Bresse Chickens

[punk-a-doodle]

How is simply adding Bresse genes into other lines of birds destroying a 500 year-old bloodline though? Again, selling crosses as pure can be harmful to pure lines/breeds. Spalding peacocks making it hard for pure greens to be found is one example. Only breeding crosses and allowing pure breeds to die out is certainly harmful to pure lines/breeds. Spanish goats come to mind, though efforts to keep pure herds seem to be underway. Even when breeding pure to pure, sometimes helpful/foundation stock traits are lost. I see that a lot in working dog breeds bred to work versus working dog breeds bred purely for conformation showing. Someone acquiring a Bresse and breeding it to an EE, whether because they can't afford to buy several Bresse, because they could only obtain one pure bird in their area, because they prefer the traits a cross yields vs. pure (ie. Dorking/standard Cornish crosses are an example of two breeds yielding a bird that some consider to be even better than either parent), because they want to start their own true-breeding line or breed, because they want a quality meat bird that lays a different colored egg than their leghorns, or simply because they think the cross looks cute, it does not stop Greenfire farm from importing pure birds, does not stop others from buying and breeding pure Bresse, and does not stop pure Bresse from existing in their home country. The 500 year-old bloodline continues on despite the mutt EE/Bresse.

The 500 year-old Bresse exists because people did not allow even older blood lines in the form of red junglefowl to remain pure and unaltered.

 

[juststruttin]

@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.

I saw on another post that you are looking for Amber Links Hybrids. I am curious why you think it is okay to support one hybrid and not another. If Bresse are so spectacular, why do you feel the need to get another breed?

I have two Freedom Ranger hens that I intend to breed to one of my Bresse Roosters. In my opinion, the Breese genetics will improve the conformation of the Freedom Rangers and make them better foragers. I will then take a rooster from that crossing to breed back to the Freedom Ranger hens. Breeding my Bresse rooster to my Freedom Ranger hens will have absolutely no impact on my purebred Bresse breeding program.

 

[Phoenixwmn]

@JustStruttin---Amber Links ( I know them as Amber Stars) are hybrids, have always been of course and do not have the legally-protected
( in France) 500-year-old breed history that Poulet de Bresse has. Hope that answers your question.

I'm not a hypocrite, and I grasp the difference between a hybrid and a purebred. You cannot even breed two Amber Stars together and get Amber Stars, so it is a moot point. Just to be clear, as I said earlier, you are free to do whatever you want with your chickens, just as I am free to have my opinion about destroying a pristine purebred bloodline of a breed I also own. I plan to keep-manage my Bresse in exactly the way the French do, the methods used for many hundreds of years. What you do with yours is up to you, is your responsibility.

 

[juststruttin]

@JustStruttin---Amber Links ( I know them as Amber Stars) are hybrids, have always been of course and do not have the legally-protected
( in France) 500-year-old breed history that Poulet de Bresse has. Hope that answers your question.

I'm not a hypocrite, and I grasp the difference between a hybrid and a purebred. You cannot even breed two Amber Stars together and get Amber Stars, so it is a moot point. Just to be clear, as I said earlier, you are free to do whatever you want with your chickens, just as I am free to have my opinion about destroying a pristine purebred bloodline of a breed I also own. I plan to keep-manage my Bresse in exactly the way the French do, the methods used for many hundreds of years. What you do with yours is up to you, is your responsibility.

Do you currently own Bresse? I thought you were getting your chicks in a couple of weeks after you get your coop set up.

Bresse are a wonderful breed and after you have had them for awhile, you will likely understand why some of us have chosen to add their genetics to other projects we are working on.

Hi there Peeps.

So my American Bresse chicks will arrive in a few weeks,I bought my coop, am gathering all the supplies I need, have a Chick Starter Kit with warming lamp & thermometer and all the trimmings and so on. I have a couple questions I'm having difficulty finding specific answers to, as well as the "advice" of a friend in another state who has a couple hens who is giving me a nervous breakdown with her dire warnings about my having a rooster. I'll get back to that in a minute….

I got a couple books on raising chickens, have read so many Chicken Care articles that my eyes are swimming. I've read that you should handle them, but not "too much", that "too much handling" can kill them. I have ZERO idea what those parameters may be !
I don't plan to "waller" them 24/7 or keep them in my lap while I watch TV or anything goofy like that, but I do want to socialize them to me, and have them recognize me as Alpha Hen or Mama Hen or however that concept is best expressed. I want to be able to handle them, examine their bodies for issues, treat them to prevent mites etc without my getting pecked etc. I'd like to be able to give them mealworm & sunflower seed treats etc from my hands and have them be open to that without fear or aggression. So, how much handling is TOO much ???

I'm not running a commercial operation here and not trying to make a living from them; I may sell a few eggs now and then and maybe down the road sell some chicks, but I'm not looking to make a profit; by and large I guess you could say they'll be producing pets. It's important to me to have a relationship with them. (If you laugh at me for saying that, I'll cry, so forewarned is forearmed. LOL

The other thing…..my friend keeps telling me all these dark Rooster horror stories, how he'll attack me and won't let me in the coop, and how he'll tear up my hen & injure her every time they mate and how sorry I'm going to be because I got a rooster. I'm fed up with it, she doesn't even HAVE a rooster herself, but I am worried there may be some truth in her doom and gloom predictions. I spoke with the breeder and he said he's never had any issues like that with his roo's, that he's never even known exactly when they mated, much less had a hen who suffered wounds from it.

Should I be worried and is there anything I can do to prevent these issues if they ARE true, God forbid ???

As always, I am humbly grateful for any education I can get, thank you in advance for your answers.
Best Regards, Susi

 

[chiqita]

@JustStruttin---Amber Links ( I know them as Amber Stars) are hybrids, have always been of course and do not have the legally-protected
( in France) 500-year-old breed history that Poulet de Bresse has. Hope that answers your question.

I'm not a hypocrite, and I grasp the difference between a hybrid and a purebred. You cannot even breed two Amber Stars together and get Amber Stars, so it is a moot point. Just to be clear, as I said earlier, you are free to do whatever you want with your chickens, just as I am free to have my opinion about destroying a pristine purebred bloodline of a breed I also own.  I plan to keep-manage my Bresse in exactly the way the French do, the methods used for many hundreds of years. What you do with yours is up to you, is your responsibility.

I dont think we know exactly what the french do. The grain mix % milk etc is not public knowlege. The min acrage per chicken is but I still wonder how much of that is feed vrs free ranging. They talk about free ranging but the pictures of the breese areas ive seen contain no to little grass. I know my younglings are grass HOGS when they can get it and it does give a distinct taste to chicken imo.

I dont know if I have the pallet to eat a french raised breese and tell fine distinctions in diet after being milk and grained finished myself. But it would be interesting to know.

I know the breed raised for frying in france is supposed to eat a lot of grass.

 

[Phoenixwmn]

Sunbird Farms also has American Bresse…check 'em out, very reasonable price.

 

[enola]

I have eaten milk fed/fattened young roosters. VERY good eating. I used grower wetted down with goat milk. We loved it.

 

[enola]

I forgot to tell you they were 5 months old. Just starting to crow.

 

[Phoenixwmn]

(JustStruttin') "Do you currently own Bresse? I thought you were getting your chicks in a couple of weeks after you get your coop set up.

Bresse are a wonderful breed and after you have had them for awhile, you will likely understand why some of us have chosen to add their genetics to other projects we are working on. "



@ JustStruttin'---my Bresse chicks are ordered/paid for and now hatched and will be arriving shortly, not that it's relevant to this conversation. And no, you're mistaken, I won't ever understand why anyone would tamper with such a noble pedigree with no concern for the bigger picture, not just your own breeding program. If a person wants Bresse traits, buy Bresse. The laissez-faire attitude about breeding Bresse with other breeds is EXACTLY why France has been so jealously guarding these birds so many decades and centuries, because others don't have the same investment in them and are far more interested in saving a buck, at the expense of French breeder's historic & very dedicated hard work for literally hundreds of years, than in perpetuating an impeccably fine and very distinguished pure blood breed.

When I eventually get to the point of selling pullets I will require buyers to sign a Breeder's Contract which will state they understand they may not breed the Bresse out of breed and that if they do there will be a significant financial penalty. And if they don't want to sign, they don't get the birds, period. I will do my part to honor the extraordinary legacy of this amazing breed. My own French heritage informs this stance. These spectacular chickens, a unique product of France and recognized world-wide, are interwoven with my own family history, too.

I am not naive enough to think anything I say here will have an impact, really; you do your thing, I'll do mine. You don't understand my values and I don't understand yours; we won't be changing each other's minds. And I won't be posting any further in this thread.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

My Bresse are finally laying