Considering an American Bresse x Buckeye cross, please give input

[Northern Chicken Nut]

This is kindof a crosspost from my thread in General Breed Discussion and FAQ but someone suggested to post here for more eyeballs.

I have put into motion an order of straight run Buckeyes (12 one day old chicks) from a specialty nursery. This is a special group of Lay-line/Schumaker Buckeyes. I plan on keeping this group separate from my mixed flock. I want to keep all the hens as well as 1-2 choice roosters which mature fastest and show good temperament. I have heard the buckeyes can be quick to mature and a good dual-purpose breed laying ~200+ eggs per year. I have hopes that this lay-line might be much higher in egg production but only time will tell.

I have been doing a lot of digging and I think Bresse might be the next breed on my list as a dedicated flock. They grow quickly on pasture and lay ~250+ eggs per year. I have heard many reports that they grow ~20% faster than most other heritage breeds.

Once I source some Bresse hatching eggs and grow them out I want to try crossing them with Buckeyes to get a fast maturing bird that can get to decent broiler weight at 12-16wks as well as start laying early. I want a bird with the pea-comb of the buckeye (northern climate Zone 4-5) and the feathering of the Bresse (white). Would I be better off crossing a Buckeye roo with a Bresse hen if I want those features or would crossing a Bresse roo with Buckeye hen be best? I understand it might take quite a few hatches and possibly a few generations of breeding to get the quick maturing pea-combed white bird im looking for but maybe someone out there has done some of this work that could give insight?

I plan on maintaining separate flocks of Buckeye and Bresse, keeping a sustainable number of roos/hens and introducing new blood of select nurseries every few years.

I've heard the white colored birds are basically black birds with two dominant white genes, is this the case with the White Bresse? Is there a combination of breeding sexlinks in an F1 cross that I would assume might come from crossing the Buckeye roo over a white Bresse hen or is the Buckeye more complicated than a solid color red?

 

[Cyprus]

Bresse are dominant white
Buckeye are red Columbian
Crossing a Bresse male over Buckeye female will give Pea Combed offspring that are mostly white possibly with red leakage.

 

[speedy2020]

If you like pure white bird, the white chantecler, white ixworth, white cornish similar to indian game should work well.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If your intent is to keep dedicated flocks and cross for broilers to stock the chest freezer then Cornish (pure cornish not the hybrid meat bird called cornish cross) would be a better choice of second flock. Get breeder stock not hatchery and they come in white red laced and the partridge color usually called indian game.

This post would actually get best traction in the meat bird forum. But it works here too. People get excited about making broilers and after much effort and expense realize they don't like the thin breast dual purpose birds have. Standard bred Cornish have double thick breast. On their own they make for a good sustainable meat bird. They just don't lay well, most eggs are in spring if not all eggs so you are hatching those to perpetuate flock and provide broilers from cockerel culls. Here is a thread of white Cornish used as broilers-
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-sustainable-flock-for-meat-and-more.1069243/

If your plan is to have two flocks then they make sense as the second as this bird has the structure and breast quality people are used to eating from the commercial broiler industry. The cross you make for broilers would be nice, not to compete with conrishX meat bird for rapid growth but a very good broiler with thick breast meat.

 

[Northern Chicken Nut]

If you like pure white bird, the white chantecler, white ixworth, white cornish similar to indian game should work well.

If your intent is to keep dedicated flocks and cross for broilers to stock the chest freezer then Cornish (pure cornish not the hybrid meat bird called cornish cross) would be a better choice of second flock. Get breeder stock not hatchery and they come in white red laced and the partridge color usually called indian game.

This post would actually get best traction in the meat bird forum. But it works here too. People get excited about making broilers and after much effort and expense realize they don't like the thin breast dual purpose birds have. Standard bred Cornish have double thick breast. On their own they make for a good sustainable meat bird. They just don't lay well, most eggs are in spring if not all eggs so you are hatching those to perpetuate flock and provide broilers from cockerel culls. Here is a thread of white Cornish used as broilers-
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-sustainable-flock-for-meat-and-more.1069243/

If your plan is to have two flocks then they make sense as the second as this bird has the structure and breast quality people are used to eating from the commercial broiler industry. The cross you make for broilers would be nice, not to compete with conrishX meat bird for rapid growth but a very good broiler with thick breast meat.

Im picking up a buff chantecler and two dark cornish hens this May to check out their growth and laying rates but mainly I want to work with the Bresse and Buckeyes because from what I've been reading they both grow relatively quickly and lay well. I am interested in the double breast quality of the cornish, but its hard to find a good source for the white cornish and I can only find hatchery quality dark cornish. I've been thinking of working some nursery quality Delawares into the mix but that might be a year or two away.

Is it a good idea to breed in the double breast from a dark cornish hen crossed to either a male buckeye or bresse or is it best to have use the dark cornish roo on a hen?

Overall I want a chicken that has a pea comb, preferably mostly white with maybe a little color leakage, good broiler weight after being on pasture after ~12-16 wks and overall the ability to keep choice hens for egg good egg laying.

 

[speedy2020]

Im picking up a buff chantecler and two dark cornish hens this May to check out their growth and laying rates but mainly I want to work with the Bresse and Buckeyes because from what I've been reading they both grow relatively quickly and lay well. I am interested in the double breast quality of the cornish, but its hard to find a good source for the white cornish and I can only find hatchery quality dark cornish. I've been thinking of working some nursery quality Delawares into the mix but that might be a year or two away.

Is it a good idea to breed in the double breast from a dark cornish hen crossed to either a male buckeye or bresse or is it best to have use the dark cornish roo on a hen?

Overall I want a chicken that has a pea comb, preferably mostly white with maybe a little color leakage, good broiler weight after being on pasture after ~12-16 wks and overall the ability to keep choice hens for egg good egg laying.

I like chicken with smaller pea comb as well. The coldest temperature here around 10“F, but with all the climate change lately who know what will bring in the future.

 

[Northern Chicken Nut]

I like chicken with smaller pea comb as well. The coldest temperature here around 10“F, but with all the climate change lately who know what will bring in the future.

Here in Northern Michigan we had temps of -15 F to -20 F at so far this winter. With record lows around -30 F. Its nice not having to worry about large combs getting frostbite.

 

[TomNY]

I have Dark Cornish/ Bresse crosses but never tried to cross a Roo with chickens.

 

[Northern Chicken Nut]

I have Dark Cornish/ Bresse crosses but never tried to cross a Roo with chickens.

Very cool, how many do you have and what type of comb and feather color are they? Care sharing any pictures? Do they seem to have the double breast of a cornish and what kindof egg production do they have?

 

[The Dapper Duck]

I just found this and I am curious now too, @TomNY !

Chanteclers have Cornish in their breed, so I wonder if they might be a good substitute for the Buckeyes. I was actually searching to see if anyone had crossed Bresse with Chantecler before.

Maybe it would be good to move this over to the meat bird forum to get some more attention.