I wasn't going to start incubating eggs from my American Bresse for another month or so, but the girls have different ideas by going full-blown broody at 8 months of age. So they've reminded me it's time to start a thread on their progress. Anyone else breeding American Bresse birds, feel free to join in!
The background: I stumbled across these birds on craigslist one day, just by luck. I'd been researching what would be *my* ideal breed to raise for eggs and meat, and if dreams could come true, I thought it would be having Bresse chickens. But {sigh} they are sooooo expensive! I've raised CornishX (too much poop to manage! And I can't breed them myself), and have variations/hybrids of Barred Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, Black Australorp, and a few others thrown in for flavor (Ameraucana, Leghorn, Easter Egger). They're all great egg-layers and pretty good for meat, but I wanted something that rivals CornishX for quality of meat and perhaps finishing earlier than my heritage birds. Since I thought Bresse were out of my reach, I was looking for maybe some Freedom Rangers or a few others. Then.... I was bored one day and took a trip through craigslist.
And there they were: Five Bresse chicks, 2 cockerels and 3 pullets, for $20 each. Bonus: the location was a mere 15 miles from me! When I arrived at his location a few minutes later (yes, I raced to get them), he offered the cockerels to me for $10 instead of $20. All five for $80. SOLD.
Meet the "Liberty" Tribe. George, Sam, Betsy, Abigail, and Martha. (Yes, named after Revolutionary War heroes, since they are "American" Bresse and they're red, white and blue.)
They were 14 weeks old at the time (June), probably hatched near the end of February 2023. I integrated Sam into my main Heritage flock as a backup rooster, and put George and the girls into a pen of their own. And this is how their arrangement has been since that date.
Sam wasn't happy at first, but he has adjusted just fine. My other two roosters, Goldie and Roofuss, are a great team together and have been teaching Sam the ropes. Sam even has a few girlfriends now, from some pullets I integrated to the flock at about the same time. He is very well-behaved and (IMHO) beautiful:
George, on the other hand, has been a d**khead. As the only male with a group of young pullets, he's had no elders to teach him manners. In hindsight, I should have just integrated all five of them into the main flock to learn proper behavior first, then separated them into their own breeding pen. George is human aggressive, and will not be with us for much longer. I plan to keep him only to get a first batch of chicks from his genes, and then either get my first taste of Bresse meat or trade him to another Bresse breeder. He's a gorgeous boy, though:
I learned to use a ceiling fan duster to shoo him away when needed. Works like a charm and he leaves me alone when I've got that fuzzy-stick-thing in my hand. Meanwhile, George has been mating with all three of the pullets. Fortunately, he's not aggressive with the girls and he appears to be gentle when mating. At least he's got that going for him.
The girls have been coming along just dandy, and started laying in July. So I planned to collect some eggs maybe in October (when they're about 10 months old) and incubate them, to get my first home-hatched generation to start growing the Bresse flock. I've been getting about 5-6 eggs per week from each of them. They're still somewhat small, as pullet eggs typically are, but are nearing normal size lately.
But now Betsy has decided she's ready and is demanding to be allowed to raise her own. For the past week, she's been seriously broody. So why not? I figured the worst that can happen is the eggs won't make it. So I've set her up in a wooden broody box I've kept, and she settled right in. She had only two eggs (I'd been stealing them from her all week, and these were the two laid that day), but oh my is she ever proud of them! Not wanting the chick or chicks to be lonely, or possibly not make it at all and leaving Betsy bereft of chicks, I gave her six more eggs from the Heritage ladies.
So we shall see what happens, eh? They'd be due to hatch on Oct. 4. I'm still going to start an incubator in October with a full load, unless Abigail or Martha go broody as well by that time.
They're all in a pen that's about 25x25, with a 4x8 coop. I've got a tarp stretched over one corner of the pen for shade and to place their food and water out of the elements. The pen sadly is full of very tall weeds and grass at the moment, but I rather think the birds LIKE it that way. Bresse are superior foragers, so this must be heaven for them. They'll run in and out of the weed patches scratching and chasing bugs, and have worn paths through the grass - all the while under 'cover' from aerial predators. So they're pretty happy, I suppose.
Anyway, I'm happy to share my stories and photos of the Liberty Tribe, and my progress in getting a breeding flock started. My goal is lots of eggs and lots of great-tasting, tender meat to support my family and some of our friends and neighbors.
Wish me luck!
The background: I stumbled across these birds on craigslist one day, just by luck. I'd been researching what would be *my* ideal breed to raise for eggs and meat, and if dreams could come true, I thought it would be having Bresse chickens. But {sigh} they are sooooo expensive! I've raised CornishX (too much poop to manage! And I can't breed them myself), and have variations/hybrids of Barred Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, Black Australorp, and a few others thrown in for flavor (Ameraucana, Leghorn, Easter Egger). They're all great egg-layers and pretty good for meat, but I wanted something that rivals CornishX for quality of meat and perhaps finishing earlier than my heritage birds. Since I thought Bresse were out of my reach, I was looking for maybe some Freedom Rangers or a few others. Then.... I was bored one day and took a trip through craigslist.
And there they were: Five Bresse chicks, 2 cockerels and 3 pullets, for $20 each. Bonus: the location was a mere 15 miles from me! When I arrived at his location a few minutes later (yes, I raced to get them), he offered the cockerels to me for $10 instead of $20. All five for $80. SOLD.
Meet the "Liberty" Tribe. George, Sam, Betsy, Abigail, and Martha. (Yes, named after Revolutionary War heroes, since they are "American" Bresse and they're red, white and blue.)
They were 14 weeks old at the time (June), probably hatched near the end of February 2023. I integrated Sam into my main Heritage flock as a backup rooster, and put George and the girls into a pen of their own. And this is how their arrangement has been since that date.
Sam wasn't happy at first, but he has adjusted just fine. My other two roosters, Goldie and Roofuss, are a great team together and have been teaching Sam the ropes. Sam even has a few girlfriends now, from some pullets I integrated to the flock at about the same time. He is very well-behaved and (IMHO) beautiful:
George, on the other hand, has been a d**khead. As the only male with a group of young pullets, he's had no elders to teach him manners. In hindsight, I should have just integrated all five of them into the main flock to learn proper behavior first, then separated them into their own breeding pen. George is human aggressive, and will not be with us for much longer. I plan to keep him only to get a first batch of chicks from his genes, and then either get my first taste of Bresse meat or trade him to another Bresse breeder. He's a gorgeous boy, though:
I learned to use a ceiling fan duster to shoo him away when needed. Works like a charm and he leaves me alone when I've got that fuzzy-stick-thing in my hand. Meanwhile, George has been mating with all three of the pullets. Fortunately, he's not aggressive with the girls and he appears to be gentle when mating. At least he's got that going for him.
The girls have been coming along just dandy, and started laying in July. So I planned to collect some eggs maybe in October (when they're about 10 months old) and incubate them, to get my first home-hatched generation to start growing the Bresse flock. I've been getting about 5-6 eggs per week from each of them. They're still somewhat small, as pullet eggs typically are, but are nearing normal size lately.
But now Betsy has decided she's ready and is demanding to be allowed to raise her own. For the past week, she's been seriously broody. So why not? I figured the worst that can happen is the eggs won't make it. So I've set her up in a wooden broody box I've kept, and she settled right in. She had only two eggs (I'd been stealing them from her all week, and these were the two laid that day), but oh my is she ever proud of them! Not wanting the chick or chicks to be lonely, or possibly not make it at all and leaving Betsy bereft of chicks, I gave her six more eggs from the Heritage ladies.
So we shall see what happens, eh? They'd be due to hatch on Oct. 4. I'm still going to start an incubator in October with a full load, unless Abigail or Martha go broody as well by that time.
They're all in a pen that's about 25x25, with a 4x8 coop. I've got a tarp stretched over one corner of the pen for shade and to place their food and water out of the elements. The pen sadly is full of very tall weeds and grass at the moment, but I rather think the birds LIKE it that way. Bresse are superior foragers, so this must be heaven for them. They'll run in and out of the weed patches scratching and chasing bugs, and have worn paths through the grass - all the while under 'cover' from aerial predators. So they're pretty happy, I suppose.
Anyway, I'm happy to share my stories and photos of the Liberty Tribe, and my progress in getting a breeding flock started. My goal is lots of eggs and lots of great-tasting, tender meat to support my family and some of our friends and neighbors.
Wish me luck!
