Cornish x Bresse

[Bresseman]

I'm thinking of starting a project alongside my white Bresse. Specifically for meat. I ordered some Cornish hatching eggs with the plan to eventually put one of my Bresse cockerels over a Dark Cornish. My intention is to combine the greater meatiness and weight of the Cornish with the superior taste of the Bresse.

What I'm interested in finding out is if anyone else is doing this? Is it better to put a Cornish cock over a Bresse hen or does it make a difference. My concern is that I hear Cornish have issues with breeding and a Cornish roo would have problems mounting a Bresse hen? Thus my solution of putting the Bresse cockerel over the Cornish hen. My purpose is to produce a healthier breed w/ superior taste and slaughter weight. I am also looking for a shorter grow out time.

What do folks think!

P.S. I should clarify that I plan to use my black Bresse birds because they really are rather lightweight but supposedly are even richer tasting than the white Bresse.

 

[McButterpants]

You go Bressman!
I have been curious of this exact thing! I did just harvest some of my dark Cornish capons.They had quite a few pen feathers as well as a somewhat dirty appearance after plucking from the dark feathers - tasted great, but didn't look as nice as I hoped. I have seen a couple of hatcheries offering white Cornish I'm curious if there is any difference other than cosmetic. I would have been hard to sell the capons as they looked when we plucked - since this is a hobby for me not a big deal but something others might want to consider. I should note that this was our first time processing at home without a plucker, just me doing the "dirty" parts and my wife plucking. I noticed the same skin condition with the La Fleche I did as well. We are processing another batch of the capons (same breeds + 1 red bro naked neck and 1 Delaware) next month I will take pictures of the finished birds and post.

 

[Bresseman]

Thanks for the encouragment! However I ran into a snag this weekend. I didn't set my incubator correctly and the Cornish eggs went cold for over 2 days. I have them back on at the right temp but I'm not very hopeful! So back to the drawing board. I'd like to find a few point of lay cornish so I could just put my adult white bresse to them. I might even try a White Rock hen if I can find one. I'll keep ya posted!