Naked necks anyone?

[CannedMonster]

I saw that too, and I'm glad they decided to add them, but not sure about their source. Bresse Farms in Mississippi doesn't have the best reputation.

Oh really? What are the issues with them?

 

[cactusrota]

Oh really? What are the issues with them?

There's a litany of stuff. From poor customer service and poor quality birds, not getting what was ordered. I've seen pictures of birds that looked like a cross between a Bresse and a Legbar. Bresse that are supposed to be white showing too much color leakage. Chicks of different ages getting mailed together (chicks should never be shipped over 24 hours old as they can run out of the absorbed yolk while in transit) resulting in receiving dead chicks that should never have been shipped. The Bresse thread here in BYC as well as on fb is full of stuff. Now, there have been a good number of people that have had good experiences with them. And Dunlap is supposedly the second oldest hatchery in the country (founded 1918 I believe) so I would hope that they will selectively breed out the stock they received in order to maintain a good line.
If I were to order these Bresse from Dunlap, I would be tempted to get some now and some in a few years, just to see any differences they might make in maintaining their line.

 

[cactusrota]

What's funny is there's a Bresse Farm... (notice it's singular "Farm" not plural "Farms") in Florida that has a much better reputation, even though they aren't as well known.

 

[CannedMonster]

There's a litany of stuff. From poor customer service and poor quality birds, not getting what was ordered. I've seen pictures of birds that looked like a cross between a Bresse and a Legbar. Bresse that are supposed to be white showing too much color leakage. Chicks of different ages getting mailed together (chicks should never be shipped over 24 hours old as they can run out of the absorbed yolk while in transit) resulting in receiving dead chicks that should never have been shipped. The Bresse thread here in BYC as well as on fb is full of stuff. Now, there have been a good number of people that have had good experiences with them. And Dunlap is supposedly the second oldest hatchery in the country (founded 1918 I believe) so I would hope that they will selectively breed out the stock they received in order to maintain a good line.
If I were to order these Bresse from Dunlap, I would be tempted to get some now and some in a few years, just to see any differences they might make in maintaining their line.

Thank you for the information.
I think I’m gonna wait on these to see what kind of reviews they get.
I noticed that Dunlap doesn’t put reviews on their website but there’s some yelp reviews of them.
They’re kind of mixed.
I’m planning on going down there tomorrow to see what they have.
I’ve been wanting some barred Rocks.
Do you think my one Orpington chick would be okay if it’s the only buff Orpington in my flock?
I’ve heard that chickens tend to gravitate towards other birds that look like them.
My only EE gets picked on a lot.
She’s low on the pecking order.

 

[cactusrota]

Thank you for the information.
I think I’m gonna wait on these to see what kind of reviews they get.
I noticed that Dunlap doesn’t put reviews on their website but there’s some yelp reviews of them.
They’re kind of mixed.
I’m planning on going down there tomorrow to see what they have.
I’ve been wanting some barred Rocks.
Do you think my one Orpington chick would be okay if it’s the only buff Orpington in my flock?
I’ve heard that chickens tend to gravitate towards other birds that look like them.
My only EE gets picked on a lot.
She’s low on the pecking order.

I'm pretty sure if they grow up together they should be fine. Just a buddy of a similar color could help though. I only have one black sexlink and one black Ameraucana and they do fine, but I have other black birds. In my flock the hens that grew up together seem to stick together (alohas, Jersey Giant crosses, Bresse crosses, etc... ), even if they don't look the same. Like of the chicks I hatched last fall I kept four white pullets and one blue one, and the blue one tends to stick with her white sisters most of the time.

 

[cactusrota]

So this is the boy that seems to be thinking about stepping up to the plate as the new alpha roo in the flock. He's still young and has alot to learn, but the girls don't seem to mind too much. He's a dark dark blue Jersey Giant cross out of the blue partridge NN roo I used to have and a couple JG hens from TSC. I love his plummage as he looks so velvety! I think he needs a name.... I also ended up keeping the blue Bresse cross, even though he was one of the smallest of his brothers, he really beefed up his muscle tone, so he gets to stay too. The blue Bresse one will be penned off with the JG/NN cross hens from last spring as they are full siblings to the big boy so I won't be breeding them together.

 

[eggspecto_patronum]

My sweet NN getting some treats today.

 

[eggspecto_patronum]

@cactusrota glad the eggs made it safely! Can't wait to see them hatch.

 

[CannedMonster]

I'm pretty sure if they grow up together they should be fine. Just a buddy of a similar color could help though. I only have one black sexlink and one black Ameraucana and they do fine, but I have other black birds. In my flock the hens that grew up together seem to stick together (alohas, Jersey Giant crosses, Bresse crosses, etc... ), even if they don't look the same. Like of the chicks I hatched last fall I kept four white pullets and one blue one, and the blue one tends to stick with her white sisters most of the time.View attachment 1697734

Instead of going to Dunlap, I went by D&B and they had Barred Rocks and EEs.
So I got two of each.
One EE is a gorgeous chocolate brown with chipmunk stripes and the other is a light buff color with chipmunk stripes.

First I put all 9 chicks together for a day.
The bantams were pecking the BR chicks faces and toes.
They weren’t used to seeing black chicks.
Then I put them with the Buff Orpington chick in a separate brooder.
At first the BO chirped loudly for the bantam chicks it had been brooding with but it accepted the new ones pretty quickly.
I swear this BO chick might be male!
It’s absolutely fearless and just stares at my hand with its chest out when I touch it lol.
It’s supposed to be a sexed pullet but so was my BA cockerel, Oliver.

 

[chickengr]

Instead of going to Dunlap, I went by D&B and they had Barred Rocks and EEs.
So I got two of each.
One EE is a gorgeous chocolate brown with chipmunk stripes and the other is a light buff color with chipmunk stripes.
View attachment 1697851

First I put all 9 chicks together for a day.
The bantams were pecking the BR chicks faces and toes.
They weren’t used to seeing black chicks.
Then I put them with the Buff Orpington chick in a separate brooder.
At first the BO chirped loudly for the bantam chicks it had been brooding with but it accepted the new ones pretty quickly.
I swear this BO chick might be male!
It’s absolutely fearless and just stares at my hand with its chest out when I touch it lol.
It’s supposed to be a sexed pullet but so was my BA cockerel, Oliver.

I bet the lighter EE is a girl, the chocolate one might be a boy but I am not sure.

I still wait for the building permit and I probably will miss spring hatching. I hope to make it up in autumn. NNs will be hatched by a friend of mine so I am going to have them by summer