Bresse Chickens

[Double Kindness]

I only have 1 bresse cockrel to process this year and he's still young around 3.5 months old. I have a few other roosters (ayam cemani crosses) to process along with 2 rouen drakes and a narragansett turkey tom in about a month.

I guess I should start to finish him up. I have special rooster housing in my basement I think might work out well for finishing on goats milk soaked grains.

 

[duckmeister]

My 2 month old Bresse roosters, their first exposure to my harmless Katy Kitty, all the other birds ran, but the Bresse rooster gets in for a closer look. These Bresse are amazingly tame, brave and curious. The other chickens don't compare.

 

[rootes]

After 5 days the boys are liking their new diet. They eat up all the grains and milk by mid-day just as I had hoped. The only problem is that they give me the old "Hey, where's my food" look when their tray is empty. They do have their share of personality.

No ill effects from the milk. So if they are lactose intolerant, they are not symptomatic. Still nothing stuck to the bottom of my shoes but regular poo. I have them on a bed of sand with a little straw on top to make it easier for me to clean things up. Nothing unusual in their poo, so the milk is still a go.

Having the milk absorbed by the grain/crumble mix is really working well. No liquid around to spill or to attract bugs or other critters.

I'm fighting the urge to weigh them. I'll wait until the end of the second week to do that.

So far, so good.

 

[ronott1]

I can tell you the last 4 weeks of scratch, goats milke, greens, leftover, regular feed all soaked together just fattened my birds up...I think growing mine out for an additional 4 weeks is needed fo next year. i didnt even cme close to a 5lb bird at 16-20 week olds and they were FED and spoiled rotten. im shooting for 24 week olds next year. Good luck can't wait to see and hear your results.

They will have a tendency to go tough by 24 weeks--They will not be tender roasters but brining them will help.

 

[sonew123]

We brine all the birds prior to cooking for 3-4 days ...

 

[MysteriaSdrassa]

They will have a tendency to go tough by 24 weeks--They will not be tender roasters but brining them will help.

That is not necessarily true. If you learn the art of slow roasting, a 2, 3 or even 5 year old bird will come out, fall off the bone, melt in your mouth tender, if you do it right. The trick is lower temperature and longer cooking time. Like the old pit barbequers say,,, slow and low

 

[ronott1]

That is not necessarily true. If you learn the art of slow roasting, a 2, 3 or even 5 year old bird will come out, fall off the bone, melt in your mouth tender, if you do it right. The trick is lower temperature and longer cooking time. Like the old pit barbequers say,,, slow and low

What you are talking about is different from roasting--chicken is still tough so it needs a special cooking technique.

Also, it will start getting a gamy taste to it that some do not like because the male hormones of birds that are not capons flavors the meat.

A 5 year old hen will not have the gamy taste but would still need slow or moisture cooking.

Another thing to consider is that after 20 weeks old, the growth curve starts going flat so it takes a lot longer to gain a pound and much more feed. It gets to be very expensive to hold onto them to get bigger. That is why the French process cockerels at the young age and pullets a bit older.

If you are going to go for big birds, capon them. There is a great thread for it--someone there will also help you get good tools from China.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/675898/graphic-pics-of-my-day-learning-to-caponize

 

[rootes]

Well, my Bad Boys are almost to the end of week 2 of the 4 week "finish" period.
Going to weigh them this weekend.
I hope they have gained weight, they are eating me out of house and home!

I was able to get some raw goat's milk to use now and the next two weeks.
A friend of a friend had extra and did not want it to go to waste.
So the chickens will get real, whole unadulterated milk.
(I harvest honey only in the Spring from my bees. I see a gallon of honey mysteriously appearing on their back porch! Happy to have the milk.)

They started to crow today.
Mon Dieu!
What an awful racket.
I have three Cream Legbar mature Roosters I use for breeding.
Once everybody got to sounding off, I had to get away.
What a mind-piercing noise!

That must be one of the reasons the French process them at 16 weeks.
Mine are 14 weeks.
I can't imagine the noise if they were 20-24 weeks.

I'll weigh them Saturday.

Be good.

 

[sonew123]

Oh boy they will get loud haha! My 9 did!

 

[mixedUPturk]

I really appreciate everything yall have posted here ive learned alot about the eggs i just set a dozen and two extras from a reputiable BYCer near me its only my second hatch. i have a very reliable brand of incubator, whos hatchd 87.5% for me and i so i just hope that this hatch will go as well as my first! I want to focus on this breed as my chicken project, and i really appreciate everything yall have offered for me to work over in my mind.