I feel like I've been through the gauntlet of poultry raising now, 25ish years into it. We've had most varieties at this point. I used to think it would be "quaint" to have a different variety in each of our pens, like a collection. Then I went down the rabbit hole of breeding and learning about what that all entails. There's a lot to the breeding side of things.
Over the summer I sold off the remainder of our birds that were not the "chosen" variety. It was a relief really, to find focus and simplify the flock to a single variety. We're now solidly dual purpose with the American Bresse. They're everything I like in a chicken and they provide a reason for me to hatch to my little hearts content. I'm learning still about their expressed traits, hidden recessive traits within the variety, the differences between the imported lines, the variables in the genetics... even after having them 7 years now.
I've gotten a lot more "scientific" in how I'm running the flock. Using wing bands for ID, utilizing pair hatching, learning about test mating for certain traits, relying on compensation mating for flock improvements... It's really been a fun little learning adventure!
The flock now has gotten to where even the worse cull birds still fill out a shrink bag. I'm getting close to overall flock consistency. There's a couple of mentors I've been working with who have been incredibly helpful and inspiring.
These culls below, selected out for light leg color, wonky combs, red earlobes, poor stance, feather quality... all things you can't see once they're in a shrink bag. This batch was also the under performers for growth rate, dressing out from 3.5-4lbs at 17 weeks. This had been a batch of 10 and 4 of them had an incredible fat layer, without special finishing.
This is a 22 week old pullet from this season, she got a pass to stay longer. I'm working at deeper chests in them, which has been slow going. She's filling in well and had started laying at 19 weeks. She's at 6lbs. While that doesn't sound like much, her weight is more meat than bone.
The tricky thing is maintaining the balance. They're not supposed to be a BIG bird. They're not supposed to get heavy/thick bones to support a lot of weight. They're not supposed to be that tall, since added height lengthens the grow time. There's also the laying to consider, so that you don't lose their laying ability while chasing for more growth rate.
Recently their demand has gone up and it makes me want to hide. I'm not a hatchery and we don't sell eggs/chicks. On other platforms I took up an educational role, that's more important now than it ever was. We all know that with popularity comes knock-offs, mass production, reduction in overall quality, inconsistent results across the variety as a whole. It can be very frustrating in figuring out getting started with a breed that has a fad going.
I got into the Bresse after their first fad fizzled and before the 2nd fad started. The homesteaders have really jumped on board with them. But already the complaints are coming, from color leakage to poor growth. Also the same old flaws that hadn't been totally bred out in the first go around, such as slip/split wing, knock knees, crooked keels, pinched tails, narrow bodies, poor fleshing and whatever else.
That's not to say that good birds can't be found. There's several now working on improving their lines and who have been at it for several years now. Some who even started back in the "first wave" and who have really accomplished a lot in their program.
We got lucky in our first start and while I did still have to do some breeding work, they weren't too far off the map. Nothing that a little selection couldn't fix, with a lot of culling to the freezer.
If this is a variety that you're considering, be patient and thoughtful in acquiring them and do anticipate some on going breeding effort on your part. An effective culling program will fill the freezer right on up and your flock will become better for it in the subsequent generations.
Personally, I'm always going to have these birds, for as long as I have chickens.
Over the summer I sold off the remainder of our birds that were not the "chosen" variety. It was a relief really, to find focus and simplify the flock to a single variety. We're now solidly dual purpose with the American Bresse. They're everything I like in a chicken and they provide a reason for me to hatch to my little hearts content. I'm learning still about their expressed traits, hidden recessive traits within the variety, the differences between the imported lines, the variables in the genetics... even after having them 7 years now.
I've gotten a lot more "scientific" in how I'm running the flock. Using wing bands for ID, utilizing pair hatching, learning about test mating for certain traits, relying on compensation mating for flock improvements... It's really been a fun little learning adventure!
The flock now has gotten to where even the worse cull birds still fill out a shrink bag. I'm getting close to overall flock consistency. There's a couple of mentors I've been working with who have been incredibly helpful and inspiring.
These culls below, selected out for light leg color, wonky combs, red earlobes, poor stance, feather quality... all things you can't see once they're in a shrink bag. This batch was also the under performers for growth rate, dressing out from 3.5-4lbs at 17 weeks. This had been a batch of 10 and 4 of them had an incredible fat layer, without special finishing.
This is a 22 week old pullet from this season, she got a pass to stay longer. I'm working at deeper chests in them, which has been slow going. She's filling in well and had started laying at 19 weeks. She's at 6lbs. While that doesn't sound like much, her weight is more meat than bone.
The tricky thing is maintaining the balance. They're not supposed to be a BIG bird. They're not supposed to get heavy/thick bones to support a lot of weight. They're not supposed to be that tall, since added height lengthens the grow time. There's also the laying to consider, so that you don't lose their laying ability while chasing for more growth rate.
Recently their demand has gone up and it makes me want to hide. I'm not a hatchery and we don't sell eggs/chicks. On other platforms I took up an educational role, that's more important now than it ever was. We all know that with popularity comes knock-offs, mass production, reduction in overall quality, inconsistent results across the variety as a whole. It can be very frustrating in figuring out getting started with a breed that has a fad going.
I got into the Bresse after their first fad fizzled and before the 2nd fad started. The homesteaders have really jumped on board with them. But already the complaints are coming, from color leakage to poor growth. Also the same old flaws that hadn't been totally bred out in the first go around, such as slip/split wing, knock knees, crooked keels, pinched tails, narrow bodies, poor fleshing and whatever else.
That's not to say that good birds can't be found. There's several now working on improving their lines and who have been at it for several years now. Some who even started back in the "first wave" and who have really accomplished a lot in their program.
We got lucky in our first start and while I did still have to do some breeding work, they weren't too far off the map. Nothing that a little selection couldn't fix, with a lot of culling to the freezer.
If this is a variety that you're considering, be patient and thoughtful in acquiring them and do anticipate some on going breeding effort on your part. An effective culling program will fill the freezer right on up and your flock will become better for it in the subsequent generations.
Personally, I'm always going to have these birds, for as long as I have chickens.
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