- Sep 5, 2020
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Started as a family tradition back in 2020. Dads side of the family was known for keeping all kinds of poultry under the sun; dads favs were his gamechickens which he kept for 50+ years before his health would no longer allow him to keep birds. He also liked his doves, muscovy ducks, and African geese. By 2020 his health declined so much that I decided to get some chickens to keep around for him. I had laying hens, quail, turkeys, rabbits and ducks and when he went home to the Lord, the poultry stayed. No particular rhyme or reason to the flock, some were laying hens and the rest just whatever came home from buying and selling on a whim. Then in 2025, the plan changed. I decided to raise my own meat birds so I Googled what is the best meat breed of chickens and came up with Bresse--they werent the only breeds mentioned but they got way more press than other breeds except the CC which I was getting away from. I got a young Bresse flock, fed them all winter and now they are just beginning to lay. Also was fortunate enough to find a group of White LF Cornish which arent laying yet, but they developed slower than the Bresse. Yes, these two breeds will be the basis for my homegrown CC birds in the not so distant future. We sustained some losses over the winter, mostly Bresse but recently a couple of the Cornish passed too for reasons unexplained. However, am thinking they have similar issues as the CC with heart attacks but maybe not nearly as severe. Now am working on the chicken tractor design since I will need several for this project--one pen will be just Bresse, another just Cornish and a couple more for crosses both ways to determine which avenue will be best for meat birds. Will have to maintain two separate flocks of the parent stock and more of the best combo for the terminal generation. Besides the chickens, I also have a couple groups of Ancona ducks, a cage of African ringneck doves, and a flock of Super African geese. Now we have a goal and a purpose for chicken keeping, duck raising, and for the geese too. The doves are mainly ornamental, but if they reproduce that will be just fine.
