Bresse Chickens

[ronott1]

I processed a 20 week old Bresse capon slip. He weighed 4 1/2 pounds dressed, and was delicious!!

That is a great size!

 

[BCMaraniac]

That is a great size!

I was pleased. I have another slip that I am getting ready to process that is out of the same hatch as the first.....he is 26 weeks now. I also have a 25 week old white rock slip that I will process at the same time. It will be interesting to compare the two.

 

[Arielle]

 

[bayocum]

What is the adult size of the bresse hen and rooster? ANd what is the BW at the 16-20 weeks age?? THe three pound carcass is smaller than my expectation for a meat bird. OR do I neeeed to readjust my expectations??

At 20 weeks, our pullets (dressed) were 3.5 lbs, and our rooster was 5 lbs. I would say, in my opinion, that it wouldn't hurt for all of America to "adjust our expectations." The more we think of food as a commodity, the less value it has. Then it becomes a pure numbers game. How quickly can we get a 4-5 lb carcass on how little food and sell it as cheap as possible. It becomes a race to the bottom. But when you invest in your food, and it takes months to raise, with daily interaction, our food is not only better for us nutritionally, but it is better for us intrinsically… we value it more and savor it more. Anything worth eating is worth investing our time and care (and money) into. Our 5 lb. rooster fed four adults and two children. It then went into a pot for chicken noodle soup. There was literally nothing left but bones and it provided a couple of nights worth of meals. We ate well, both in quality and in appreciation for the efforts invested. I would say that raising Bresse, in no way, is cheaper than raising CornishX, but we're fine with that…its a better tasting, better raised, and better for our family. That's how we've adjusted our expectations. Great question Arielle!
-Brice @ SF

 

[call ducks]

So

The breese are dom white so I this means it will hide most colours (you can get some red leakage).

Regarding the "splash" bird GFF got from crossing a white and a black... Nope not a splash.

So most know the 25%,50%,25% of breeding blue. Blue's gene symbol is Bl.

bl/bl = Black
Bl/bl = Blue
Bl/Bl = Splash

bl/bl X Bl/bl = 50% bl/bl and 50% Bl/bl
bl/bl X bl/bl = 100% bl/bl
Bl/bl X Bl/bl = 25% bl/bl 50%, Bl/bl, 25% Bl/Bl
Bl/bl X Bl/Bl = 50% bl/bl, 50 Bl/Bl

So basicly there should be no way to get a splash from a white to blue mating. Now I have had my own experience with the blue gene, that should not have happened, looking back I still question how it happened....

 

[Arielle]

Quote: THanks BRice-- we are on the same page. I have raised the cornish and have a couple 6 mo butterball hens and I have had more than enough hatchery stock to know I have had enough of them, too. I"m looking for the best meat bird that I can raise up on foraging and some feed from a bag and be "heritage" . THe 5# dressed rooster at 20 weeks is worth my time to process; and I like the texture and flavors better on older birds, say 4-5 months or older.

 

[chrissyr]

Officially subscribing today to this thread! Thanks to @chiqita for my new babies!! What a wonderful breed

 

[sarahannecloud9]

Pardon me. This thread is overwhelming and I can't seem to find the info I need. I had 3 chicks and they amaze me at how they are easily double the weight of my other lf of the same age. My only female seems to have had a stroke? She was flipping to the left and unable to move the left side. I had to put her down. So sad because my other 2 are obviously males. So the question is are these birds prone to the same health issues as traditional "meat" birds you see in the US, such as the Cornish? The growth is just so fast!

Thanks for your time!!!

 

[ronott1]

Pardon me. This thread is overwhelming and I can't seem to find the info I need. I had 3 chicks and they amaze me at how they are easily double the weight of my other lf of the same age. My only female seems to have had a stroke? She was flipping to the left and unable to move the left side. I had to put her down. So sad because my other 2 are obviously males. So the question is are these birds prone to the same health issues as traditional "meat" birds you see in the US, such as the Cornish? The growth is just so fast!

Thanks for your time!!!

That sounds like Mareks. I hatched out 4 pullets and 5 cockerels--they did not show symptoms of the initial mareks infection and others with Bresse have not reported problems with Mareks.

Quickly, Mareks is chicken herpes. It presents with an initial, usually non symptmatic infection any time after one day old. 3 to 5 percent of those that get mareks will die of reproductive cancer at about 2 years old. A small percentage will show symptoms at the initial infection and a smaller percentage will die of the initial infection.

Most breeders breed for resistance. There is a vaccination that needs to be administered within the first 3 days of hatch.

I am sorry you lost your Pullet!

 

[BCMaraniac]

That sounds like Mareks. I hatched out 4 pullets and 5 cockerels--they did not show symptoms of the initial mareks infection and others with Bresse have not reported problems with Mareks.

Quickly, Mareks is chicken herpes. It presents with an initial, usually non symptmatic infection any time after one day old. 3 to 5 percent of those that get mareks will die of reproductive cancer at about 2 years old. A small percentage will show symptoms at the initial infection and a smaller percentage will die of the initial infection.

Most breeders breed for resistance. There is a vaccination that needs to be administered within the first 3 days of hatch.

I am sorry you lost your Pullet!

Ron,

This question isn't about Bresse, but about Marek's and really doesn't belong here.....but I am going to ask anyway. I have a really large Kennel Cage(my Pyr will fit in it) that we repurposed with some modifications into a recovery pen for my newly caponized cockerels. Unfortunately because of space issues, they stayed in there longer than I wanted. Anyway, when I moved them, I discovered one that was falling off to left side, but was not paralyzed on that side. It was hard to tell if he was weak or having balance issues or had been injured because of the close quarters. I went ahead and put him back into this kennel by himself. He could keep himself upright, but his head kinda bobbed like he was trying to keep his balance. He continued to show some weakness or balance issues, but ate grew and gradually got better. He goes in and out of the pen now, flaps his wings, and seems perfectly fine. I haven't integrated him with anybody else because I wasn't sure if he had had something contagious(though none of the others ever had any symptoms) and I also didn't want him getting picked on. Also, he is a capon slip but isn't crowing, so I knew his further existence would be short. What I am wondering is if you think he had Marek's, albeit mild. Also, there wouldn't be any reason not to process and eat him even if he has had Marek's?