Bresse Chickens

[PetRock]

At what age can I expect to be able to sex accurately? I hatched 2, and oh man are they growing fast! Hoping I didn't end up with 2 boys!

I can sex mine by 6 weeks but it is easier to tell if you have several of them to compare. The boys and their combs stand out from the girls. Here is a pic of two cockerels with their adoptive broody mama. They are around 8 weeks old in this pic.



In this pic you can see a pullet at around 6 weeks with a cockerel in front of her.



This chick is almost 3 weeks old and I would bet is a cockerel.

 

[Caitlin_VT]

Thanks! Only had the two hatch so I guess if they start looking different then, well, I can guess that I have one of each!

 

[Phoenixwmn]

You can buy them here, why go to the expense & difficulty of importing them ?? There are very strict rules, as I understand it, about the French allowing these birds to leave the country. GreenFire Farms has them, as does Sunbird Farms. Exact same genetic make-up as the French Bresse ( Poulet de Bresse) except they must be called American Bresse because they were raised here.
If you can manage to bring them back, good on ya, but it's not necessary to do that to have them. Hoping this helps~ ENJOY FRANCE !!!

 

[chiqita]

Does sunbird farms have different lines then gff?

 

[Phoenixwmn]

@Chiqita---
It has been my understanding, too, like you, that you absolutely cannot import these birds from France as a private citizen. They have a government-issued appellation and special protections-regulations from the French government. GreenFire Farms were first to import them for breeding here and went through a couple years of paperwork and negotiations, as I understand it, to do so.The French insisted as a condition to allow import that all the resulting chickens born in this country would be called "American Bresse", not French Bresse. I am unsure how anyone would be able to export them to ANY country, not just here. It seemed kinda questionable to me, really, about that poster saying he was importing them, and you have to wonder if they're really pure-bred Bresse that guy is planning on buying, maybe he's getting taken to the cleaners ???

I've seen many posts here from folks who have Bresse that are cross-breeding them with other breeds, and that's actually tragic, to actively pollute & destroy a 500 year old purer-than-pure bloodline. Think of that: The Bresse bloodline has been in existence longer than our country has ! I am sure my philosophy is different from many, but I have pure-bred dogs I feel the exact same way about, you don't diddle around with a pedigreed bloodline. It's a great responsibility to have pure-bred animals with a lineage like the Poulet de Bresse have, to respect and maintain that.

I'm sure this'll get me jumped on here, but it's totally understandable why the French government didn't want to export this special breed; they didn't want to trust that precious bloodline to people who don't have the same investment in it. It is painfully obvious their concerns were valid.

 

[BCMaraniac]

@Chiquita I believe Sunbird Farms also have GFF lines of Bresse.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Selling crossbreeds as pure is an issue. Only crossbreeding and allowing a useful breed to completely disappear is an issue. "Polluting" bloodlines is not only a way for people to take advantage of mixed animals that display traits they want/to make do with what they can get ahold of, but is also a proud tradition in establishing purebreds. Ask the junglefowl.

 

[DCchicken]

I don't think anyone said anything about selling crosses as pure. People are making assumptions probably because they have not taken the time to read the thread from the beginning. I highly recommend everyone do that as there is a lot of valuable information in this thread.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I brought it up to illustrate a point.

 

[Phoenixwmn]

@Punkadoodle---I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then. I fail to see how destroying a 500 year old bloodline is anything close to a "proud tradition". The breed is spectacular just as it is; if a poultry raiser wants Bresse traits then he/she should buy Bresse, not throw away the hard work of literally hundreds of years of meticulous breeding practices. Like I said before, the French were justified in their determination not to allow these birds to go to those who have zero investment in their purity.

Just as an aside, I never said anything about anyone selling crossbreeds as pure, except that guy who said he was importing a bunch of Poulet de Bresse from France; I suspect somebody may've put one over on him because the exporting of those birds is highly regulated in France, doubtful that's what he was getting.