A Barbezieux Thread.

[MalSabreur]

Does anyone in the UK have Barbezieux please? I had some a few years ago but lost them to a fox. They are wonderful, big birds but I've not been able to source any more here.

 

[Perris]

hello @MalSabreur , welcome to BYC

Whereabouts are you and how far are you prepared to travel? There was someone with them near Hay-on-Wye.

 

[MalSabreur]

Thanks for the welcome. I've tried them. They said they'd lost them to foxes, but the last eggs I had from them seemed to be mixed with some thing else. I shall have to start looking at continental suppliers I'm afraid. There used to be someone quite close to us here in Derbyshire, but again they no longer have them.

 

[JohnMichael]

I'm considering ordering some Barbezieuz eggs to hatch out, however; I noticed they have very large combs and don't know if they could handle a Michigan winter. If you are raising them for tasty chicken meat, you may want to research what to feed them. I heard there was someone in the Michigan Upper Penninsula that grows certain grasses to feed her chickens to give them a certain flavor.
What are their dispositions like? Started out with a few small Brahmas, just hatched four chicks. I'm considering them because they are so large and I like how their feathers reflect green and purple hues in the sun!

Update: put some Barbezieuz eggs in the incubator - found someone who suggested to make a cave out of wire and put a heating pad over it in the brooder. We're having an indian summer in southeast Michigan, so I'm taking advantage of the mild weather. Bought a Chicken heating mat from TSC the other day, so they'll have more than one way to warm up in the brooder! Transforming a closet in my chicken pen into an area for the little ones to get them through the winter.

Their combs are a bit prone to frostbite. Even i Nashville one year my roo got a bit on the tips and I had a heat lamp in the coop.

 

[JohnMichael]

Just in the last few days I have had 2 of the boys come after me. They have no spurs yet, but I worry about when they DO grow them in! <sigh> No other breed that I've ever had produced a roo that would attack people. These are beautiful birds, but I won't tolerate being attacked. I have 5 5+ month old boys, 4 of which are getting processed on Saturday morning. The last one stays with his girls for now, but WILL get processed the next time if he doesn't learn to behave. I have 19 more chicks that are 2 weeks old (won an auction from GFF), so I can always keep one of them to replace this guy, or even one that I hatch in the fall. I just need to be able to hatch some in the spring for meat next year....

I had my biggest best looking roo years ago that behaved that way. He was huge and a great roo otherwise. I had to put myself at the top of the pecking order to stop it (and that only worked for me specifically. Everyone else was afraid of him). I snached his legs out from under him on day and just pinned him to the ground. I did not hurt him but I had to show dominance. It is how chicken society works. After that, once in a while, I would see him running toward me if my back was turned but he would stop in his tracks if I turned my head and gave him the look.