Does anyone know where to find Coucou d' Rennes chicks in the U.S.?

[pollitosdeoro]

We've read about the Coucou d' Rennes and their "unparalleled" taste, and would love to raise some...does anyone know where to get chicks in the U.S.? We are in OR but would love to find them just anywhere in-country if at all possible. Thanks in advance for your help!!!!

 

[stoneunhenged]

To the best of my knowledge they don't exist in the US. We are looking at importing them this year along with a couple of other native French breeds.

 

[pollitosdeoro]

Thanks for the reply . I saw some older posts in 2010 and early 2012 referencing a few people who supposedly had them in the U.S., but I haven't been able to find a place to buy any. How hard is it to import them? When you get them, are you willing to sell any? Would just love to raise them.

 

[ckickiepoo]

I just read about the Coucou de Rennes breed in Backyard Poultry. I'd love to see if we can import this breed. Sounds like my kinda chicken. I'd love to try what the cheifs are raving about! Nothing like the old breeds. I support these rare ancient breeds.

 

[exop]

It's not so much an ancient breed. Rare, but it dates from about 1900 and is a modern breed in that like the Plymouth Rock or the Lamona, it includes some asian influences. Since it's in a fragile state in France - recently nearly extinct, and rescued from a small and unhealthy population remaining on a single farm - it's still in recovery status and maybe we should wait until the breed is in better state before we look for populations to import (or to import eggs from).

NB. It's always best to be skeptical of super optimistic descriptions of chickens as "the best tasting" ... especially in popular magazines. Hyperbole has a long tradition in the chicken world, dating back to the mid 1800s when buff Cochins were supposed practically to walk on water. Breeds that have been described as "the best tasting" include the Dorking, the Faverolles, the Rhode Island Red, the La Flèche, the Crevecoeur (some French authorities are quite adamant about this!), the Dark Cornish, and most famously, the La Bresse or Gauloise... the Buckeye is supposed to have "delicious dark meat"... and I''m sure there are others I just haven't read about.

The biggest factors in whether you will raise tasty chickens are the strain you choose as well as the breed. Even the Gauloise has egg strains and meat strains. That is to say, you want birds from a meaty population. You want to feed them well (don't hold back on food), give them range and greens to eat and an interesting life which will also make their meat more interesting. And finally, you don't want to wait until they are too old before processing them. We are used to "tender", ie to the succulent flesh of five week old, gigantically meaty Ross Cobb hybrids and that tenderness is a function of youth as well as lack of exercise. There are ways to cook older chickens, but they are neglected now (coq au vin, for instance - traditionally a way to use up a chewy full grown 'coq'). With a traditional, non accelerated breed 13 weeks is pushing it ... birds probably won't look big enough to the modern eye, at 12 to 13 weeks, but older will be tougher. Alternatively, boxing and cramming a bird, or caponizing, are both traditional ways of ensuring a juicy sedentary chicken, but ones which are probably distasteful to most of us.

Best regards - exop