As a farmer, I always strive to find a “better” way of doing things that improves quality while being more efficient, effective, and cost-effective. Recently, I wanted to enhance the quality of our farm products by adding meat chickens to our line of offerings. However, after my experience with the Cornish Cross breed, which is widely used by commercial poultry producers, I found that they didn’t meet our standards due to their many health problems. These chickens were bred to grow big and fast, but as a result, they were lethargic, and their sedentary behavior led to health issues. Losing several chickens within the first two weeks of receiving them was not acceptable, and I was concerned about their well-being.
So, I embarked on a research journey by consulting books and the Internet to find a better quality broiler breed that would meet our standards. After careful consideration, I came across a rare breed known as the Bresse Chicken, which, in my opinion, is a perfect fit for our farm.
I did not like the fact they came with a lot of health problems. Cornish Crosses were specifically bred to grow big and fast. They did this by being lazy. They just sat around all day, in the same spot, expecting their food to be handed to them. Just like humans, that sort of behavior leads to health issues. We lost several chickens within the first two weeks of receiving them. And while these chickens are a “product” for us to sell, we still care for our animals, all of our animals. I want our animals to live happy and healthy lives. That clearly wasn’t the objective when breeders created the Cornish Cross.
So I decided to hit the books (and the Internet) and started researching to see if I could find a better quality broiler. And I found just what I was looking for, a rare breed known as the Bresse Chicken.
The Bresse (pronounced “Bress”) Chicken is named after their origin, the Bresse region in France. This breed emerged over 500 years ago and quickly became known as the most delicious, best table quality chicken in the world. They have a unique metobolism that causes their meat to be marbled, just like beef. It is this marbling effect that makes their meat succulent, firm, juicy, and tender.
The other quality that makes them an excellent meat chicken is their meat to bone ratio. Their bones are very thin, which increases the amount of meat available.
And unlike the Cornish Cross, these birds love to forage. In fact, many Bresse breeders will encourage farmers to feed these chickens less corn and provide them more room to forage. It is the protein they get while foraging that helps create that marbling effect.
One last item of interest about their diet is it is recommended to feed the baby chicks and when they grow older, to finish them out, with milk. Just think of how important milk is to our diets, the nutrients it provides to humans. I love the idea of feeding our Jersey’s fresh raw milk to these chickens so they also can benefit from it.
These chickens should reach their potential within 16 weeks, about twice as long as the Cornish Cross, but I understand the wait will be well worth it. At 16 weeks, we expect the hens to weigh around 6 to 7 pounds.
France was very protective over their Bresse chickens, so protective it wasn’t until 2011 that America started importing them. However, the Bresse chicken is certified, therefore, those Bresse chickens imported into our country are not known as Bresse chickens, but instead, American Bresse chickens.
They come in several colors – white, blue, black and “splash”. They have a single bright red comb and blue legs. They are supposed to be good eggs layers. With the right diet, the white American Bresse hens have been known to lay up to 250 eggs per year. Their eggs are supposed to be large and golden brown.
We wanted to ensure we got the best of the best when we ordered our American Bresse chickens, therefore, we ordered ours from Breese Farms. When we received our first batch of birds this morning, my expectations were exceeded.
Bresse Farms told me the birds would be shipped on January 3rd. They arrived two days later. At 6:30 in the morning, I received a call from the Melbourne Arkansas Postmaster, letting me know our chicks were there were ready for pickup.
I was a bit nervous about their arrival because we had experienced very cold temperatures the last couple of days. I did not realize it was going to be so cold when I ordered them. But I was delighted when I saw the box they were shipped in. Bresse Farms included two heat packs in their shipping box, so the lil fellas were nice and toasty warm.
Since we are new to this venture, I only ordered 6 chicks. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box and found 11. Unfortunately though, two of them had not survived. Yet, that still left me with 3 more than I paid for.
I quickly got the chicks home and settled into their new space. They seem happy to be able to stretch out their legs, get fresh water, and fresh food.
I will continue to keep you posted on how our new venture with these meat chickens develop. So far, I am very pleased!
Update – Breese Farms also followed up with me today by phone to make sure I received the chicks and that all was good. Now that is Top Notch Service!
