn't like certain hens, or those hens might not be letting him do his job.

Thanks StephWind, he doesn't seem to like the Wyandotte hens!

 

[macgro7]

Just put 13 barbezieux eggs in the incubator! Their eggs are huge! Like turkey eggs. Got them from a lady on border of england and Wales who imported parent stock from France last year

 

[brandymulvaine]

Just put 13 barbezieux eggs in the incubator! Their eggs are huge! Like turkey eggs. Got them from a lady on border of england and Wales who imported parent stock from France last year

Yay! I've only got a Barbezieux roo, so I put him over some Bresse hens. Those chicks are heavy! They're about 4 weeks old now. Keep us posted on your eggs. Do you know how tall the roo was? I wondered if there was a size difference between American stock and stock closer to home

 

[macgro7]

Yay! I've only got a Barbezieux roo, so I put him over some Bresse hens. Those chicks are heavy! They're about 4 weeks old now. Keep us posted on your eggs. Do you know how tall the roo was? I wondered if there was a size difference between American stock and stock closer to home

Hello was about 1/3 bigger than la bresse. She had them penned next to each other

Very heavy as well

 

[macgro7]

Poulet de Barbezieux hatched on Sunday.
Interestingly they are black with white bellies and the middle toe is also white.
I thought they might be crossed with something but apparently they have this pattern when hatches and then turn completely black.

 

[Cynthia12]

So, I have a couple of these eggs in my bator due to go into lock down..I'm hearing a lot about how well they taste, how well do they lay? Won't be keeping a rooster, crossies for pullets!

 

[NetChick]

Yay! I've only got a Barbezieux roo, so I put him over some Bresse hens. Those chicks are heavy! They're about 4 weeks old now. Keep us posted on your eggs. Do you know how tall the roo was? I wondered if there was a size difference between American stock and stock closer to home

How are your chicks turning out?

 

[brandymulvaine]

How are your chicks turning out?

They're getting real tall, just hoping they fill out all those big bones! I'll post recent pictures as soon as I take some, lol. Thinking of processing them in September.

 

[JennieRD]

My second try at hatching Barbezieux, 24 eggs labeled "B" the remaining are "D" Dominique Eggs. They are identical, both breeds eggs are identical in color and weigh in between .08 oz to 1.9 oz. before going in the Incubator. I read here the eggs are huge, has anyone weighed their eggs before going in the bator to give me an idea what y should weight when layed by a mature adult hen. My leghorns lay 2.5 to 3.0 oz eggs I hope the Barbezieuz get bigger when they mature. I'm a little disappointed in the size right now for a bird that is suppose to so big.

 

[DB_Tex]

Last July I was contacted by an old acquaintance that had raised this breed from hatching eggs and needed a refresher course on processing so I came over and we butchered out 3 Barb roosters. They were about 5 months old as I recall, and I had never seen or heard of the breed before so I was extremely interested in the learning experience.

First impression:
The adult chickens were BEAUTIFUL. Tall, dark black feathers and bright red combs and white lobes. Really good looking birds. She had 2 hens and I think 4 roosters in the enclosure. I expected a fight when we went to catch the roosters to "send them to camp" but they were very chill and laid back non-violent chickens (at that age, anyway.)
I was amazed how easy they were to handle and I got them into the cone without any trouble.
Since the plan was to roast the birds we plucked them and since low maintenance was the plan for the day we just dry plucked. The skin was pretty firm, and the feathering was loose. We had minimal skin tears and plucking was a piece of cake. The cavities were good sized but in the interest of time and the recipe we planned to test them on, I butterflied them (or "spatchcock") by cutting out the backbone. Kitchen shears were sufficient to get through the bones.
The carcass was big, but like most heritage type birds didn't have the muscle of a production bird, but for it's young age, it was not a poor showing. I would have cooked two of the Barbizeux to equal one production roaster. I think better muscle mass could be achieved if they were fed a specific meat bird diet on a planned meat bird schedule. These boys were fed an all flock mix because the group was being raised for longevity in a breeding program and not as "meat fast".
The meat was lean, and the flavor was incredible. Imagine a very "chickeny" heritage bird and then a smooth buttery quality.
Conclusion:
I want these for their beauty, temperament, meat and egg production. Looking for breeder near east texas for chicks and eggs in jan/feb!