Recent content by MrsChickens

Not to get into a "mine's bigger than yours", but hopefully you can see from my young 2018 hens that I select for big breasted girls. At this point my Marans outsize my Bresse at 5 and 6 months. Here's pics of Golden Cuckoo Marans, a couple Blk Marans with a Bresse who snuck in the shot. I've...

Unfortunately, by the time the commercial hatcheries are offering specific breeds, their genetics are already screwed up. There are two types of breeders that contribute to the dilution of breed characteristics - the ignorant and those who sell. Neither of these groups do anything to improve...

Perhaps I need to get some of those eggs for diversity sake!

My Bresse flock is very small. I recently culled and kept only two hens with an exceptional rooster. I keep a golden cuckoo Marans (huge breasted), Splash Marans, a blk Marans (huge breasted) and a Buff Orpington (very large) in that pen with the intention to try a couple crosses as meat bird...

Same thing happened to the Blk Copper Marans. Everyone wanted in on the fad - bought inferior stock (cheap) then proceeded to cover hens, sell those hatch eggs and before you knew it, the Blk Copper Maran is completely dilute. Similar to cocker spaniels, labs, gold retrievers, Arabian horses...

Greenfire Farms if you want pure bloodlines - their stock is directly derived from authorized Bresse Gauloise exports from France to their farm.

After ten years people still have a less than specific approach to Marans which may be why the bloodlines are so messed up... I keep a closed flock of GFF Brown-Red Marans and get the darkest eggs...consistently 7-8 on the chart. I breed for both egg and table. They are wonderful tasting and...

This was posted a number of years ago but I had to take a contrary position here. Pouring surgical adhesive down rooster's throat? Really? Sorry roosters have many sounds they make, a majority are essential to the flock and their protection. A properly fitted collar will prevent the air sac...

You're right, thanks. I'll correct my post. I wanted to make the distinction that I wasn't referencing Bresse Farm in Florida.

I picked up 6 Bresse from Bresse Farms MS - earlier this spring. Of those 6 chicks 5 DOA/died within a day or two. Four chicks were replaced of the 10 chicks only 4 have survived. 2 male and 2 female. One cockerel is huge, very upright with fold over comb (defect) - very much like Leghorn and...

Picking up a rooster and holding him confined works while they are young and not very large. If a rooster exhibits aggressive behavior when full grown, catching and holding legs may not be that easy. I have established myself as the alpha by simply not tolerating aggressive/bully behaviors...

Judging from the comb/waddles Rooster G appears to be an Bresse/Ayam Cemani I would have never guessed a Fizzle... Question: Have you processed any of the Ayam Cemani hybrids form your Cemani hen? Other than legs, are any other features i.e. skin, tongue, organs/muscle/bones display the...

Sounds like you have a good outcome. Unfortunately mine wasn't and I lost a lot of money. There's no excuse for Meyer to not recognize there is a problem and work it out with the customer. A hard line email stating policy is 48 hrs for refund on fatalities was calloused. It was evidence in...

Well, buyer beware. This is why we post our experiences here on backyard chickens. read other posts...some have no problems, others have experienced similar to mine. Meyer is a large scale hatchery so issues can crop up. My problem with Meyer is that they only refund deaths to 48 hrs of...

After loosing nearly $300 on the order, I wasn't about to invest another $125. I believed the vet's conclusions. Coccidiosis is relatively easy to diagnose. The vet suggested if it wasn't coccidiosis, he indicated yolk infection which he said is unfortunately common in hatchery operations...