The American Bresse...

I was referring to color of the meat, also ratio light to dark with similar flavor. Ive purchased a local gal`s butchered Cornish cross and it was delicious - just wondering whether there's some compromise breed where we could be a bit more self-sustaining instead of having to buy every year
There is no compromise breed that can compare to the Cornish Cross. They are a four-way hybrid specially bred to produce a lot of meat at a young age. Nothing can match the production of the Cornish X, nothing grows that fast. Since they are butchered very young they are very tender. Even buying chicks every time they are probably the most cost effective way you can go.

Rangers are bred to butcher at around 12 weeks instead of by 8 weeks. They are probably not going to be as big even at a month older and by being a month older they are not quite as tender, but they aren't bad. How you like the flavor depends on the person eating the meat. We all have our own preferences.

Some of us raise dual purpose chickens like people have for thousands of years. They do not get as big as Cornish X and are not as tender since they are butchered older. You may not be able to fry or grill them because they can be tougher. Dual purpose have been the self-sustaining option for thousands of years. They are going to be mostly dark meat and not as tender as the Cornish X.

Some of us have tried breeding and raising Cornish X with very little success. Some have tried with Rangers with a few having some success but it is hard. Several have tried crossing Cornish X or Rangers with a dual purpose chicken. Some of these have been fairly successful, more with Rangers than Cornish X, but again it takes work. These cannot compare to pure Cornish X but they are better than straight dual purpose.
 

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