Rare chicken breeds desired for their meat qualities?

[Our Roost]

Has anyone mentioned the proper time frame for culling your breeds? Extending past that time frame will have a big effect on the toughness of the bird. Their muscular structure becomes more sinui and is tough as nails in lots of cases. Kind of like trying to eat shoe leather! Slow roasting all day in a crock pot or roaster helps and allows you to eat older birds beyond their growing cycle. Anything more than that is usually only good for soup stock. I dont know the growing cycle of the breeds you mentioned but you may want to check into that. Trying to gain an extra 1# of weight on a bird can sometimes hardly be worth the effort if you are taking away from how moist and tender the meat is. You mentioned waiting another 3 months before harvesting some of your birds. Not all but most breeds are ready for the table at 18-20 weeks. A bird has reached full maturity and weight at that age. Some birds are known as 12 week fryers. They can be harvested earlier. The breed you raise can make a big difference of when to bring it to the table. Good luck and I hope you find some use of this.

 

[Double Kindness]

The roos in particular I'm speaking of are only 11 weeks old right now, I'm planning on 12 more weeks before processing them b/c it's below zero and they are expending a lot of energy staying warm. I have white bresse and ayam cemani that were hatched at the same time- beginning of October.

They are with an older batch of ayam cemani which are 4-5 weeks older and are on the top of the pecking order in that pen. Plus my muscovies decided they want to be in that pen too now that it's below freezing again at -12f right now.

 

[Our Roost]

Dont feel so bad! I have some sussex we purchased late in the season and I thought they would be ready by late November for processing before winter set in. They are growing slower than I had thought. They will undoubtedly be put in the slow cooker possibly. Another tip is to make sure the birds rest 24-48 hrs. before freezing. the meat has to have a resting period or becomes tougher. Little tips like this have helped us a lot. Good luck!

 

[Double Kindness]

I'm hoping that as long as we process by the time they are 6 months old they will be tender.

We had some speckled sussex, whoa talk about a crow! They were the first we sent to freezer camp lol. We definitely rest the roos 3 days before sticking them in the freezer or cooking them. I am very enthusiastic about trying the white bresse as they are supposed to be THE meat bird of France.

 

[Our Roost]

So you hail from Colorado? I think that is what CO stands for. Anywho, France brags about all their chickens! The bresse is a good bird among others from that region. Although I think you might find the Mechel Malines a bit better out of Belgium and other areas of France. It almost died off at the end of WW11 and is now slowly making a comeback. Dont ask how, but I acquired some here within the United States. They are not from Greenfire Farms either. Lets just say an associate breeder. I will be hatching out some offspring this coming spring. I dont know how many I will get. Once my numbers increase, I may be able to dispense a few hatching eggs. If you have interest, keep in touch. I am getting some more eggs from another source in the spring. These birds are ground thumpers because they are so heavy and have big feet! Very easy managable birds to work with. Nice high standing yolks also!

 

[Double Kindness]

I'm only on .5 acre, but we are actively looking for land to buy to build up our homestead to start this spring.

I have realized my limitations with space, as I have 3 chicken coops/pens, 2 big brooders in the barn.. the malines interest me. I see inbreeding issues with the white bresse, I am getting another unrelated line from gff in the spring sometime. As I'm breeding for meat atm and not for standard, it's ok, but there's a lot of work these bresse seem to need atm. But I really do not know a lot about chickens being only 6 months into this venture.

 

[Our Roost]

I have "One" very good chicken friend in Canada. We converse about our chicken explorations almost daily. We both do a lot of CANDY shopping and reading up on chicken breeds and everything about them. In the end, its all about raising no more than we can handle and maintain for both meat and eggs. We both kind of keep the window open for a project bird to toy with. In other words, a possible crossbreed project to improve its inner traits or trade its traits with another breed. You dont need a lot of property to raise more than what you can eat. You really only need a main coop and a breeding coop. Realistically, you only need 2 breeds of chickens and one to play with. My malines meat birds arent real good egg layers so I have blue orpingtons as my egg birds. This is only because we sell some of the eggs for feed purchase. I just got some golden cuckoo marans for my project bird. They lay a nice dark brown egg and will help spur egg sales. I also want to cross them with the malines to make them a better tasting and more robust sized meat bird.
It all depends where you let it take you. Dont jump into more than what you can handle!

 

[Double Kindness]

I'm trying not to let chicken math get the best of me, which is why I will sell off my assorted layers and the chicks I hatch out (olive eggers) to offset feed costs and getting new blood lines because I do like how heavy the white bresse are. I like the fibromelanistic chickens too. We have quite the set up, but working on improving everything still. We just started everything 6 months ago, lots of planning going on right now for spring. I'm lobbying for a greenhouse and high tunnel along with all the new raised beds and hugelculture project we just started.

I can't help myself, growing up in Alaska, I have to grow year round be it indoors and greenhouses. When it's -12f like it is today, I want to be around plants.

Atm I've got my bf convinced to incorporate the muscovies with a draining pond to irrigate the compost pile and or the raised beds.

 

[Our Roost]

Go to the thread Belgium malines next generation and talk to my good friend Shelley. She has a pond and muskovies also! A beautiful setup. I bet you would hit it off real good with her. She makes her own maple syrup and sometimes feed mash. She has a few olive eggers also. Are you sure your not her twin sister? I bet she would swap some bresse eggs for some malines eggs! Tell her jack mentioned you. Shes a real hoot and very smart and active with everything.

 

[Our Roost]

For only having a 1/2 acre, you have a lot goings on! I re-read your post and noticed you have the white bresse? Amazes me that you are already worried about bloodline and only being into chickens for 6 months? Thats barely enough time to raise from chicks let alone worry about future bloodlines. Maybe your stock was spent when you purchased it? GFF has good stuff but a little pricey. Then again they have rare breeds that most people dont and they can ask what they want for the birds. Regardless of what or who you get them from, the bresse is an awesome choice. You can add me to your future sales list for eggs once you acquire the other blood line. I may well be scrambling for a third bloodline of malines myself in the near future. New stock is imperitive to longevity and lasting quality. You are on the right track. Hope to hear more from you.