Some Conversational Pros & Cons of American Bresse

[@bjchris8979]

I'm giving this breed a shot, I have 48 chicks. I tried the other breed that said they were dual purpose was not impressed, they have wonderful colored feathers, but not much meat. I even hatch some out and culled the roosters, didn't like the size when dressed out. I'm hoping these are what I'm reading, watch and researching, about them. But I want to thank you for your detailed assessment of them, you have a lot of years with them, to bring us good information. I have watched multiple video that you have made about them and I have gotten good information from them. Thank you again.

[@pseudopetrus]

I feed a 20% turkey grower. It works best for my Partridge Chanteclers. I also feed a high quality scratch grain that includes black oil sunflower seeds. I use a maintenance dose of a vitamin/electrolyte in their water (a lower dose than the therapeutic dose recommended). I also include a very little bit of dry cat food in the colder season here in Canada, as there are no bugs in winter. I feed greens every day... even if I have to go buy them. Nutrition is so important right from the time a feather starts to grow, if you have show birds. I don't normally give advice on line. But I do like this channel. I can relate with the variation that comes with starting a new breeding project. I have 3 lines that I am working with (all the same breed and variety). I did very well this year at the shows, a 3 time champion, and 2 different reserve champions. Two of my lines are tested and legitimate. But the third line (we bought 40 chicks), is down to one pullet. She does have what I need (a little higher tail carriage), and she has the small comb we look for. It is November, I am walking around like a zombie, I am thinking about what males to cross with what females! I kinda like to live in my little chicken world. I am an old guy, worn out. But I hope to leave some really nice birds for others to work with. My breed in my area is weak on the hen line, so I am working on that. Healthy vigours birds for the next generation, that is what it is all about.

[@jesusisdead]

I am thinking about mixing buff orphintons with American bresse. I like the docility of Buff Orphingtons and their brooding behaviors

[@ButtercupAndFernHomestead]

I'm glad you went over the protein. This is a great follow-up for the questions in the Facebook group. I am constantly learning from your videos. Thank You for this content.

[@mwhite8839]

I really appreciate and enjoy your videos. Very helpful. Im one of those that bought the cheapest and first bresse I could find, and am trying to sort through the mess. 13 out of the 18 of my birds have split wing at 12 weeks old. That’s gonna be the first thing I’m trying to breed out while also focusing on fleshing. Luckily my best looking and heaviest cockerel doesn’t have it.

[@arcadianorchard]

Give them until 14-15 weeks to see if finishing the molt will help their wings. That's good news for the heaviest male!

[@mwhite8839]

@@arcadianorchard thanks for the tip, hopefully I get some better results.

[@PracticingLiberty]

Thanks for the information, especially the talk about nutrition and wasting protein.

[@MickSupper]

I find it very interesting how many videos I've seen where people call their birds "dual purpose" and then say they've never eaten them, and when they do, they are eating them as old hens. I've heard every single chicken called dual purpose and no one has backed that up with experience except when it comes to the American Bresse.

[@tomriblett2979]

I have a rooster that is a pain. I will be processing him shortly. I am really impressed with this breed. Hatch rate has not been as good as yours. But i just put in most of the eggs laid and and have a lot of birds.

[@ahmedstorage2998]

Thank you.

[@sunnyhinsdale1045]

I've been following your journey with Bresse chickens as we just got Bresse chicks and hope they will be a delicious and great sustainable broiler breed for us. 🙏🤞🙃

[@valeriestevens5250]

I enjoyed the video and found it very informative. Thank you for making it. I want to get a hobby farm when I retire and am researching different chicken breeds. I need good foragers that are also good for meat and eggs and so far, the AB seems to tick both boxes.

[@papawsplace]

One day soon, I'm gonna have birds just like yours. 😂(fingers crossed)

[@arcadianorchard]

SSssshhhhh! 🤣

[@bisarowood]

would like to get some of these ... but here in Canada the only one I found so far are $10 cad /egg + shipping !

[@davej7458]

I really am interuested in the Bresse. My chickens free range during the day within a movable poultry net and a shelter they can get under. How do Bresse do at avoiding predators? I favor chickens that are not white because I think they attract fewer predators. I am thinking of trying to add Bresse roosters to the flock. As a breeding improvement and to have brown or red cross. Able to forage and reproduce them selves.

[@mikemacinnes6120]

The recreation homestead in Michigan has nice birds he has 3 breeding pens and he tags the legs so you can separate brothers and sisters. He is 20 per chick but well worth it! My second batch is coming Tuesday. Chase is his name has KZbin channel

[@tomriblett2979]

I bought ten to start with and culled 4 roosters the grew yellow back feather and have not had one since.

[@charleswenn6088]

We love our Breese flock.

[@markchidester6239]

Your birds seem to all be VERY white. A breeding pair we purchased have some tan/beige on top of the white. We purchased some eggs and now that they are getting older (17 weeks), they are getting some of that color also. Is that something that can be bread out? Incredible hatch rate BTW

[@arcadianorchard]

The yellowing can be gotten under control but it's tricky if it's prevalent. It's normally in the males hackle/shoulder/saddle. I see some every once in awhile and cull it out, to avoid it getting a foothold into the flock.

[@bucklance2822]

Do you sale hatch eggs?

[@mjones4220]

That hen seems to want to chat with you. My Barred Rocks do the same.

[@anitahagstrom1485]

Any plans to sell hatching eggs or chicks?

[@tomriblett2979]

been using a layer feed with a little less then the 20 percent you use.

[@jamesbenson3046]

Still rely on getting grain though

[@markchidester6239]

Do you have a video on feed? Calcium content and roos an issue?

[@arcadianorchard]

A better source for feed info would come from Jeff Mattocks of Poultry Keepers 360. He can really break down into the details and it's his day job.

[@iCalv1]

Where is a good website to order American Bresse? My wife and I have been looking at these and want to get set up this spring.

[@that44rdv4rk]

nice birds for sure. if only they were barred, and if I wasn't dead set on doing my own thing...

[@20NewJourney23]

I'm looking to buy some American Bresse chicks (or hatching eggs) and see that you had a website but it's not currently active. Do you offer the ability to buy chicks or hatching eggs to be shipped? I live in southern NV. Thanks.

[@user-sx2fd1wn5b]

I noticed that my hens and roosters that have the nicotine stains are much bigger and thicker than the whites. I’m crossing with White Jersey Giants so the coloring issue doesn’t matter since I’m actually going for a size increase. Any thoughts or suggestions you might have is appreciated. Love the videos, very informative!

[@arcadianorchard]

Have you grown out any of the cross yet? You may see a dramatic shift in growth rate that takes after the JG with thicker bone and a lanky period of growth between 12-20 weeks old. The end result will likely be bigger and bulkier in structure but the harvest window for fleshing may get extended out past 20 weeks, depending on their feed and range space. This season I saw 2 different types of yellowing, one type was the whole body on the males, or just a band of it across the shoulder. I'm hoping to cull against it and avoid using Black Bresse to change the base color. If the yellowing persists, then I'll likely resort to swapping the base color to black to make a much cleaner white in our SOP line.

[@user-sx2fd1wn5b]

I haven’t mated them up yet. The JG hens are still too young. I’m not worried about how long it takes to grow out, just want to make sure I have a tasty big bird whenever I want instead of paying $5 lb for crap chicken. So far my Bresse roosters legs are much thicker that the JG Roos, but they are only 6months old. I really appreciate you getting back to me so soon, I appreciate all your great knowledge you’re sharing with us. Thanks again!

[@LowcountryMan]

Some day I might get you to sell me some birds or eggs haha

[@alibsygt8522]

Hello, my English is not wonderfull so I try to listen and understand, I have bresse for 5 mouths and there are 5 male and 4 female so I need to choose 1-2 male, is it possible to send you photos of them and can you help me to choose one? Also I want to ask what you mean with to much protein, I use 18 percent, is it fine? Thanks ....love to watch your videos.

[@arcadianorchard]

I aim for protein to be 18%-20% depending on life stage and purpose. [e-mail]

[@lisaporria7307]

Do you butcher hens for meat or just your roosters??

[@arcadianorchard]

Females too, if I don't want to see them released to where they may be hatched from. Like if there's some serious slip/split wing or some other fault, then those get paired with dumplings. But if they're reasonable quality without significant faults, then they can go lay eggs somewhere else if I don't need them. I prefer them to be at least 5 months old if they're terminal culls.

[@tomriblett2979]

also just processed two mean males....

[@OmegaBlueFarms]

It's been my experience that Bresse are over rated. The perfect chicken should at least produce a marketable carcass, the Bresse does not. Do they offer value to the homestead that just wants to produce their own meat? Certainly, but there will be input costs and it will be hard to market Bresse meat to offset those input costs. Therefore, the Bresse is NOT economically sustainable. I've processed alot of Bresse over the years but have never processed a batch that was worth the food and labour that went into producing it. Bresse is reported to produce superior meat, but then is reported to need to be finished on a corn/milk diet to achieve that meat quality. That doesn't sound like pastured meat to me, it sounds like feedlot meat. Most people seek pastured chicken for the health benefits. Feedlot chicken is not healthier. France has a better alternative to the Bresse, their Label Rouge line of chickens. Label Rouge meat costs 2x conventional chicken and still has 50% of domestic whole bird market! They are really that good! These birds produce superior meat while being finished on pasture. This makes them healthier. They produce a carcass easily marketed to neighbours to help offset input costs. This makes them economically sustainable. In the US, both the Kosher Kings and the Freedom Rangers are examples of Label Rouge style chickens. A homesteader could maintain a breeding flock of either and get excellent results. Breeding culls are marketable, male and female. They are amazing layers, pretty much as good as any ISA Brown. The eggs do cost a bit more to produce because you are feeding a larger hen, but this is pennies in the bigger picture of having marketable carcasses. Even the 6-7 pound spent hens have value! Ground from thighs and breast, instapot type dishes from the wings and drums, and amazing bone broth from the remaining carcass. With Bresse, a homesteader is paying to farm. With the Label Rouge style chickens, the homesteader can get paid to farm.

[@arcadianorchard]

Results vary quite widely in the breed as a whole and there's vast differences between them, depending on the amount of breeding work behind them. Ours produce quite well and our meat buyers are quite happy with them. We see a high rate of lay and excellent looking carcasses, plus they breed true. We have tried stock from several different places, some were pretty pathetic in growth and fleshing, others riddled with flaws. The hype didn't help them get better and they're very much "buyer beware". With proper breeding selection, they beat every other bird I've ever had, especially once the fat melts down during cooking and they're extra juicy. We are now processing at 14-15 weeks and see a meaningful carcass, after breeding away from the tall/leggy style a lot can have to their structure.

[@OmegaBlueFarms]

@@arcadianorchard good the hear. Leaders of the breed need a tough standard and an adoption of an attitude that any lines that fail to reach the bare minimums are not bona fide Bresse. A marketable carcass is the bare minimum for any meat breed to be considered "self sufficient". Without a marketable carcass, it's hard to recover input costs.

[@arcadianorchard]

@@OmegaBlueFarms The most annoying thing is how many "producers" sold out to quantity, before ever having their stock right to do so. Riding the fad. I guess they don't want to be in business for long. Most will jump onto the next fad? I'm going to keep eating our way into better chicken, to keep a great thing going. I wish I could post a carcass photo in the comments, but they're in other videos.

[@OmegaBlueFarms]

@@arcadianorchard good for you, lead by example and set the standard. I've seen alot of fads come and go in the poultry world. I have learned to watch for 2 things. 1) overpriced chicks, eggs, etc. An economically viable genepool should not need to be supported by excessively high prices. I don't sell hatching eggs and rarely sell chicks, (only when I have a surplus). I will sell breeding stock for the cost of the bird's meat value. 2) chick and egg vendors that don't sell meat are a red flag. It's pretty hard to have a sound and sustainable breeding program without extremely hard culling. In my case, my business plan is to hatch and process about 50 birds a week, 50 weeks/year. Each week, I pick out up to 3 elite birds to redirect into a breeding pen. Overall, it works out to a cull rate north of 95%. So far it's working.