American Bresse Cockerel Comparison - 6 to 7 months old

The 2 larger boys just turned 7 months old and the smaller one is a month behind them. It's not likely that he'll catch up, he's just going to be a lighter weight bird with the type of structure that he has.
My favorite part of sorting birds is looking at how the expressed traits makes them similar or different from each other. Then using that information to find their appropriate mates, should they end up in a breeding pen.

[@ahmedstorage2998]

They are beautiful birds

[@TrustHimFirst]

I really like these videos…great job. I’m learning a lot. The breed will be better because of your effort. Linda Kumher Idom.

[@daynaandsteve]

This was great! Thanks for the side by sides. That was super helpful for me. I have a rooster I pardoned yesterday that is pretty close I think to your middle guy but without the yellowing so I'm glad I'm on the right track. I'd love to get more white earlobes and darker eyes too. I can't wait to see your hen video!

[@DLong-wp8su]

Thanks for sharing. I highly recommend select quiet rooster/hen.

[@MimsysGarden]

Enjoying your very informative vids on the American Bresse! Keep’em coming! (New sub)

[@jpresas3082]

Great video, thank you for sharing. I favor the small rooster, like that energy. God bless.

[@arcadianorchard]

I favored him with a breeding pen for half a season, then I found sons from him with the shape of those bigger guys, just not as bulky. Just about what I set out to hatch, so that worked out pretty well. Those newer cockerels will be in a video soon. The other guy already met the great crockpot in the sky.

[@khatch62]

I really appreciate your videos.

[@ButtercupAndFernHomestead]

Do you have any videos about what the ideal breed standard is? We have 12 Canadian Bresse chicks. I'm learning a lot from your videos. I also have 3 Sasso Ivory and 3 Sasso Scarlet ladies that are 1 yr old. I plan on keeping the best 2 Roos and harvesting the rest. And I will keep all of the Bresse females. I think I have a 7 to 5 split right now.

[@stevegermain1222]

Just found you and subscribed have been reading everything for 2 years. Raised four dozen 30 years ago and I want to get back into it this spring. I'm in South Carolina now I was in New York and I had Rhode Island Reds do you have a suggestion for the South

[@arcadianorchard]

Fat Chicken Farm and Northstar Farms are both in North Carolina and both have websites.

[@20NewJourney23]

I live in the desert southwest. Is it bad for my roosters to have a larger comb? I ask because I live near Las Vegas where the summer is 6 months out of the year and our average high temp during summer is over 100 degrees F, usually over 110. I will be raising and breeding ABC for my own use and perhaps to sell hatching eggs and chicks locally (not through the mail). I would think because we have excessive heat that the comb should be very large to help with heat dissipation. What are your thoughts, Mandelyn?

[@arcadianorchard]

They do displace heat through their combs. The time of year that they're grown out will affect the size they reach, Summer grown males will have much larger combs than Winter grown males, for example. They adapt to the conditions, over time.

[@lisaporria7307]

Would love to see a tour of your pens and set up.

[@MimsysGarden]

Me too!

[@coziii.1829]

So which one is best to eat ???

[@lisaporria7307]

When do you put these guys in these separate pens and how long do they stay before you put them with the ladies?

[@arcadianorchard]

We separate by gender at 8 weeks old and the males run in a bachelor group until processing time at 16-18 weeks old. I select out the most promising as possible breeding contenders. If temperaments allow, then I keep those together. If not, then they get "training hens", mature girls past 1 year old, who are sassy enough to teach them more about leading a flock and taking good care of the girls. If they're awful with those girls then they'll likely end up back on the dinner list. There's no such thing as having too many chicken pens! The cage they're in for the video is a temporary sorting cage. Having 3 spots let's me weigh birds into groups, from smallest, average and largest. Having them up at waist height on the table makes it a lot easier to look at them and make decisions on them.

[@markchidester6239]

Interesting. I would be interested in purchasing some fertal eggs when you get the breeding figured out that you think is best. We are raising Orpington buffs as we heard they are good duel purpose birds. Not to happy as the eggs and birds are small. These sound to be a good meat bird. Please reach out on Facebook if your interested. Same name as here, drawn cartoon picture with my daughter. Can't miss it lol