My Bresse starter flock

[chanceosunshine]

Thanks for the update on the flock. I hope all 9 eggs will hatch out fine for you and look forward to pics.

Will you still be getting rid of George? What are your plans moving forward with breeding, feeding and harvesting?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

My first brood has arrived! Seven beautiful babies, hatched (6) on Saturday, and (1) yesterday. I set 12 eggs; three were clears, one early quitter, and one still in the incubator that's probably DIS.

My plans for these: Cockerels to be my first taste of Bresse meat. Pullets integrated into George's tiny flock along with Baby Abigail (now 6 months old, laying pullet-size eggs), Martha and Betsy (1 yr. 3 mos. old). I'll start gathering eggs immediately from Martha and Betsy (+George) for one more hatch from this group.

Sam, my backup Bresse rooster, still lives with my heritage flock at the moment. As soon as I get another good batch going in the incubator, I'll dispatch George. Sam will take his place with the Bresse hens, then I'll integrate the chicks. This should leave me with 1 *good* rooster and 6-7 hens and pullets.

Will you still be getting rid of George? What are your plans moving forward with breeding, feeding and harvesting?

Yes, unfortunately, George is still destined for my freezer. I want no more of his genes in the flock. Sam and his genes, too, will be destined at some point to leave, but I'll probably just trade or rehome him - and then acquire a new Bresse cockerel or rooster (or two) from somewhere else.

I'm not in a position at the moment to follow the French protocol for feeding and harvesting, yet. I plan to get set up for that over the next year or so. Meanwhile, my cockerels will be fed and harvested the same as my heritage birds. When I'm ready and have a few new broods going from Sam, I'll maybe start the French process and compare the results.

 

[chanceosunshine]

My first brood has arrived! Seven beautiful babies, hatched (6) on Saturday, and (1) yesterday. I set 12 eggs; three were clears, one early quitter, and one still in the incubator that's probably DIS.
View attachment 3808415

My plans for these: Cockerels to be my first taste of Bresse meat. Pullets integrated into George's tiny flock along with Baby Abigail (now 6 months old, laying pullet-size eggs), Martha and Betsy (1 yr. 3 mos. old). I'll start gathering eggs immediately from Martha and Betsy (+George) for one more hatch from this group.

Sam, my backup Bresse rooster, still lives with my heritage flock at the moment. As soon as I get another good batch going in the incubator, I'll dispatch George. Sam will take his place with the Bresse hens, then I'll integrate the chicks. This should leave me with 1 *good* rooster and 6-7 hens and pullets.


Yes, unfortunately, George is still destined for my freezer. I want no more of his genes in the flock. Sam and his genes, too, will be destined at some point to leave, but I'll probably just trade or rehome him - and then acquire a new Bresse cockerel or rooster (or two) from somewhere else.

I'm not in a position at the moment to follow the French protocol for feeding and harvesting, yet. I plan to get set up for that over the next year or so. Meanwhile, my cockerels will be fed and harvested the same as my heritage birds. When I'm ready and have a few new broods going from Sam, I'll maybe start the French process and compare the results.

The chicks are adorable, congratulations on the hatch. Keep us posted on the next hatch. I've really enjoyed hearing about your experience and it makes me want to venture out and do the same, but now isn't the right time for me. For now I'm happy to learn from your experience.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Second batch (12) eggs are in the Kebonnixs and on Day 3 of incubation. Hatch date about 5/19. Fingers crossed.....

 

[AKpal]

Second batch (12) eggs are in the Kebonnixs and on Day 3 of incubation. Hatch date about 5/19. Fingers crossed.....

Thank you for sharing your story! Very good info for me as 8 await bresse eggs.

 

[mschele]

I live a couple hours south of you and just added American Bresse to my flock three weeks ago. We ordered 25 and will process the majority, but keep a few hens and a couple roos. Mine won’t get the full French treatment either, but it sure is intriguing.

I just read through this full thread and I remember that night in January! I had a beautiful Wellsummer roo with a huge comb & wattles and gorgeous coloring. I even named him Pretty Boy. We came home late that night from Mexico (great timing, right?!) and my son who was house sitting for us had already closed up for the night. He didn’t think about locking the pop door, so Pretty Boy—pretty, not smart—pushed through the pop door and couldn’t get back inside. He spent the coldest night of the year on the outside roost. He would lose all of his comb, half of his wattles, AND eventually his left foot and about an inch of that leg. I moved him to a separate pen, away from the other roos in case one decided to take advantage of his condition, and kept one of the girls with him for company. Once the foot came off he was fine! He moved up the road to a friend’s place with lots of girls and no other roos and is living the good life. But now he’s called Captain Jack. Lol

Thanks to everyone for all the great info in this thread!

 

[chanceosunshine]

I live a couple hours south of you and just added American Bresse to my flock three weeks ago. We ordered 25 and will process the majority, but keep a few hens and a couple roos. Mine won’t get the full French treatment either, but it sure is intriguing.

I just read through this full thread and I remember that night in January! I had a beautiful Wellsummer roo with a huge comb & wattles and gorgeous coloring. I even named him Pretty Boy. We came home late that night from Mexico (great timing, right?!) and my son who was house sitting for us had already closed up for the night. He didn’t think about locking the pop door, so Pretty Boy—pretty, not smart—pushed through the pop door and couldn’t get back inside. He spent the coldest night of the year on the outside roost. He would lose all of his comb, half of his wattles, AND eventually his left foot and about an inch of that leg. I moved him to a separate pen, away from the other roos in case one decided to take advantage of his condition, and kept one of the girls with him for company. Once the foot came off he was fine! He moved up the road to a friend’s place with lots of girls and no other roos and is living the good life. But now he’s called Captain Jack. Lol

Thanks to everyone for all the great info in this thread!

Please let us know how you like the AB.
Poor Captain Jack! Amazing that he could recover from such severe frostbite!

 

[Just Ranchin]

I just put a few roosters in the freezer at 15 weeks. Milk/grained out. Had milk most of their lives. Second batch from different stock. Not impressed as of yet. Not any more meat than any of the other breeds we've raised over the years. Just bigger boned. All have been stringy when cooked in the crock pot. Great egg layers however and they do go broody.

 

[chanceosunshine]

I just put a few roosters in the freezer at 15 weeks. Milk/grained out. Had milk most of their lives. Second batch from different stock. Not impressed as of yet. Not any more meat than any of the other breeds we've raised over the years. Just bigger boned. All have been stringy when cooked in the crock pot. Great egg layers however and they do go broody.

Wow. I'm surprised by your results. Thank you for sharing them. Are you saying that you'll be processing a second batch as well?

 

[Just Ranchin]

Wow. I'm surprised by your results. Thank you for sharing them. Are you saying that you'll be processing a second batch as well?

This was the second batch from different genetics. Our first round was a nightmare. The roosters fought so bad they all ended up needing to be separated till processing. That was a lot of individual areas to maintain. This batch was chicks we ordered online from a breeder and they didn't fight like the first batch (from someone more local) but they sure didn't grow well. Have not seen anything impressive out of either batch. Have some hens and a rooster held back to give it one more try from the best of what we have here. Time will tell but so far not impressed.