Bad Experience with Bresse Farms in Pontotoc, MS

[KW Farms]

I've been to Bresse Farms, because I was excited to find a breeder so close that carried a few of the breeds I was interested in. They didn't really have any biosecurity protocols in place, which was the first thing that made me uncomfortable. They had me come into their 'office' (I was there to get some hatching eggs) which was a large shed with brooder boxes lining one wall and cages in rows on the other side with juvenile birds. They then offered to give me a tour, which really isn't a great idea for several reasons...they don't know me, I'm from out of state, and I have chickens myself.

I actually had brought along a separate set of shoes to change into when I got there to protect my own flock as I had no idea how seriously they took things (lucky I did) and being both curious and awkward enough to have a difficult time turning things like that down, I took a look. I am not surprised that you ended up with some chicks with vaulted skulls. They have open air coop/runs (closed on only one side with a roof) for each breed; not that surprising for the South but these things were not large enough for all of the chickens they had in each. Each pen had several roosters and hens...I remember wondering how they kept all the boys from fighting because there were like 40-50 some odd birds per pen and these things couldn't have been more than 10 foot by 15...maybe 20 ft but I doubt it. The only exception was the Deathlayer pen, but according to him that's because they were not having a lot of luck keeping them alive.

If I remember correctly, most of the birds in the Swedish Flower Hen pen were crested. He made a comment about people loving the crests, so that's probably intentional.

That does not surprise me, unfortunately. Thank you for sharing. There were red flags on their website too that I overlooked simply because I was eager to get some chicks of this breed. Dumb choice on my part! The pictures of their SFHs show, in my opinion, low quality birds which are tethered by their feet. Narrow with flopped over combs and poor flowering. They also look fearful to me. This breed is supposed to be pretty happy and interactive around people. These are probably examples of their best birds too I’m sure. Ugh.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

That does not surprise me, unfortunately. Thank you for sharing. There were red flags on their website too that I overlooked simply because I was eager to get some chicks of this breed. Dumb choice on my part! The pictures of their SFHs show, in my opinion, low quality birds which are tethered by their feet. Narrow with flopped over combs and poor flowering. They also look fearful to me. This breed is supposed to be pretty happy and interactive around people. These are probably examples of their best birds too I’m sure. Ugh.

Yikes. Those birds are not attractive looking, and anyone who knows me knows I love the ugly ones

 

[Dinoroar]

Yikes! This is an eye opening thread. I have some bresse eggs hatching now from ‘Bresse Farms’ in Florida. I can’t speak yet to the quality of the birds but they came well packed exactly as I ordered and the seller is kind and appears to really care about the breed and their customers experience. Their website indicates they practice bio security measures. & they were very reasonably priced as well.

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

Yikes! This is an eye opening thread. I have some bresse eggs hatching now from ‘Bresse Farms’ in Florida. I can’t speak yet to the quality of the birds but they came well packed exactly as I ordered and the seller is kind and appears to really care about the breed and their customers experience. Their website indicates they practice bio security measures. & they were very reasonably priced as well.

They can say it on their website but I sure didn't see any.

 

[NatJ]

Each pen had several roosters and hens...I remember wondering how they kept all the boys from fighting because there were like 40-50 some odd birds per pen and these things couldn't have been more than 10 foot by 15...maybe 20 ft but I doubt it.

For keeping the males from fighting:

a) they were probably raised together, which helps a bit.

b) it doesn't matter if they just ruffle their feathers and jump around and do not hurt each other. Many roosters can settle their issues this way, without any actual injuries. (Might have a few bloody combs, but those heal fast enough the person can ignore them.)

c) if one or more are causing actual injuries, cull those birds

d) in some conditions, more chickens will actually fight less. I think it's because no two can get a good fight going in crowded conditions.

Multiple males per pen is normal when breeding chickens on a commercial scale, and most breeds will do just fine that way. They have been selected for a long time to NOT kill each other in those conditions.

I don't know for sure about the size of the pen, especially because you were not able to actually measure it. But chickens will often do just fine with 4 square feet per chicken. No run, just that much space. By "doing fine," I mean they stay alive and apparently healthy, they lay eggs, and they do not peck each other badly enough to affect production.

(I have no experience with this breeder, just saying it sounds like the conditions I would expect for breeding flocks that are well cared for but not pampered pets.)

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

For keeping the males from fighting:

a) they were probably raised together, which helps a bit.

b) it doesn't matter if they just ruffle their feathers and jump around and do not hurt each other. Many roosters can settle their issues this way, without any actual injuries. (Might have a few bloody combs, but those heal fast enough the person can ignore them.)

c) if one or more are causing actual injuries, cull those birds

d) in some conditions, more chickens will actually fight less. I think it's because no two can get a good fight going in crowded conditions.

Multiple males per pen is normal when breeding chickens on a commercial scale, and most breeds will do just fine that way. They have been selected for a long time to NOT kill each other in those conditions.

I don't know for sure about the size of the pen, especially because you were not able to actually measure it. But chickens will often do just fine with 4 square feet per chicken. No run, just that much space. By "doing fine," I mean they stay alive and apparently healthy, they lay eggs, and they do not peck each other badly enough to affect production.

(I have no experience with this breeder, just saying it sounds like the conditions I would expect for breeding flocks that are well cared for but not pampered pets.)

Yeah. I really wish I'd have been slick enough to take pictures. I know that there is a difference between the way chickens are raised commercially and by people like me. I suppose I'm just trying to convey that it looked bad and overcrowded, the smell was also quite strong. The chickens did look healthy though and they apparently vaccinate (as they had just been vaccinated that day according to the man that gave me the tour--they mark the birds with some kind of paint to know which has already been vaccinated).

Honestly the thing that made me most uncomfortable was the fact that their office was right there with their breeding flock, and they let me (an outsider) access both where they kept their chicks (he took me over to show them to me and tried to get me to buy them instead of eggs) and their breeding flock. Just because I happened to be taking precautions of my own doesn't make this any better. They had more than enough land to increase the amount of separation between their store front/office/shed that they did...the parcel looked to be several acres.

 

[Dinoroar]

They can say it on their website but I sure didn't see any.

Mine were from a different farm also called ‘bresse farm’ which is in Florida.

 

[KW Farms]

Yikes! This is an eye opening thread. I have some bresse eggs hatching now from ‘Bresse Farms’ in Florida. I can’t speak yet to the quality of the birds but they came well packed exactly as I ordered and the seller is kind and appears to really care about the breed and their customers experience. Their website indicates they practice bio security measures. & they were very reasonably priced as well.

This must be a different farm. The Bresse Farms I purchased from is in Pontotoc, MS.

 

[Dinoroar]

This must be a different farm. The Bresse Farms I purchased from is in Pontotoc, MS.

It appears they are 2 unrelated farms. This one seems to only have Bresse.

http://www.bressefarm.com/

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

Mine were from a different farm also called ‘bresse farm’ which is in Florida.

OH. You don't have your location showing so I thought you meant that you were in FL but purchased from the Bresse Farms we're talking about. Whoops!