My Bresse starter flock

[Kabootar]

True, good advice. But you must maintain strict cull criteria otherwise what could be a promising dual purpose flock can quickly revert to smaller, longer maturing and less flesh. I try to emulate commercial meatbird producers and have found in breeding manuals hatching chicks out-of-season is possible, but may compromise fertility, hatch rates and chick quality, as well as cause flow-on effects for the flock as a whole. The anecdotal experience of master poultry breeders suggests hatching chicks during the fall and winter months — and even during summer — may not produce optimally healthy chicks that thrive to the same degree as those hatched in spring. Master breeders with no agenda to disparage hatcheries recommend against hatching eggs at any time other than spring. They also advise to rest young hens over winter and spring egg yolks will be much bigger - big yolks produce big chicks which produce well-fleshed meatbirds.

The spring and fall thing is true. Chicks hatched in spring are larger than those hatched in fall, but if you have a rare very expensive breed I would suggest that you hatch even in fall, because the genetics is there. You want to hatch every egg that you can. Once you have made a sustainable flock then you should stop hatching in fall.

Once you have established flock then you can select for other things. For example I only hatched eggs that are laid before 9 am. Because I free range my birds from 9 until sunset. After 7 seasons of applying this selection pressure I stopped finding hidden nests in my orchard.
That being said I still suggest hatching from atleast 1 year old hen and preferably 2 years old hens. Because they are proven birds, proven for breed characteristics and longevity.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Wow. Thanks for the summary. I'll read the article as well. Do you plan to implement any of this protocol?

I may try it at some point, modified of course. If I can source some whole milk that doesn't cost a fortune. Expired powdered milk, maybe?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Fall update:
My little Bresse flock is about 10 months old now. The hatches from the two young broodies were a failure. Betsy, while well-meaning and trying to be a good mother, either crushed or smothered every one of her chicks and still-hatching eggs. I don't believe it was intentional. Abigail managed to save only one of her own, while the others met the same fate as Betsy's or escaped from the nesting box and were killed by Martha or George. So I had just one chick. I named it Baby Abigail. I moved mama and baby to the small hutch and pen for protection, and she was a very good mama while raising her chick. All was well.

Until..... My son was late locking everyone up for the night recently, and a raccoon had busted into the pen and killed Abigail. The baby was spared. He got four shells into that 'coon before it escaped into the creek - tough bugger.

So here we are, with a 6-week-old chick and three remaining big chickens. I had to try integration, even as tiny as that chick is. Under close supervision, of course. Fortunately, it was a breeze! Baby Abigail got only a few light pecks ("I'm boss here, kid!") from Martha and Betsy, while George just seemed interested and even tidbitted to her. A few hours the first day, then all day together on the second day - and they seemed to be doing fine. No more pecks, and Baby was starting to follow the big birds around. Today was day 3 and they're doing fine together.

For the last two nights, I placed her in a wire dog kennel inside the big birds' coop, and released her with them in the morning. I expected to have to do this for several nights or a week or two - but tonight she put herself to roost in the coop with them, right up on the roosting bar 6-inches from the nearest hen. So I think we're done and she'll be fine! I'll be there at sunrise to let them out, just in case. There are a couple of things inside the coop she can hide under where the big birds can't reach her, and several places in the run, so she's got somewhere to go if there's trouble.

Meanwhile, d**khead George is becoming more and more aggressive. He attacks nearly every time I enter the pen. Fortunately, he's not very skilled and his spurs are still small and blunt. It's mostly just a flurry of feathers at my shins. Just a few more months, buddy - give me some more chicks and you're chicken dinner. Hopefully, the failed hatches were due to first-time broodies and Betsy will do better the second time around. Martha, well, we will see perhaps. I plan to hatch in the spring.

The second rooster, Sam, is still with my heritage flock of 39 hens and two other roosters - and he's doing GREAT. All three of the boys get along like buds, none are aggressive to me, and they're all three gentle with the hens. So Sam will be replacing George with the Bresse girls, including Baby Abigail, in due time.

I am following none of the French protocol at this time, just feeding them high-protein game bird grower feed with oyster shell on the side, and plenty of forage still in their run.

I am slightly concerned about the boys' combs, though. Bresse rooster combs are very large, tall and long, extending over the back of their heads. I feel they are very prone to frostbite, and our winters can dip into the negative single digits (that's -17 to -23 for you celsius folks). I plan to supplement heat on the coldest days and keep them closed up. We'll see how it goes.

Speaking of roosters, I've noticed both of my Bresse boys do a strange head shake quite often, but the other heritage roosters do not (that I've noticed). This video is not my birds, but one posted by @Lalachickens - but it's exactly what my boys do:

 

[Lalachickens]

Fall update:
My little Bresse flock is about 10 months old now. The hatches from the two young broodies were a failure. Betsy, while well-meaning and trying to be a good mother, either crushed or smothered every one of her chicks and still-hatching eggs. I don't believe it was intentional. Abigail managed to save only one of her own, while the others met the same fate as Betsy's or escaped from the nesting box and were killed by Martha or George. So I had just one chick. I named it Baby Abigail. I moved mama and baby to the small hutch and pen for protection, and she was a very good mama while raising her chick. All was well.

Until..... My son was late locking everyone up for the night recently, and a raccoon had busted into the pen and killed Abigail. The baby was spared. He got four shells into that 'coon before it escaped into the creek - tough bugger.

So here we are, with a 6-week-old chick and three remaining big chickens. I had to try integration, even as tiny as that chick is. Under close supervision, of course. Fortunately, it was a breeze! Baby Abigail got only a few light pecks ("I'm boss here, kid!") from Martha and Betsy, while George just seemed interested and even tidbitted to her. A few hours the first day, then all day together on the second day - and they seemed to be doing fine. No more pecks, and Baby was starting to follow the big birds around. Today was day 3 and they're doing fine together.

For the last two nights, I placed her in a wire dog kennel inside the big birds' coop, and released her with them in the morning. I expected to have to do this for several nights or a week or two - but tonight she put herself to roost in the coop with them, right up on the roosting bar 6-inches from the nearest hen. So I think we're done and she'll be fine! I'll be there at sunrise to let them out, just in case. There are a couple of things inside the coop she can hide under where the big birds can't reach her, and several places in the run, so she's got somewhere to go if there's trouble.

Meanwhile, d**khead George is becoming more and more aggressive. He attacks nearly every time I enter the pen. Fortunately, he's not very skilled and his spurs are still small and blunt. It's mostly just a flurry of feathers at my shins. Just a few more months, buddy - give me some more chicks and you're chicken dinner. Hopefully, the failed hatches were due to first-time broodies and Betsy will do better the second time around. Martha, well, we will see perhaps. I plan to hatch in the spring.

The second rooster, Sam, is still with my heritage flock of 39 hens and two other roosters - and he's doing GREAT. All three of the boys get along like buds, none are aggressive to me, and they're all three gentle with the hens. So Sam will be replacing George with the Bresse girls, including Baby Abigail, in due time.

I am following none of the French protocol at this time, just feeding them high-protein game bird grower feed with oyster shell on the side, and plenty of forage still in their run.

I am slightly concerned about the boys' combs, though. Bresse rooster combs are very large, tall and long, extending over the back of their heads. I feel they are very prone to frostbite, and our winters can dip into the negative single digits (that's -17 to -23 for you celsius folks). I plan to supplement heat on the coldest days and keep them closed up. We'll see how it goes.

Speaking of roosters, I've noticed both of my Bresse boys do a strange head shake quite often, but the other heritage roosters do not (that I've noticed). This video is not my birds, but one posted by @Lalachickens - but it's exactly what my boys do:

Hey @BarnyardChaos

I live in Canada in a pretty northern area, and I’m also nervous about their magnificent combs. I bought some bag balm to have on hand when the temp drop, as I read it is more effective than Vaseline?

 

[LTAY1946]

Fall update:
My little Bresse flock is about 10 months old now. The hatches from the two young broodies were a failure. Betsy, while well-meaning and trying to be a good mother, either crushed or smothered every one of her chicks and still-hatching eggs. I don't believe it was intentional. Abigail managed to save only one of her own, while the others met the same fate as Betsy's or escaped from the nesting box and were killed by Martha or George. So I had just one chick. I named it Baby Abigail. I moved mama and baby to the small hutch and pen for protection, and she was a very good mama while raising her chick. All was well.

Until..... My son was late locking everyone up for the night recently, and a raccoon had busted into the pen and killed Abigail. The baby was spared. He got four shells into that 'coon before it escaped into the creek - tough bugger.

So here we are, with a 6-week-old chick and three remaining big chickens. I had to try integration, even as tiny as that chick is. Under close supervision, of course. Fortunately, it was a breeze! Baby Abigail got only a few light pecks ("I'm boss here, kid!") from Martha and Betsy, while George just seemed interested and even tidbitted to her. A few hours the first day, then all day together on the second day - and they seemed to be doing fine. No more pecks, and Baby was starting to follow the big birds around. Today was day 3 and they're doing fine together.

For the last two nights, I placed her in a wire dog kennel inside the big birds' coop, and released her with them in the morning. I expected to have to do this for several nights or a week or two - but tonight she put herself to roost in the coop with them, right up on the roosting bar 6-inches from the nearest hen. So I think we're done and she'll be fine! I'll be there at sunrise to let them out, just in case. There are a couple of things inside the coop she can hide under where the big birds can't reach her, and several places in the run, so she's got somewhere to go if there's trouble.

Meanwhile, d**khead George is becoming more and more aggressive. He attacks nearly every time I enter the pen. Fortunately, he's not very skilled and his spurs are still small and blunt. It's mostly just a flurry of feathers at my shins. Just a few more months, buddy - give me some more chicks and you're chicken dinner. Hopefully, the failed hatches were due to first-time broodies and Betsy will do better the second time around. Martha, well, we will see perhaps. I plan to hatch in the spring.

The second rooster, Sam, is still with my heritage flock of 39 hens and two other roosters - and he's doing GREAT. All three of the boys get along like buds, none are aggressive to me, and they're all three gentle with the hens. So Sam will be replacing George with the Bresse girls, including Baby Abigail, in due time.

I am following none of the French protocol at this time, just feeding them high-protein game bird grower feed with oyster shell on the side, and plenty of forage still in their run.

I am slightly concerned about the boys' combs, though. Bresse rooster combs are very large, tall and long, extending over the back of their heads. I feel they are very prone to frostbite, and our winters can dip into the negative single digits (that's -17 to -23 for you celsius folks). I plan to supplement heat on the coldest days and keep them closed up. We'll see how it goes.

Speaking of roosters, I've noticed both of my Bresse boys do a strange head shake quite often, but the other heritage roosters do not (that I've noticed). This video is not my birds, but one posted by @Lalachickens - but it's exactly what my boys do:

Mine do the head shake too. Now I'm not as concerned about it. I thought that they may have had and ear problem. Their combs are quite large but not problem here as the temps are not often below 25° F.

 

[chanceosunshine]

Fall update:
My little Bresse flock is about 10 months old now. The hatches from the two young broodies were a failure. Betsy, while well-meaning and trying to be a good mother, either crushed or smothered every one of her chicks and still-hatching eggs. I don't believe it was intentional. Abigail managed to save only one of her own, while the others met the same fate as Betsy's or escaped from the nesting box and were killed by Martha or George. So I had just one chick. I named it Baby Abigail. I moved mama and baby to the small hutch and pen for protection, and she was a very good mama while raising her chick. All was well.

Until..... My son was late locking everyone up for the night recently, and a raccoon had busted into the pen and killed Abigail. The baby was spared. He got four shells into that 'coon before it escaped into the creek - tough bugger.

So here we are, with a 6-week-old chick and three remaining big chickens. I had to try integration, even as tiny as that chick is. Under close supervision, of course. Fortunately, it was a breeze! Baby Abigail got only a few light pecks ("I'm boss here, kid!") from Martha and Betsy, while George just seemed interested and even tidbitted to her. A few hours the first day, then all day together on the second day - and they seemed to be doing fine. No more pecks, and Baby was starting to follow the big birds around. Today was day 3 and they're doing fine together.

For the last two nights, I placed her in a wire dog kennel inside the big birds' coop, and released her with them in the morning. I expected to have to do this for several nights or a week or two - but tonight she put herself to roost in the coop with them, right up on the roosting bar 6-inches from the nearest hen. So I think we're done and she'll be fine! I'll be there at sunrise to let them out, just in case. There are a couple of things inside the coop she can hide under where the big birds can't reach her, and several places in the run, so she's got somewhere to go if there's trouble.

Meanwhile, d**khead George is becoming more and more aggressive. He attacks nearly every time I enter the pen. Fortunately, he's not very skilled and his spurs are still small and blunt. It's mostly just a flurry of feathers at my shins. Just a few more months, buddy - give me some more chicks and you're chicken dinner. Hopefully, the failed hatches were due to first-time broodies and Betsy will do better the second time around. Martha, well, we will see perhaps. I plan to hatch in the spring.

The second rooster, Sam, is still with my heritage flock of 39 hens and two other roosters - and he's doing GREAT. All three of the boys get along like buds, none are aggressive to me, and they're all three gentle with the hens. So Sam will be replacing George with the Bresse girls, including Baby Abigail, in due time.

I am following none of the French protocol at this time, just feeding them high-protein game bird grower feed with oyster shell on the side, and plenty of forage still in their run.

I am slightly concerned about the boys' combs, though. Bresse rooster combs are very large, tall and long, extending over the back of their heads. I feel they are very prone to frostbite, and our winters can dip into the negative single digits (that's -17 to -23 for you celsius folks). I plan to supplement heat on the coldest days and keep them closed up. We'll see how it goes.

Speaking of roosters, I've noticed both of my Bresse boys do a strange head shake quite often, but the other heritage roosters do not (that I've noticed). This video is not my birds, but one posted by @Lalachickens - but it's exactly what my boys do:

So sorry about the "mishaps". Hopefully next spring goes better for the flock.

As far as the cold goes, last year when we had that awful frigid snap for several days over Christmas, something like -20f at night, the only frostbite I dealt with was in a coop that I had "closed up", thinking I was doing right by them. One of my roosters lost his comb entirely. I realized it was because they didn't have enough ventilation. In my hoop coop of bachelors, some rooster with huge combs like sails on a ship, showed absolutely no sign of frostbite. Although I had added extra cover for them to protect them, it ended up blowing off, so they were very open. Their coop was protected from direct wind, but they still dealt with the cold of course. All this to say...make sure when you "close them up" that they have enough ventilation. Look into the pros and cons of adding the heat too. I have stopped adding extra heat after looking into it and have had no problem over the last several winters.

 

[Amer]

Wow, what a steal! It’s nice getting more than one rooster (in case you lose one) to multiple hens and for such a great deal. I’m sorry about your Abagail, though.
Hopefully, you can hatch some cockerels and then you can make George into soup.

 

[LTAY1946]

I had planned on order a few Bresse from Murray McMurray this year. Now they don't even show them on their website. Can't help but wonder why. I've had a handful hatch last week and the week before. Building a flock is not going to be easy. I'd like a Greenfire rooster to use on my hens.

 

[MrsProceed]

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.
View attachment 3636211

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:
View attachment 3636219

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:
View attachment 3636222

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.
View attachment 3636230

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.
View attachment 3636232

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!

I have just started keeping chickens and the American Bresse are the breed I needed up with purely by accident. A lady was breeding them and had to get rid of everything farm related so I acquired one rooster and 4 Hens at about 16 weeks in early May of this year. I heave been getting between 3-4 eggs a day once they cranked up their gear. I have a friend who will hatch them for me if I choose to ( I don't have the schedule or the set up for that and she does) She also acquired some of this same flock at the same time. Mine also have patriotic names! Yours is three first post I have seen about the Bresse! You just got a new follower, here's hoping I can learn lots from your experience!

 

[SmokeyCreekBresse]

I had planned on order a few Bresse from Murray McMurray this year. Now they don't even show them on their website. Can't help but wonder why. I've had a handful hatch last week and the week before. Building a flock is not going to be easy. I'd like a Greenfire rooster to use on my hens.

McMurray had issues with their Bresse flock not being pure, some of their birds had dark skin and meat. If you are looking for Bresse, I suggest joining the American Bresse Chickens group on Facebook, there is a breeders list in the files section of that group. There are also regional groups, links to all those groups are in the featured posts section.