Bresse Chickens

[cottagefarmgirl]

Thanks so much. I have some eggs incubating and want to be fully informed.

 

[write2caroline]

Yes, I read about them on the Green Fire Farms website a while back! They are gorgeous! Post some photos please. It would not be impossible to get them through customs - eggs I mean. I would not designate the breed just that they are fertile eggs. Hard to tell one kind of chicken from another when it is inside of a fertile egg.

Green fire farms had imported some nice ones but they were not white they looked blue. On the page it said they seemed to want to be from the movie set of AVATAR! They were really beautiful and expensive.
Caroline

 

[bayocum]

Here they are....start to "finish"...












Best,
Brice @ SF

 

[BCMaraniac]

Hey Brice,

Nice birds! How old was the finished product there when you processed? I presume the 5.0 is the weight??

 

[call ducks]

Are they the same line birds as they have in France?

I am going to be blunt... And brutal...

No. The only true Bresse breeders are locked away in french owned breeder farms and hatchery - They do not let the breeders leave the farms. Any one that claims they managed to smuggle birds out of france do not have the real thing... The Bresse are very much like champagne... protected by all and every means possible.

Breese are finished on a very precise schedule, and feeding ration. While I can't quite remember what is exactly to feed, but dairy, bread,milk, wine come to mind for some reason...

As much as people want to say these 'American Bresse' are true bresse they are not. The only place you can find true Bresse is in France. And they do not go for the $200 that GFF has suggested. You can pick one up for about $20 - This is not stuff I made up or read online. This is after talking to a very knowledgeable person with, many friends that make their living as chefs in France. So I guess to sum it up all nice and short - In no way shape or form due we in North America, or any country outside of France have Bresse.

 

[chiqita]

I am going to be blunt... And brutal...

No. The only true Bresse breeders are locked away in french owned breeder farms and hatchery - They do not let the breeders leave the farms. Any one that claims they managed to smuggle birds out of france do not have the real thing... The Bresse are very much like champagne... protected by all and every means possible.

Breese are finished on a very precise schedule, and feeding ration. While I can't quite remember what is exactly to feed, but dairy, bread,milk, wine come to mind for some reason...

As much as people want to say these 'American Bresse' are true bresse they are not. The only place you can find true Bresse is in France. And they do not go for the $200 that GFF has suggested. You can pick one up for about $20 - This is not stuff I made up or read online. This is after talking to a very knowledgeable person with, many friends that make their living as chefs in France. So I guess to sum it up all nice and short - In no way shape or form due we in North America, or any country outside of France have Bresse.

They ARE the same genetically. They got smuggled out and the gff are from the smuggled birds. They will NOT have the same terrior, and what is expensive about breese is the feeding regime. Since we are not doing it the same way, its not going to be the same. Or, at least, this is my understanding of the whole issue. I have not seen or heard anything about feeding breese bread or wine however. But, I have not done an exhaustive search 9 a lot, but not exhaustive) . But, unless we find our own way of bringing out the best of the breese, it will not be the same. Like you cant make a cabernet and raise it in different places and get the same wine, you wont get the same chicken unless the method is followed very closely. But I do hope we finds our own way of doing it and bring out a new distinct taste in this wonderful breed.

from eating them myself, I can say the seed of flavor is there. But it isn't deepend and coddled like diet and resting will do. You also need to cook Breese certain ways, this is not the chicken they prefer for roasting in France, for example. The skin is distinct and not amazing ( imo) for normal chicken eating. YOu will see in France there are ways this is cooked to bring out the amazing flavor and texture, it needs all these things to shine at its best.

 

[chiqita]

also, on the price... Not a lot of people are willing to pay preium for meat birds in the US, and they develope fast, so a bird not finished is not going to be crazy expensive. The traditional finishing is 50-70% of the cost of the birds.

 

[bayocum]

Hey Brice,

Nice birds! How old was the finished product there when you processed? I presume the 5.0 is the weight??

Yes, that is the weight of this 20 week old cockerel. The hens in this batch were about 3.5, and really nicely built. We raise them on predominantly non-gmo, soy-free, organic feed with access to pasture, which means they are in an open-bottom tractor that is always on grass and native pasture. We also regularly allow them to free range, literally free to go anywhere they want and eat whatever they want, most every day. We mix our feed with whole milk from about 30 days, creating a mash. In the last 2-3 weeks before processing, we leave the birds in the tractor. They still can scratch and peck, but they tend to relax and lay around more. We do not have the French cages and dark barns, but this is the adaptation we've made. We use our "Sunbird" method as a regionally adapted method of the French practices. We don't claim it to be perfect, but it works well for us and are birds do great.

As for the comment that these are not "real Bresse"... Greenfire has been, without a doubt, the best partner we've had in our efforts to raise premium poultry. When we hatched our original eggs from them, we hatched 13 out of 14 viable eggs....these are shipped from FL to CA. No other supplier, no matter how well-intentioned they are, has ever met that level of quality. Their birds arrive healthy, and they thrive. I cannot attest that these birds were directly from the Bresse region of France, but I have no doubt that they are from true Bresse lines. If you've done any research on these birds, you will know that even the official statistics from France say that 5% of all Bresse are exported annually. It is true, that according to the AOC a "true" Bresse must be raised in the region and by the traditional methods. That said, if you take Champagne rootstock and grow it in California, the genetics are still the Champagne grape. Greenfire has already addressed this on their website and we feel it accurately represents the stock they have. At the end of the day, you are free not to raise these birds, and you are certainly free to spend as much time and money raising them as we do and sell them for $20. As for our farm, we will continue to work with our friends at Greenfire, continue to invest in these wonderful American Bresse, provide the best growing conditions we can, and enjoy the financial and intangible rewards of doing so. Our goal is to have the best American Bresse stock anywhere, offering a truly premium product. We would love to talk to others who are doing the same!
Blessings,
Brice @ SF

 

[BCMaraniac]

Yes, that is the weight of this 20 week old cockerel. The hens in this batch were about 3.5, and really nicely built. We raise them on predominantly non-gmo, soy-free, organic feed with access to pasture, which means they are in an open-bottom tractor that is always on grass and native pasture. We also regularly allow them to free range, literally free to go anywhere they want and eat whatever they want, most every day. We mix our feed with whole milk from about 30 days, creating a mash. In the last 2-3 weeks before processing, we leave the birds in the tractor. They still can scratch and peck, but they tend to relax and lay around more. We do not have the French cages and dark barns, but this is the adaptation we've made. We use our "Sunbird" method as a regionally adapted method of the French practices. We don't claim it to be perfect, but it works well for us and are birds do great.

As for the comment that these are not "real Bresse"... Greenfire has been, without a doubt, the best partner we've had in our efforts to raise premium poultry. When we hatched our original eggs from them, we hatched 13 out of 14 viable eggs....these are shipped from FL to CA. No other supplier, no matter how well-intentioned they are, has ever met that level of quality. Their birds arrive healthy, and they thrive. I cannot attest that these birds were directly from the Bresse region of France, but I have no doubt that they are from true Bresse lines. If you've done any research on these birds, you will know that even the official statistics from France say that 5% of all Bresse are exported annually. It is true, that according to the AOC a "true" Bresse must be raised in the region and by the traditional methods. That said, if you take Champagne rootstock and grow it in California, the genetics are still the Champagne grape. Greenfire has already addressed this on their website and we feel it accurately represents the stock they have. At the end of the day, you are free not to raise these birds, and you are certainly free to spend as much time and money raising them as we do and sell them for $20. As for our farm, we will continue to work with our friends at Greenfire, continue to invest in these wonderful American Bresse, provide the best growing conditions we can, and enjoy the financial and intangible rewards of doing so. Our goal is to have the best American Bresse stock anywhere, offering a truly premium product. We would love to talk to others who are doing the same!
Blessings,
Brice @ SF

Hey Brice, I processed my 21 week old Bresse slip this past weekend, and he is resting in the fridge, and I will either cook him or freeze him tomorrow. Of the 6 slips I processed(my success rate is better now than it was then) he weighed the most at 4#4oz dressed. I really didn't do anything special with him as far as feed or finish goes but he was really picking on my full capons, and I just took all I was going to, so he is gone! If he had been a true capon, and I grew him out longer, I would imagine he would have weigh significantly more. I am looking forward to growing out the rest of these, to see how they do.

Oh...I want to ask you a question. I have a couple of Bresse pullets that have just starting laying. How big were your pullet eggs, and how big should I expect their eggs to eventually get?

 

[bayocum]

BCMaraniac,
Ours were about med/small, and seem to get to a full medium or med/lg. They aren't as big as our Marans or basque eggs, but the make a great omelette and they are very consistent. I've been impressed with the dual purpose capabilities, laying earlier than many other breeds. They usually start right around 20 weeks. Thanks for the question.
Best,
Brice @ SF