Our Bresse are getting bigger!

[mandelyn]

For aesthetics I'm trying to get a smaller comb on them but when I saw how this cockerel was developing otherwise I decided... next year. So I kept 2 other boys with smaller combs to use later on with pullets out of this guy.

This big guy is with my oldest hens, at 1.5-2 years old. Pretty excited on seeing what they hatch, they should be little monsters!

In the top right picture is his dad, once I confirmed that the son was bigger I swapped them out. Using the round hens with wide built boys is really helping to fill them out and gain some size. Bottom left is his younger brother, his comb may get bigger but he had the frame/type I like and the smallest comb of the bunch.

The best part of being dual purpose is that you can grow out 20-30-50 cockerels or so, pick the best 2 for breeding and have dinner for months. If you want to breed but don't want to deal with the boys, you're doing yourself a disservice in only hatching/rearing a small number since you're not seeing the range of what the genetics could be throwing. The 1 in 100 rooster looks a bit different than the 1 in 10 rooster.

This tall/lean rooster was my first Bresse rooster, they're looking a bit different now that we're 3 generations in.

The other benefit of being dual purpose is that you can see the type/frame and how/where they carry weight, making it easier to select for body type as you learn what they look like without feathers.

 

[janiedoe]

Wow! They are big and beautiful!

 

[speedy2020]

I would keep 1-2 roosters and put the rest to the pot before they are getting too tough. I don't like keep the rooster more than 6 months. The hen meat still tender after few years, but not the rooster. I hatched 18 chicks 6 months ago and still trying get down to keep 2 roosters.

 

[BlueBaby]

I would use the roo that has the straightest comb for breeding. That other comb could be hereditary and passed on down to your future chick's.

 

[123RedBeard]

What's the comb taste like???

 

[BlueBaby]

What's the comb taste like???

I have no idea as I've never tried to eat the comb. I also re-homed the White Breese that I had when I decided to go with the Naked Neck's instead. My white Naked Neck's have some of the Breese mixed into them. The White was dominant.

 

[Chickrus]

Do you only have 1 genetic line of your Breese?
I ask cause from what I've read from farmers trying to work with this breed was they lacked genetic diversity from only 1 genetic line in the USA.
Other people suggested crossing them with another breed.
I think your flock looks great.

 

[mandelyn]

Do you only have 1 genetic line of your Breese?
I ask cause from what I've read from farmers trying to work with this breed was they lacked genetic diversity from only 1 genetic line in the USA.
Other people suggested crossing them with another breed.
I think your flock looks great.

Just the one line right now. Over the summer I brought in all of the cockerels from a friend that did an order from Bresse Farms but they were small and flighty so we didn't keep any of them.

There's 2 or 3 lines now, though the newest one from Greenfire seems to be having a color leakage issue so I haven't bought into their newer line.

When I first started with them there was a crooked toe issue that we culled out. Lately it hasn't been around in the last year. They've not been lacking in health or vigor and they're hatching great, so I haven't felt compelled to add any outside birds.

We've gotten pretty no-nonsense with culling and that has helped more than bringing in new birds.

The Bresse we're working with are out of Greenfire's original line and crossed with "American Blue Foot" by the lady I got them from, she had done that several generations ago.

 

[BlueBaby]

Just the one line right now. Over the summer I brought in all of the cockerels from a friend that did an order from Bresse Farms but they were small and flighty so we didn't keep any of them.

There's 2 or 3 lines now, though the newest one from Greenfire seems to be having a color leakage issue so I haven't bought into their newer line.

When I first started with them there was a crooked toe issue that we culled out. Lately it hasn't been around in the last year. They've not been lacking in health or vigor and they're hatching great, so I haven't felt compelled to add any outside birds.

We've gotten pretty no-nonsense with culling and that has helped more than bringing in new birds.

The Bresse we're working with are out of Greenfire's original line and crossed with "American Blue Foot" by the lady I got them from, she had done that several generations ago.

I know about that crooked toe isssue. The one's that I had, had that same issue, along with discolored toes. I sold them cheap to a lady that wanted them to eat bug's, and told her that they were a mixed breed. That way if she changed her mind about breeding them, she wouldn't be trying to sell them as quality Breese, because they weren't.

 

[speedy2020]

I have 1st generation of the White Bresse from GreenFire Farms. I added some White Bresse hens/roosters from different block, but not sure the generation. Who would refuse 4 months old hen/rooster $10 each? I am still working on my own standard. The rooster look very good, but the hen seem little flighty than I would like.