Bresse Chickens

[MrsChickens]

I can't love this post more. I've started working on a long term project of bringing back the old Naked Neck. I've chatted with many long time keepers that say decades ago the NN used to be a huge meat bird. They recall growing up with lines so heavy even the hens reached 10+ lbs. I won't be getting mine that big probably, but I'm trying to at least bring them back to a worthwhile true dual purpose table bird. A nice round breast by 6 months would be a good start. My theory is that with the availability of the CornishX to the public, all other breeds got relegated to layers and people just stopped selective breeding for dual purpose. Just look at all the birds offered by hatcheries. They push the CX or Rangers for meat, and anything else they sell grows out with a keel about as sharp as a sailboat's. Everybody breeds for plummage, egg color, and in the case of the NN as well as many others: Ornamental. It blows me away how many people keep perfectly good dual purpose breeds, and still buy chicken meat at the store, refusing to process the birds in their own backyard. So I'm working on improving the Bresse line I have, as well as crossing them out to my NN's to help improve those, along with a few other breeds I'm trying. A NN that dresses out like an extra big Bresse would be a dream.

Not to get into a "mine's bigger than yours", but hopefully you can see from my young 2018 hens that I select for big breasted girls. At this point my Marans outsize my Bresse at 5 and 6 months. Here's pics of Golden Cuckoo Marans, a couple Blk Marans with a Bresse who snuck in the shot. I've also included a pic of one of the 2018 5 month Blk Copper Marans. They are all big breasted and wider at the pelvis like the Bresse. While egg color for the Blk Copper Marans is critical, I mercilessly cull for size. I had picked up a couple Buff Orpington thinking they could be big breasted and suitable cross on the Bresse, but so far my Marans outsize everyone. So the Buff Orps will process this weekend. These girls are just at point of lay and are consistently #8 on the color chart with a some #9's and few #7's with speckles. So you can achieve breed characteristics and raise fuller bodied birds.

 

[Chickenheadmate]

My Bresse flock is very small. I recently culled and kept only two hens with an exceptional rooster. I keep a golden cuckoo Marans (huge breasted), Splash Marans, a blk Marans (huge breasted) and a Buff Orpington (very large) in that pen with the intention to try a couple crosses as meat bird project. I'm interested in what hybrid vigor may do on the Bresse. But my meat projects never hatch more than I can process for the freezer I want to keep the Splash and maybe cross with Blk Copper Marans rooster to develop a line of blues - next year maybe. BTW - My Blk Copper Marans table birds are very good.

Where did you get your black copper marans from?
Got a trio from a lady that got them from greenfire and wpndering how they will taste and how big they'll get

 

[flowerfaeiry]

I can't love this post more. I've started working on a long term project of bringing back the old Naked Neck. I've chatted with many long time keepers that say decades ago the NN used to be a huge meat bird. They recall growing up with lines so heavy even the hens reached 10+ lbs. I won't be getting mine that big probably, but I'm trying to at least bring them back to a worthwhile true dual purpose table bird. A nice round breast by 6 months would be a good start. My theory is that with the availability of the CornishX to the public, all other breeds got relegated to layers and people just stopped selective breeding for dual purpose. Just look at all the birds offered by hatcheries. They push the CX or Rangers for meat, and anything else they sell grows out with a keel about as sharp as a sailboat's. Everybody breeds for plummage, egg color, and in the case of the NN as well as many others: Ornamental. It blows me away how many people keep perfectly good dual purpose breeds, and still buy chicken meat at the store, refusing to process the birds in their own backyard. So I'm working on improving the Bresse line I have, as well as crossing them out to my NN's to help improve those, along with a few other breeds I'm trying. A NN that dresses out like an extra big Bresse would be a dream.

Yes! I have heard that NN were once considered meat birds, I for some reason thought they were bantams! Lol Have you seen the Orloffs! Another excellent meat bird that has drifted from the wayside.

 

[cactusrota]

Unfortunately, by the time the commercial hatcheries are offering specific breeds, their genetics are already screwed up. There are two types of breeders that contribute to the dilution of breed characteristics - the ignorant and those who sell. Neither of these groups do anything to improve the breed and often through their efforts they manage to produce nearly all recessives or at least create an imbalance of function between egg production and meat development. Heritage breeds ALL USED TO BE SUITABLE MEAT BIRDS. Now unless you can get closer to their genetic purity, you'll need to spend close to one hundred generations to eliminate all the weaknesses... That's why I have Greenfire birds, they are the closest I can come to the pure genetics - no backyard breeder has had a chance to dilute the genome.

Did the Marans you have come that big from GFF, or did you have to improve on what you got? I get so frustrated, because I really want big Marans like that to work with, but I ask around from breeder to breeder and all I get is: "I don't eat my birds, I dunno, they feel big when I pick them up... " It's hard to find a good breeder, but I'm still hard up on budget so I've been avoiding GFF.... If they start out hefty like yours it may be worth the expenditure....

 

[cactusrota]

Yes! I have heard that NN were once considered meat birds, I for some reason thought they were bantams! Lol Have you seen the Orloffs! Another excellent meat bird that has drifted from the wayside.

Yes! Orloffs were another breed I was seriously considering... Such a beautiful bird! But after I saw some in person, they just looked like extra pretty EE's. The ones I saw were tiny compared to the NN's I'm raising.

That's one of the main symptoms of the "downfall" of the Naked Neck, is its use as an ornamental. Which is so depressing considering how useful the gene itself can be for a backyard dual purpose bird. Most people don't realize that not only are they missing feathers on their neck, but on many other places of their body, too. You just don't see it because the feathers that are there poof out to cover the bare areas. And not only that, but they are completely missing the "guard hairs" that you have to deal with when hand plucking any standard breed. If you're using a plucking machine then it doesn't affect you, but for people like me that only process a couple birds at a time, hand plucking a NN makes things soooooooo much easier. Add that to a Bresse!! IMO that's an ideal meat bird.

 

[flowerfaeiry]

Yes! Orloffs were another breed I was seriously considering... Such a beautiful bird! But after I saw some in person, they just looked like extra pretty EE's. The ones I saw were tiny compared to the NN's I'm raising.

Wow! Not sure if what you saw was actually an Orloff, but my roosters stand quite taller than my Bresse, waist high, not something to mistake for an EE. The verticle stance may appear thinner but what a broad body and thick thighs, no doubts a hefty bird.

 

[cactusrota]

Wow! Not sure if what you saw was actually an Orloff, but my roosters stand quite taller than my Bresse, waist high, not something to mistake for an EE. The verticle stance may appear thinner but what a broad body and thick thighs, no doubts a hefty bird.

Maybe it was just the particular line they were from, then. Maybe low quality or something...

 

[mandelyn]

Can't believe I just found this thread! I'm in the market for fresh Bresse genetics, wanted to check on here before committing to a GFF order. Depending on location I'd like to do birds for pick up, otherwise shipped eggs.

This was the best male from the group I started with, with the best growth and size.

 

[aliciaplus3]

I just received my first order of bresse today!

 

[aliciaplus3]

arrived this morning here are all 25.