My Bresse starter flock

[chanceosunshine]

This was the second batch from different genetics. Our first round was a nightmare. The roosters fought so bad they all ended up needing to be separated till processing. That was a lot of individual areas to maintain. This batch was chicks we ordered online from a breeder and they didn't fight like the first batch (from someone more local) but they sure didn't grow well. Have not seen anything impressive out of either batch. Have some hens and a rooster held back to give it one more try from the best of what we have here. Time will tell but so far not impressed.

Sounds like a very interesting project, but I'm sorry the outcomes aren't better for you. Keeping all the roosters separate would have been a pain.
If the next try doesn't go well, will you keep some hens for laying?

 

[Just Ranchin]

Sounds like a very interesting project, but I'm sorry the outcomes aren't better for you. Keeping all the roosters separate would have been a pain.
If the next try doesn't go well, will you keep some hens for laying?

We have 15 breese hens in the flock to try. 8 are laying now if I remember right. The rest should be laying in the next few weeks. Just coming of age for it. I'll be culling some before winter most likely. Have way too many chickens right now. Don't want to cull our other birds that are proven in case these don't pan out. Out of the both Bresse groups (the 15 combined hens) only 2 are close to breed standard. The rest have undesirable breed specific combs, colors, bone structure, poor growth etc. I haven't decided if I'll separate the few that are the better ones and keep them with the breese rooster (only 1 out of over 25 roosters has even been close) or if I'll let the Bresse rooster be our main rooster for a while. So far he's pretty good natured, nice width, good comb and color.
All that to say I am being more picky that they are more breed specific because of the costs etc of them and what they are supposed to be. Even if they don't work out to be what research has said they should be I'll keep some in the flock for egg production and cross bred meat birds for the table. At least until there are no longer any in the flock. Their eggs so far have been great and they do go broody well so far.
My biggest reason for going all in and trying a second time from a different supplier is because we're looking for a good duel purpose bird that has decent weight at processing for the table that we aren't buying from a hatchery for. Want to be able to raise birds for the table year round with a broody hen.

 

[chanceosunshine]

We have 15 breese hens in the flock to try. 8 are laying now if I remember right. The rest should be laying in the next few weeks. Just coming of age for it. I'll be culling some before winter most likely. Have way too many chickens right now. Don't want to cull our other birds that are proven in case these don't pan out. Out of the both Bresse groups (the 15 combined hens) only 2 are close to breed standard. The rest have undesirable breed specific combs, colors, bone structure, poor growth etc. I haven't decided if I'll separate the few that are the better ones and keep them with the breese rooster (only 1 out of over 25 roosters has even been close) or if I'll let the Bresse rooster be our main rooster for a while. So far he's pretty good natured, nice width, good comb and color.
All that to say I am being more picky that they are more breed specific because of the costs etc of them and what they are supposed to be. Even if they don't work out to be what research has said they should be I'll keep some in the flock for egg production and cross bred meat birds for the table. At least until there are no longer any in the flock. Their eggs so far have been great and they do go broody well so far.
My biggest reason for going all in and trying a second time from a different supplier is because we're looking for a good duel purpose bird that has decent weight at processing for the table that we aren't buying from a hatchery for. Want to be able to raise birds for the table year round with a broody hen.

Those aren't very good odds for getting close to breed standard. It would be interesting to see what you get from the rooster and two nice hens. I wonder if you can actually breed out the undesirable traits with only the genetics you have now.
What was the average size of your birds at 15 weeks? Is 15 weeks the typical harvest time for Bresse?

 

[Just Ranchin]

Those aren't very good odds for getting close to breed standard. It would be interesting to see what you get from the rooster and two nice hens. I wonder if you can actually breed out the undesirable traits with only the genetics you have now.
What was the average size of your birds at 15 weeks? Is 15 weeks the typical harvest time for Bresse?

14-16 weeks is what's recommended for processing or they get tougher. I've read up to 6 months but haven't tried that. Part of their claim is processing early and larger which I have yet to see. The first ones I did were just shy of 15 weeks due to the fighting. The second batch was 16 weeks almost 17 weeks. I did processed 2 roosters just shy of a year old that I got with the first batch because the seller just wanted them gone. They were getting out of them. Guess I should have taken that as a clue. I was happy to feed them out a little and process them. Have plenty of milk for it. I was told fought pretty bad so I kept them separate the entire time I fed them out. They were good size but stingy. However they were far better than the younger ones I've done to date. Have yet to have a rooster reach 4#'s dressed out at processing between the 14-16 weeks.
I plan to try and see what I get from the best few. I'll probably separate that trio and put them in a separate coup once my grow outs are processed (different breed) and collect eggs for a broody hen if one comes available or incubate them since I'm learning how to incubate anyways for quail. I was surprised to receive day old chicks from an actual hatchery that weren't pure white from the start. So far good layers from the first batch but the second group from a hatchery haven't started laying yet but they should have.

 

[chanceosunshine]

14-16 weeks is what's recommended for processing or they get tougher. I've read up to 6 months but haven't tried that. Part of their claim is processing early and larger which I have yet to see. The first ones I did were just shy of 15 weeks due to the fighting. The second batch was 16 weeks almost 17 weeks. I did processed 2 roosters just shy of a year old that I got with the first batch because the seller just wanted them gone. They were getting out of them. Guess I should have taken that as a clue. I was happy to feed them out a little and process them. Have plenty of milk for it. I was told fought pretty bad so I kept them separate the entire time I fed them out. They were good size but stingy. However they were far better than the younger ones I've done to date. Have yet to have a rooster reach 4#'s dressed out at processing between the 14-16 weeks.
I plan to try and see what I get from the best few. I'll probably separate that trio and put them in a separate coup once my grow outs are processed (different breed) and collect eggs for a broody hen if one comes available or incubate them since I'm learning how to incubate anyways for quail. I was surprised to receive day old chicks from an actual hatchery that weren't pure white from the start. So far good layers from the first batch but the second group from a hatchery haven't started laying yet but they should have.

At 4#s, the juice doesn't seem worth the squeeze. At least you have the milk to try this experiment out. At 12 weeks, the rangers we do are 6-8#s and the meat is of good quality. When we process backyard roos at much older ages, they are small and stringy but the flavor of the meat is delicious.
Too bad there's not a way for you to try the *real* thing to compare to the American Bresse.
It's interesting that the hatchery birds aren't laying yet. Have you noticed other differences between the breeder birds and the hatchery birds?

 

[Just Ranchin]

At 4#s, the juice doesn't seem worth the squeeze. At least you have the milk to try this experiment out. At 12 weeks, the rangers we do are 6-8#s and the meat is of good quality. When we process backyard roos at much older ages, they are small and stringy but the flavor of the meat is delicious.
Too bad there's not a way for you to try the *real* thing to compare to the American Bresse.
It's interesting that the hatchery birds aren't laying yet. Have you noticed other differences between the breeder birds and the hatchery birds?

That's where I am at. I have a decent investment in these birds and so far they are no better than our cross bred flock. Wish we could try a "real" American bresse. At least then I'd know if its just the genetics we've gotten or the way we are raising them or if this is really just how it is.
We have so much milk it's normal for our flock to regularly get milk or clabber. Grow outs get milk soaked feed.
The rangers are hatchery purchased only right? They don't reproduce in a home flock? I've not tried those yet. Was really looking for a closed flock again. Not to mention year round raising vs once or twice a year for the freezer.
Found a new egg today. So one is starting to lay. The others will probably follow soon. Temperament of the breeder birds is more flighty and they peck me often when I'm collecting eggs later when they are roosting. The hatchery birds so far are better natured. Not really surprising with how the roosters of the breeders were although they never got aggressive with me just each other. The combs on the breeders hens almost all flop over and are larger than they should be for the breed. Have a couple of the zombie coloration. Most of their legs didn't turn early on. The hatchery birds turned very young. That's about all the differences so far that I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[chanceosunshine]

That's where I am at. I have a decent investment in these birds and so far they are no better than our cross bred flock. Wish we could try a "real" American bresse. At least then I'd know if its just the genetics we've gotten or the way we are raising them or if this is really just how it is.
We have so much milk it's normal for our flock to regularly get milk or clabber. Grow outs get milk soaked feed.
The rangers are hatchery purchased only right? They don't reproduce in a home flock? I've not tried those yet. Was really looking for a closed flock again. Not to mention year round raising vs once or twice a year for the freezer.
Found a new egg today. So one is starting to lay. The others will probably follow soon. Temperament of the breeder birds is more flighty and they peck me often when I'm collecting eggs later when they are roosting. The hatchery birds so far are better natured. Not really surprising with how the roosters of the breeders were although they never got aggressive with me just each other. The combs on the breeders hens almost all flop over and are larger than they should be for the breed. Have a couple of the zombie coloration. Most of their legs didn't turn early on. The hatchery birds turned very young. That's about all the differences so far that I can think of off the top of my head.

I hope you can find a "real" one to try. I'd love to hear how you think it compares to what you have experienced.
Yes, the rangers are from a hatchery. I use Freedom Ranger hatchery out of PA. At this point what we have are 9 weeks old and would already make a decent sized dressed weight. From what I understand, it would be very difficult to be able to breed them from home, because they wouldn't breed true. I'd honestly have to question whether they can physically do the deed anyway. That was partly why I was interested in the Bresse.
I usually keep a smaller hen or two back because it makes me feel better about the whole process. I've had them live 3-6 years and the older one was actually taken out by a predator. They lay big eggs, but only a few a week.
Thanks again for sharing your experience.

 

[laura29532]

Thank you! I'm raising them for both meat and eggs.

They are supposed to be the best tasting and most tender chicken meat in the world (when raised and finished by the French standards). To me, they fit the "gold standard" of all the features I want in a chicken: Lots of eggs (250/year), abundant meat, fast growth (12-14 weeks to slaughter), mild disposition, predator savvy, great foragers (means less feed cost), protective roosters and mothers, and can handle either hot or cold climates.

As of now, the greatest challenge I see is their limited gene pool in the US. To prevent in-breeding problems, I'll need to locate other breeders with whom to trade birds from time to time, or save up $$ to purchase new birds.

I've had great luck in raising the Bresse. I bought mine out of Mississippi about 6 years ago. Added a few more from Greenfire farms out of Florida. They are more expensive now. I only feed Organic all natural feeds, vegetables and fresh herbs. I have had great luck until this year my roo decided to get real ugly. He does not want me to tough the feed dish for some reason, he goes after my hands. Hes great with the hens. He does not like the color red either so I try not to wear that color shirts. I just hatched out 12 eggs, had a good hatch of 9, can't seem to hatch any roos'. I keep trying. If you want some awesome meat try soaking some organic crushed corn with fresh cow milk or goat milk. fatten those babies up for about 3-4 weeks before processing.! I had goats so i used the extra. You won't find better tasting chicken meat ever.! Its true that it marbles just like beef. I have five hens and start saving eggs to hatch again late November. (hurricane season sucks). One day I will probably break down and order another rooster and more hens if this hatch proves unsuccessful. I have just purchased a 48 egg incubator with a battery back up. Good luck with your hatch.

 

[chanceosunshine]

Thanks for sharing your experience! At what age do you harvest your birds?

 

[laura29532]

Your welcome, about 5-6 months old. I always wait until they have molted due to the sheath feathering in the skin. I like a bird with a smooth breast and no bumps from the new feathers coming in. They usually weigh about 5-6lbs. Beautiful meat. I experimented once taking a couple of my Bresse hens putting them with my white rock rooster, I got some pretty nice size meat only birds, but the taste was not as good as the Bresse meat alone. The chicks I hatched out went right to the freezer, only had a 75 % hatch rate as well. The hens were the better tasting of them.