La Fleche Thread ~ PIC of my Black La Fleche

[cgmccary]

I enjoy watching this rare, antique breed. They are a delight to observe on free range. I took some photos of my La Fleche pullets & got some body shots of cockerels like I promised. The pullets are in a coop with Buckeyes & free range with them. I gave them some watermelon today which brought them in the coop. All these in the photos I hatched in January of this year from two trios.







The cockerels were difficult to photo because they moved constantly. I have them confined which they do not like. This cockerel I am going to keep because he is from different pen (and only male I kept from that pen and not in the head shots in previous post) than the bird in photos in bottom two photos:


(The two below are same cockerel)

(probably going to keep this one)


Another one (where the picture was not blurred):

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Your middle boy, there, looks to be the best. He's showing some great tail development, and it doesn't look done yet. His breast seems to be the fullest of the three. His head seems most disciplined, not overdone. Your pullets have nice head features. All seem to have generally good feather quality. Watch your cockerels. If you get one with a little red in his color, keep him. His cockerel progeny will be worthless, but he'll slap green sheen on your girls, which seems to always be missing in La Fleche.

 

[Canieldonrad]

I definitely think more mass to them will help with the wings. Few more generations might get it there.

 

[cgmccary]

Your middle boy, there, looks to be the best. He's showing some great tail development, and it doesn't look done yet. His breast seems to be the fullest of the three. His head seems most disciplined, not overdone. Your pullets have nice head features. All seem to have generally good feather quality. Watch your cockerels. If you get one with a little red in his color, keep him. His cockerel progeny will be worthless, but he'll slap green sheen on your girls, which seems to always be missing in La Fleche.

Joseph:

I appreciate your comments. I like his comb too because it is less meaty and it comes to a point on the ends and is generally pointed up (not forward or to the side). I was wondering if it is large enough (or will it grow more)? I believe the SOP calls for a large V-shape comb-- so what is large?

I have the five other cockerels in a barn with pens next to each other but 10 foot partitions which they can fly over (who would have thought?). Each morning I have to separate after they have roosted on the partitions and flown down. Some mornings, they whip on each other. the middle male is in a separate enclosure so he is in a better environment & I believe, developing optimally. I separated him because I liked his comb the best early on.

Also, I am keeping another male (though I like him less) but he is from the other trio. I am still trying this breed out but I am hoping they work for me.

Chris

 

[Canieldonrad]

I'd say Rather Large would be along the lines of the Pendulous Wattles. I envision a v-comb that look too big for the bird's head. But then again, you don't want them to start sagging either.

 

[007medic]

A word about the meat qualities of this bird...

I'm the cook and "hatchet man" so to speak for cgmccary so I'm the hands on assessment of how these birds finished out at the 28-32 week window. Chris wanted to really give these these birds full opportunity to develop and doing so waited until after the 6 month mark to be sure they'd had their chance to recommend themselves for some destiny other than the deep freeze. Having more experience with the heavier Buckeye, I tell you truthfully- I didn't hold out much expectation for what looked to be a scrawny bird. I couldn't have been more wrong.

These birds dressed out a beautiful carcass with lovely full, rounded breasts, white skin and an American standard 60/40 ratio on white portions to dark. Finished dress weight was a modest 3-3 1/2lbs, but as it has been said throughout the thread, the breed currently suffers from lack of size. What amazed me was the amount of fat that was on the carcass. To watch these birds at the feeders, you'd NEVER believe they'd have an ounce to spare anywhere but lo' and behold they have a goodly amount of nice dense yellow fat evenly distributed but with especially large deposits in the abdominal cavity (which I saved and then inserted under the skin over the breast portions- voila`! instant basting).

As soon as the birds had been dressed and allowed to relax a good 24 hours in the fridge, I roasted one off. A la` Julia Child, I used the French method of tons of butter and salt on the outside and a screaming hot oven- started back up 15 min, right side up and basted 15 min, left side up and basted 15 min, then breast side up, basted 15 min and out of the oven to rest 15 min. What'd it taste like you ask? The flavor was EXCELLENT with white portions very sweet and dark portions hearty without being the least bit greasy. I wasn't prepared for the texture of the meat- when they say "fine grained" what that translates into is the muscle fibers are much smaller so the meat is much more dense and to the tooth has texture more consistent what I've experienced in game fowl being 'meatier' in texture. I think the dark portions are exceptionally appropriate for confit. The skin isn't much to write home about- flavorful and tough, but then again, who expects thin and crispy skin on a 6 month old bird?

Mind you, this assessment is done using the commercial Cornish/RockX for a baseline. Being an American raised in the city, commercially produced chicken was all I knew and so all my comparisons are made from my experience. I've begun to expand that experience in cooking with and eating other heritage birds including Java, Buckeye, Game and (of course) La Fleche.

Joseph, you need to send me a Dorking to expand the education of my palette

.

 

[Canieldonrad]

Presence of fat is a good sign. At least when size is regained they won't be too lean.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I'm so happy to have found this thread! I want to do another breed, and my expectations of that breeds are fairly high. Non-setter, good layer, good free ranger and dual purpose. After pondering breeds for a long, long time, I've finally settled on La Fleche. I started my own thread asking about the breed and the only response I've gotten is "if you want meat, raise Cornish X and butcher them at 6-8 weeks" :/ No offense to anyone that does raise them, but I think they look disgusting. And I'm pretty sure they don't fall into the category of a "good layer". I'm also VERY interested in bettering a breed that's listed as critical/rare. The Le Fleche seems to be a very versatile breed, and I need that. I need a bird who will lay like mad and can forage, and a bird that can ultimately end up on the table and manage to feed my family of 4. My other breeds are Silkies and Sizzles, so yes, I NEED all of those things!
I haven't read thru this entire thread yet, but I'm about to get started on that. While I'm reading, hopefully someone will check on this thread
Where are you all getting stock? I've found Le Fleche at Ideal Poultry and Sandhill, but I'd rather not order from a hatchery if I can find a reputable breeder. I don't have any hatchery birds anymore (not that there's a thing wrong with them!) and I'd rather not order from one if I don't have to.
Any help is so very much appreciated! And, from what I've seen, all of your birds are simply lovely! Thanks so much!

 

[Canieldonrad]

I'm so happy to have found this thread! I want to do another breed, and my expectations of that breeds are fairly high. Non-setter, good layer, good free ranger and dual purpose. After pondering breeds for a long, long time, I've finally settled on La Fleche. I started my own thread asking about the breed and the only response I've gotten is "if you want meat, raise Cornish X and butcher them at 6-8 weeks"

No offense to anyone that does raise them, but I think they look disgusting. And I'm pretty sure they don't fall into the category of a "good layer". I'm also VERY interested in bettering a breed that's listed as critical/rare. The Le Fleche seems to be a very versatile breed, and I need that. I need a bird who will lay like mad and can forage, and a bird that can ultimately end up on the table and manage to feed my family of 4. My other breeds are Silkies and Sizzles, so yes, I NEED all of those things!
I haven't read thru this entire thread yet, but I'm about to get started on that. While I'm reading, hopefully someone will check on this thread

Where are you all getting stock? I've found Le Fleche at Ideal Poultry and Sandhill, but I'd rather not order from a hatchery if I can find a reputable breeder. I don't have any hatchery birds anymore (not that there's a thing wrong with them!) and I'd rather not order from one if I don't have to.
Any help is so very much appreciated! And, from what I've seen, all of your birds are simply lovely! Thanks so much!

I plan to get mine through Duane Urch(and possibly Chris in the future). I am making contact with Urch at the moment to get a pair in November. And I'm going to check and see how many chicks I may be able to get through him come Spring.


I'm looking to hatch every egg from the pair(set eggs collected from each week). Which won't get me much, so that is why I'm getting the pair along with supplemental chicks.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

A word about the meat qualities of this bird...

I'm the cook and "hatchet man" so to speak for cgmccary so I'm the hands on assessment of how these birds finished out at the 28-32 week window. Chris wanted to really give these these birds full opportunity to develop and doing so waited until after the 6 month mark to be sure they'd had their chance to recommend themselves for some destiny other than the deep freeze. Having more experience with the heavier Buckeye, I tell you truthfully- I didn't hold out much expectation for what looked to be a scrawny bird. I couldn't have been more wrong.

These birds dressed out a beautiful carcass with lovely full, rounded breasts, white skin and an American standard 60/40 ratio on white portions to dark. Finished dress weight was a modest 3-3 1/2lbs, but as it has been said throughout the thread, the breed currently suffers from lack of size. What amazed me was the amount of fat that was on the carcass. To watch these birds at the feeders, you'd NEVER believe they'd have an ounce to spare anywhere but lo' and behold they have a goodly amount of nice dense yellow fat evenly distributed but with especially large deposits in the abdominal cavity (which I saved and then inserted under the skin over the breast portions- voila`! instant basting).

As soon as the birds had been dressed and allowed to relax a good 24 hours in the fridge, I roasted one off. A la` Julia Child, I used the French method of tons of butter and salt on the outside and a screaming hot oven- started back up 15 min, right side up and basted 15 min, left side up and basted 15 min, then breast side up, basted 15 min and out of the oven to rest 15 min. What'd it taste like you ask? The flavor was EXCELLENT with white portions very sweet and dark portions hearty without being the least bit greasy. I wasn't prepared for the texture of the meat- when they say "fine grained" what that translates into is the muscle fibers are much smaller so the meat is much more dense and to the tooth has texture more consistent what I've experienced in game fowl being 'meatier' in texture. I think the dark portions are exceptionally appropriate for confit. The skin isn't much to write home about- flavorful and tough, but then again, who expects thin and crispy skin on a 6 month old bird?

Mind you, this assessment is done using the commercial Cornish/RockX for a baseline. Being an American raised in the city, commercially produced chicken was all I knew and so all my comparisons are made from my experience. I've begun to expand that experience in cooking with and eating other heritage birds including Java, Buckeye, Game and (of course) La Fleche.

Joseph, you need to send me a Dorking to expand the education of my palette

.

Amen! As I've said time and again--they are delicious!!! I put them on par with the Dorking in quality of meat, and that is not something I say even sort of lightly. Their meat is not the same as Dorking meat; it's their own take on excellence. They are gourmet--period. Not being large is a quantitative statement, not a qualitative statement. With good, disciplined breeding, the could be truly excellent again. As is, they beat most anything on the tongue. They need folks who are willing to hatch them out in number and then cull for weight. y

PS: On the Dorking front, just served up a delicious batch of Dorking soup to some chicken friends....geesh I like good food.