Mistral Gris meat birds

[LindaB220]

So simple question yet to be answered how do you buy these Mistral Gris here in the states. Does anyone have links or web address.

Yeah, that's a good question FallingSkies. By the way,

 

[Mariteri]

Has anyone
found Mistral Gris in the US?

 

[Mariteri]

I am looking for them in the US also, but now wondering if they are the same as Kosher Kings

 

[FallingSkies]

Have you seen these others as when I was researching there were a couple others with different names but weren't as good . But that was awhile ago.

 

[Melody Pearson]

I just picked up my second batch of Mistral Gris yesterday, from True North Heritage Hatchery here in Langley BC. They tend to take a bit longer to mature than the Freedom Rangers, and are not as quiet tempered. They do great outside, excellent foragers, and will put themselves back in the coop when it gets dark or starts raining. Also with this batch are some New Hampshires, trying them for the first time.

 

[Omega Blue Farms]

Contrary to the Canadian "sales pitch" being shared here, Mistral Gris are just a knock off of the Kosher King. It's my understanding that the KosherKing parent lines have been sold to a BC, Canadian hatchery. Those that see the link to Hubbard's Master Gris barred have good eyes, it's obvious that the Kosher King was developed from the Hubbard product. I have 100 approaching harvest time. I will be keeping some as breeders to unlock their pedigree secrets. If anyone wants to see the truth, all they have to do is hatch chicks from Kosher Kings and also from Mistral Gris. When both produce similar diversity, you will see the truth. Sorry call duck, you bought a "sales pitch" hook, line, and sinker.

I've been hatching my own knockoffs of rustic broilers and am most impressed by their potential for backyard/small scale poultry production. Most of my hatching has been from Sasso x431b. The F2 knockoffs are a fantastic dual purpose option because grandma was a meat bird version of a bantam. This means that 1/4 of my knockoffs are bantam sized and can make great meaty layers. They dress out to about 3-3.5 lbs at 12-14 weeks. Start laying at 17-18 weeks. The regular sized siblings dress out to between 5-6.5 lbs with a small number as small as 4 pounds. This is at 12 weeks.

For those wanting premium chicken, harvesting at 12 weeks offers the best balance between flavour and tenderness. I have 30 breeder hens now and despite amazing egg production and hatch rates, I can't grow enough to keep up with demand at our local farmers market. For those that want to grow the best chicken, I highly recomend learning about and following the Label Rouge aproach which is what these rustic broilers were bred for. I follow Label Rouge aproach and most who try my chicken come back declaring that it's the best chicken they have ever had.

One word of caution for those that want to keep their own for egg production and hatching their own. You need to limit their feed intake. I feed mine at dinner time when bringing them in for the night. I feed 35g/kg live weight. There may be better formulas, I'm still learning and sharing what is working at this point.

 

[hazyhollow]

Mistral Gris chickens are now sold by True North Heritage Hatchery in BC. Google them. For background info, Google "the story of Mistral Gris"

 

[BChick96]

Just adding an update incase anyone stumbles upon this thread like I did. True North Farm sold their parent breeding flocks for Mistral Gris to Tevah Acres in Cherryville, BC.

I hatched and raised my own this year, did the 12 hour on/off with 17-18% crumble after they were done their chick feed, and had them processed around 13 weeks with a dressed weight of 5-6.5 pounds. One thing I will say is that the hens and roosters should be separated before 12 weeks since in my experience the roosters were quite aggressive with one even drawing blood and constantly attacking my feet though it did make it easier to send them to slaughter I’m definitely going to be raising them again next year with some changes but overall they were easy to manage and did well being pasture raised. So nice to not deal with any health issues or sudden deaths like with commercial broilers!

 

[EOD Daddy]

I have raised Kosher Kings and I would bet money these are Kosher Kings. Which is fine as I love Kosher Kings for meat birds.

 

[EOD Daddy]

Ok I just read some of the post further back. I actually ordered Kosher Kings from the breeder in PA back when he was the only one you could get them from. @ 2007 or so. I believe he was Mennite or Amish but don't hold me to that. Now you see them all over the place, some hatcheries call them Kosher Kings (Freedom Ranger) some call them other names. All I can tell you is they are a really good meat bird.