Bresse Chickens

[Bresseman]

Sounds like a plan in the making! I also was thinking about getting some goats so as to have a supply of dairy to mix with the corn for the finishing. I'm trying to source dairy for the birds right now and it is probably going to be pricey unless I can make a deal with a local grocery store for old milk. Unfortunately most grocery stores return outdated milk to the dairy for credit. Back to the drawing board for me!

 

[sonew123]

Sounds like a plan in the making!  I also was thinking about getting some goats so as to have a supply of dairy to mix with the corn for the finishing.  I'm trying to source dairy for the birds right now and it is probably going to be pricey unless I can make a deal with a local grocery store for old milk.  Unfortunately most grocery stores return outdated milk to the dairy for credit.  Back to the drawing board for me!

The goats are not mine..I have two friends that do and we have decided to barter for it...They want new chicks in Spring and I need as much milk as they can give me. Im sure i wont have that milk everyday from them but Ill have to pick up milk from the store;( Does milk freeze well? Wndering if I can stock up when its on sale too???

 

[Ozarkguy]

Ive been drinking raw milk all my life so i always have a source lucky for me i have two within a mile of my house the nearest sell for $2.00 gl and often sell out. The other source sells for $2.50 gl. In arkansas you cant sell raw milk for human consumption but you can sell it as feed for livestock feed. Now if i can find a source for the corn and wheat flour i will be set. I dont think that goat milk will have to sour as does cowsmilk in order that the chickens dont get the runs and dehydrate.

 

[chiqita]

Hello
We has a small flock of bresse we are planning on breeding and finishing as close as w can to a moderated french method.

We are in a more urban area /and are only on 1/2 an acre so we an free range but can't provide enough fodder and bugs for the same diet naturally. So we are planning on raising fodder and bugs (black solider flies) to approximate the diet they get in France. Caponising is iffy in California so we may or may not try that.

We ate going to do powdered milk and whole grains in a smaller space. But not bitty cages for finishing. Low light's to encourage calm. We will see how it goes.

My bresse are about 4 months old and I am very excited!

 

[kaisabaijai]

Maybe you can get the outdated milk from the dairy.

 

[bayocum]

I'm thinking of selling mine for about $8/lb. Also, I know they have to be free-ranged until shortly before slaughter, then confined to build up fat. At atlest day 35, they are fed grain and milk products, then sent out to the fields to range when able.

There's some info on here-
http://sunbirdfarms.com/category/american-bresse/

And direct from the source with a nice video here- (gotta know French though!

)
http://www.pouletbresse.com/site/

Hey Liam, thanks for checking out our site and recommending us. We have a lot of information collected (some in French too), and are currently experimenting with our own methods. If anyone is interested, you can go to our newest post here. We'd love your comments and feedback.
Best,
Brice- Sunbird Farms

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

I hope I haven't stepped on any toes. I sometimes get accused of being an accuracy freak!

Got all toes in good working order a little cold from the weather though.

 

[kaisabaijai]

I finally found someone here in Thailand that has Bresse chickens and will be trying them out. If the eggs hatch that is. I can't wait to see how they taste compared to other chickens i have had.

 

[Bresseman]

This weekend we attempted our first caponizations. The weekend was productive if hard on those boys that we chose to caponize. The upshot of the whole experiment for me is that for the Bresse we should be caponizing at about 16-18 weeks. We attempted to Caponize 10 birds, 5 of them were White Bresse boys 8-12 months. The other birds were 5 Basque Cockerels and one 16 week old Hybrid. The Hybrid was the first bird we caponized being older his ribs and body were longer so we could make a slightly larger incision allowing us to have very little issue with accessing his testes. The Basque also seemed to have a body shape that allowed for caponizing particularly if larger, 3 of them lived. The Bresse were a different story. Anatomically they seem to have a musculature and shorter rib cage making for a difficult time caponizing birds at 8-12 weeks as these birds were, we could not make a large enough incision and we also had issues with the tools we were using for the job. The cause of most of the casualties was nicking the aorta and bleeding out. The birds that did live were larger and more mature. Overall my impression is that the Bresse should not be caponized until 16-18 weeks old. I also think we need to find or manufacture a better tool for removing the testes. My caponizing partner had made a tool sort of like a metal straw with a wire loop at the end, the wire was made to be retractable. The problem was the wire had no memory, it just folded up and we had a devil of a time lassoeing the testes. On most of the birds that we lost we had been either attempting to pull the testicle out and lacerated or nipped the large artery (aorta) or cut the artery trying to open the air sac. One of the Bresse boys was a casualty of an incision that was made into his lung, he did not die right away and was culled so he would not suffer. My only takeaway is that as I said above we need to do this procedure at about 16-18 weeks. Either that or we need to come up with a more streamlined or effective tool.

P.S. I've seen mentioned on the web a scholarly article written by a Japanese man regarding the invention of a tool that allows the birds to be caponized at an earlier age which supposedly increases the growth rate. So far I cannot find any other information or pictures of this tool.

 

[jak2002003]

Did the chickens get any kind of anesthetic for the operation? After doing the operations how long did it take for the birds to die? This seems rather nasty experience for the birds. I would never like to do this to my chickens.

I don't want to offend anyone, but how can this thing be OK? If I tried to do it to my pet parrots, dog or cat I am sure I would face animal cruelty charges.

I am not vegetarian or some crazy animal lover. I eat my chickens, but like to raise them and kill them in a humane way. It must be very painful for the chicken and stressful, and if many die that must be a loss of money for the owner.

Can't they be raised as roosters together and then butchered when required without having to do this procedure?