Bresse Gauloise in USA?

[exop]

How about the Scots Grey ?

That would be pretty patriotic... they're a dual breed, in need of recovery work... and the link I included quite frankly, has made me want some myself.

Best - exop

 

[caz@HannaHens]

Hi, I am new to this site, I was reading all your comments on Gauloise chickens, I hatched 6 eggs which I purchased from ebay. they all hatched and now have 2 roosters and 4 hens. they are now 14 Weeks old and enormous. The roosters started crowing 3 weeks ago, and upset the neighbours

I decided that my 12 year old daughter should be given the choice to make some pocket money from selling the eggs locally and we would sell fertilized eggs for hatching and the birds for meat, but they are not a friendly breed, and the boys make a beeline for you with feathers up, they launch at you and peck - not nice and potentially leathal. Does anyone have any ideas please on how to deal with them.

The breed itself is a very very fast growing one, they are beautiful birds with white feathes, red combs and blue legs - but boy they want to attack.

I dont understand why you have none in the usa - (I got mine from Ireland) - there seems to be very little information about them over here apart from what your other messages have produced as info. I live in the UK - Bournemouth/ Poole, Dorset which is along the south coast.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My thoughts on trying to make them as close to Bresse Gauloise is only that they will never taste the same because of all the differences in soil, pasture and even the taste of corn, due to growing methods etc - however as a meat bird they sould be given all the things they need locally to make them unique to the area where you live and grow them. Perhaps that is because you have a certain grain that they love or if they are partial to a herb that is grown locally - anything that will give them a distinct flavour to your region. Its all in the lap of the gods if it will improve their flavour but one that we are experimenting on.

As I said this bird is one that we had only by chance found and apart from the rather nasty behaviour they display, I hope they will taste fantastic when the time comes.

 

[stoneunhenged]

We recently legally imported both black and white Bresse into the US. Haven't noticed a bad temperament with the birds we have. They seem to get along well with people and the roosters are within a normal range of aggression toward each other. The blacks lay a large white egg and the whites are very meaty birds. Here's one of our blacks:

 

[mountainvieworchards]

I was in the region of Bresse Burgundy about 15 years ago. It is only a couple hours drive from the famed Cote d Or of Burgundy where the worlds most famous Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines are made. I of course had a dinner serving the local favorite poulet de Bresse. It was excellent, cooked with morel mushrooms (which by the time of year were probably from British Columbia).

The French Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain wines and other agricultural products and is based on the concept of terroir. The production of these chickens as many of you know is controlled by well spelled out guidelines to assure the consumer the product is up to a certain high standard. My experience with the local bresse chicken lived up to my expectations. The chef who prepared this bird new exactly what he was doing.

To understand the controversy of whats in a name it is helpful to look at an analogy: Vineyards in Burgundy (or Bourgogne in French) produce excellent wines, the red is from Pinot Noir a variety of grape. The better wines are named by the place name of the Appellation and not the variety. That same grape variety Pinot Noir and often the same grape clones that are grown in France are also grown in Oregon and California to make excellent red table wines. In the US the wine is called Pinot Noir. Only in the older days of Gallo wine did they produce a cheap knock off called "Burgundy". The quality of the wine is different from vineyard to vineyard, as well as from region to region. This has to do with soil, terrain, clones used, management and the weather of a certain year called the vintage. Some of the pinot noir grown in the USA is better than some of the pinot noir grown in France. Presumably this is somewhat different than raising chickens.

The breed, the breeding (blood line) the feed, the living conditions the fattening and slaughter all can affect the meat product.

Regardless of where they are produced I think calling this breed Bresse chickens is alright provided they meet the requirements of the breed. I think calling them the Bresse Gauloise is ok too. I think calling a knock off of the breed the California Blue footed chicken is ok. But I think calling them American Bresse is silly, it sounds like Franco-American. And its not a distinct breed from the French breed. A Rhode Island Red raised in the UK is a Rhode Island Red it is not an English Rhode Island Red. Same with Plymouth Rock. Would you call it a Rhineland Plymouth Rock if raised in southwestern Germany?

I raise Sussex chickens along with others for meat and they are an excellent breed for fattening for the table. I don't call mine American Sussex. Sussex is as much a place name as Bresse Bourgogne. Lets stop all this silly bowing and catering to the French. They have developed some excellent breeds over the centuries, it is fair to acknowledge this. Keeping the place name with the breed makes sense and shows this lineage. But just because we grow a chicken in the USA doesn't make it inferior to its French cousin. We may find that birds developed from the Bresse chicken over time will be adapted to our regions and our cuisine and may equal or surpass the French achievement. We have done it with wine and there is no reason to think we will not do it with poultry. Educating the foodies and other consumers in this country to slower grown pasture raised properly fattened chicken is the task. France has the benefit of an already initiated consumer and ongoing traditions on the farm.

This sort of agriculture would all have to be relearned in the USA and modified to fit the climate, soil, feed available. It would be a specialty product, but may command a good enough price to make it profitable. Or it may just fall into the hands of people like me who like to eat the kind of chicken and a variety of ages of birds that you cannot buy in the grocery store.

 

[AyeUpChuck]

To be honest I don't mind what they're called. Bresse is fine by me. I'm a chef by trade and have been very torn about raising meat birds. CornishX are just wrong IMO.... I don't have anything against people who raise them. I just think it's weird that you can raise an animal that can barely walk because it's put on so much weight in such a short period of time. I've always wanted to cook one of these but bar going to France, it was close to impossible. Now that I stay home and farm both plants and animals I can really control the quality of what we eat and not have it be a financial burden.

I'm SO going to get some of these. I kind of want to raise both white and black. I'm going to have to figure out finances first but this is amazing. I'm in sort of a food mecca as well so I would be able to raise them to sell to select butcher shops. VERY excited! Thanks Greenfire for importing these birds!

 

[aveca]

I don't want to speak for the OP, but Bresse occupy a special place in the heirarchy of meat chickens. They have a unique flavor --some describe it as gamey-- that some other chickens lack. We can debate whether the flavor comes from the method by which they are grown, the feed they eat, the genetics of the breed, or a combination of these factors, but the reality is that not every chicken breed will necessarily taste exactly like a Bresse. So, raising a different breed of chicken won't always result in the same product.

I'm sincerely curious in learning which nearly extinct breeds you think are more deserving.

had it in france many years ago in a cream scauce, never forgot it..they were featured in arc of tastes magazine.. it was the best chicken we ever had..the maran was pretty god too..over here we have bland old birds raised in amonia filled poultry houses..polet are grass fed, the caponed befor sale ..our chickens woud probably taste better if we farmed this way or were able to.they are unique for sure..they have blue legs...

 

[lluther]

Is there anyone raising or selling breese? I am interested in raising some.

 

[Talihofarms]

We have just started raising the White Bresse .

The plan will be using the French method of raising them as stated on the Greenfire web site.
If you are looking at raising them, I would suggest Green Fire chicks direct.
Eggs are available here and on other auction sites.
However keep in mind these are a new breed here.
Stock is limited and quite a bit expensive.
I would be interested on seeing some data on conversion rates.
Particularly the market price here in the USA on capons as raised to the French standard.
Lets keep this tread going.
Inquiring minds need to know.

 

[aveca]

I am very excited about this breed..they are on my must have list,!!!
We started building out farm around the French farming methods..there 12 acres 1/4 of which is fenced at this time) More being set up with pasture / shaded areas..

 

[kaisabaijai]

I finally have 1 Rooster and 3 hens that are from the Bresse imported from France by the Royal Project in Chiang Mai.

The Bresse Rooster and my Leghorn Rooster do not get along with each other at all.