American Bresse

[fuzzi]

I don’t like flighty wild idiots, in any type of animal. If I want to go hunting, I’ll go hunting and shoot a flighty wild animal. They have a reason to be wild because they ARE wild. Farm animals get a grace period but they better shape up or they will either ship out or go to Freezer Camp.

Mine are just young.

 

[Baymule]

Mine are just young.

Young gets a pass until they grow up. Adult animals get a chance or two, then gone.

 

[RR Homestead]

Well, well, well.... lookie what I found!!!!
View attachment 122087
Two little bitty pullet eggs!



I haven't posted on these girls in a while. I'm not sure that I'll continue with them.
....possibly keep them as layers but not as breeding stock for meat birds.
I'm not sure if it's just them, or being raised by a 'no touchy!' broody, or the breed in general but these girls are NUTS. I mean completely feral. I went in the coop the other night; when Wendy first took the latest chicks up on the roost; to make sure they were all together because it was going to be pretty chilly that night.... these girls FREAKED OUT. Screaming like I was ringing necks, launching of the roost & bouncing of the walls and ceiling. They had almost the entire flock out the door & into the dark pen. Took me forever to round everyone back up and get them all back in the coop.... especially the chicks. Going in with a light is a nightly thing, had been since before they hatched. The only difference was that I went a couple of steps closer so I could look under Wendy & count chicks. Even out in the pen they will panic if anything is a little off. I threw several handfuls of tall weeds over the fence the other day. Everyone else came to pick through it, some even jumping up to grab the bits hung up in the web 'roof'.... but those 3 took off screaming.
Maybe in the spring I might pick up a few chicks to raise in a brooder & see if they're any better. I'm not thrilled with the idea of having to actually wrestle a bird before killing it...

We have had American bresse for a couple years now. We bought day old chicks, some youngin's, incubated eggs and had hens raise them. We've gotten them from 4 separate breeders. Both local and shipped. All have been crazy flighty birds. Our current main breeding rooster is fairly calm considering how all the hens have been. Every batch of roosters we have raised for meat fought terribly. Was very hard to get them to make it to processing size without separating them into individual pens. I don't know if we will continue with this breed after we move. Haven't decided yet but will not be taking our current flock with us. We'll start fresh with new stock or change breeds. Haven't decided for sure yet. Definitely have been disappointed with all the ones we've purchased and raised to date.

 

[farmerjan]

As for the Bresse; After all that I have read and heard... from some on here also... I will not even consider trying them... I was considering them very seriously at first.
I know that there is so much "negativity" to the commercial rock/cornish type meat chicks. BUT... if you raise them out on grass, they do grow a little slower, they do learn to do some grazing/bug eating... they do taste ALOT better than birds that are kept in a pen and just fed.
I had over 100 when a commercial poultry house sent their birds out... which happens every 38-42 days for a flock. I got birds that were too small to go on the truck. They leave them behind and the owner of the house has to kill them and compost them. Usually there are 10-40 most times...out of 6-10,000 birds per house.... not many if you figure the percentage. But this one time, they had a poor gaining flock and there were alot. They called and asked if I wanted to come get them... had to do it that day/eve... so I went and got them. These cornish/rocks were 3 lbs or so... I brought them home, wound up keeping them for a couple months to feed them, and until I could find a place to get them processed. They DRESSED at 5-8 lbs when I got them killed... and I did not lose any to bad legs although some got so heavy that they did not "walk around " alot. They were out on pasture/grass and yes, they eat alot... but they gain alot and fast too. Yes, there is alot of manure... good for the ground if you move them daily...
There is no point in raising some other type if all you want is meat for the freezer... and if you have them out they will have alot more flavor. They grow fast, have exceptional feed to weight conversions... and it is NOT WORTH it to keep breeding animals for this purpose... They do not lay worth 10cents... the males are too heavy to do much breeding either..
Little secret... the commercial houses that have the hens for laying eggs to hatch into these "meat birds"... use a plymouth rock/cornish cross type bird... some have been developed over the years and the strains are kept very strictly for this... but they do lay decent because they are a plymouth rock based breed. They use a plymouth rock/cornish based type male to breed them to put the genes in to make a fast growing bird. But they are not so heavy that they cannot tread a hen... so again, another cross that is developed to both gain and still be usable as a breeder...
They keep them for 10 months...they are 16-18 weeks when the farmer gets the layers... and then they are picked up and killed... Houses are left open and cleaned out, and a new flock comes in about 1-2 months later... so one flock of the layers per year...
We all know that the greatest number of eggs are produced in the first year of a hen's laying... they get bigger and a little fewer the next year... then the production usually drops off quite a bit.
By having these lay for a year, they get the best production, and the birds are still tender enough that when they get killed, they go into chicken parts and such... I do know they go into chicken salad and I suspect they also go into things like chicken nuggets. Processed type stuff that still can have some shape and can be cut into chunks.

It is nice to get real life experience with a breed that was being touted as being the be all; end all;

 

[Baymule]

I raise the cornish cross chicks every spring for meat. I have a few customers that pay handsomely for the meat. Personally I think they are dummies, but I'll happily take their money. I do have to say, my chicken tastes a thousand times better than store bought. It is intensive for 2 months, then I'm done and have a year's supply of meat.

 

[Mini Horses]

It is intensive for 2 months, then I'm done and have a year's supply of meat.

That's worth the effort. Plus sales make it almost free.

 

[RR Homestead]

I raise the cornish cross chicks every spring for meat. I have a few customers that pay handsomely for the meat. Personally I think they are dummies, but I'll happily take their money. I do have to say, my chicken tastes a thousand times better than store bought. It is intensive for 2 months, then I'm done and have a year's supply of meat.

We wanted to raise those but was looking for something more able to breed and raise year round. We didn't want to rely on a hatchery. We may give them a try next year however. The bresse aren't cutting it for sure.

 

[Baymule]

@RR Homestead this is for you, and anyone else that wants to know the pros and cons of raising CCX. 2018, 2019, 2020 was on our 8 acre farm in Lindale, north of Tyler, Texas. I raised them in 2021 also, but didn't make a thread for them that year. My husband passed away in September 2021, and I sold that farm, moved everything to my son's house on 2 acres in Trinity county, only 3 hours away. I looked around, in Trinity and Houston counties, found a doublewide on 25 acres and moved again. That's why the gap in raising CCX. Feed has doubled in price, but it is still worth it to raise my own meat. For the 2025 batch, I had 3 customers and I made good money plus giving my daughter and family 65 pounds of chicken, parted out and vacuum sealed. It is 2 months of being tied down to stinky, always hungry velociraptors, but worth it.

Cornish Cross Spring 2018 Cost/Profit/Loss or Freezer Meat

I got 30 Cornish Cross chicks this morning, one was dead, leaving 29. They cost $1.60 each. We got week old CCX chicks at TSC a few days ago for FREE. We got 25, one died leaving 24. So now we have 53 CCX chicks. I will post cost, any sales, and freezer meat. Y’all join in...

www.sufficientself.com

Cornish Cross Spring 2019

I ordered 50 CCX chicks through Tractor Supply on April 8,2019. There was very little information, such as, where they were coming from or when they would ship, like you get when dealing directly with a hatchery. I finally got a notification that they were shipping and would be here on April 12...

www.sufficientself.com

Cornish Cross Spring 2020

We drove an hour and half away to get 50 baby chicks on March 2. It has begun......

www.sufficientself.com

Cornish Cross 2025

Wow, last time I kept a CCX journal was 2020. A lot of changes since then. I have orders for 50 chickens, dressed out of course. So I ordered 75 chicks, went and picked them up Wednesday, February 19. I built a new coop, bigger, for that many. They gave me 5 extra, total 80 chicks. I will...

www.sufficientself.com

 

[farmerjan]

Not saying that a more "sustainable breed" of meat chickens is bad.... BUT.... you have to raise them up to egg laying size, so say average 20 weeks, then get eggs, hopefully they will be fertile... then raise the chicks to killing size. In the meantime the adults will lay halfway decent... they will slow down or stop for the colder weather/shorter days... so you are feeding them and probably might be getting enough in eggs to pay for their feed ????? Maybe..... then the next year they will lay less...
In the meantime, with what it costs to raise them up to laying size, you can raise 2 to 4 batches of the commercial cornish x meat chicks and put them in the freezer... all according to how big you want them... and then be done and off the feed bill. You can't raised the "sustainable " ones as cheap as you can buy the meat chicks...
I know several guys that raise the purebred cornish... show strains... one guy has been doing it for years and years, has some of the best in the country and he does try to keep them as a "balanced breed"... both type and laying.... and he will tell you that they just are not great layers.... Yep, someone has to raise them... but at $3-6 per chick from the store, you can barely afford to feed and raise and keep the parent stock...
If you want to keep parent stock... keep the meat HENS and use a plymouth rock or other rooster so they are active enough to be able to naturally breed. Balance and libido is an issue with these heavy breasted meat birds...

 

[RR Homestead]

Not saying that a more "sustainable breed" of meat chickens is bad.... BUT.... you have to raise them up to egg laying size, so say average 20 weeks, then get eggs, hopefully they will be fertile... then raise the chicks to killing size. In the meantime the adults will lay halfway decent... they will slow down or stop for the colder weather/shorter days... so you are feeding them and probably might be getting enough in eggs to pay for their feed ????? Maybe..... then the next year they will lay less...
In the meantime, with what it costs to raise them up to laying size, you can raise 2 to 4 batches of the commercial cornish x meat chicks and put them in the freezer... all according to how big you want them... and then be done and off the feed bill. You can't raised the "sustainable " ones as cheap as you can buy the meat chicks...
I know several guys that raise the purebred cornish... show strains... one guy has been doing it for years and years, has some of the best in the country and he does try to keep them as a "balanced breed"... both type and laying.... and he will tell you that they just are not great layers.... Yep, someone has to raise them... but at $3-6 per chick from the store, you can barely afford to feed and raise and keep the parent stock...
If you want to keep parent stock... keep the meat HENS and use a plymouth rock or other rooster so they are active enough to be able to naturally breed. Balance and libido is an issue with these heavy breasted meat birds...

We are thinking we will try them once we are moved. Should be easier to acquire them and hopefully feed is a little more reasonable.