Thank you for this video. It was so informative. I have American Bresse that are 8 weeks old and this help me know when to process the extra roosters. I have more AB coming in April and am looking forward to raising my own meat along with eggs.
Between Living Tradition Homestead and you, we decided to try the American Breese next year. If you decide to sell fertal eggs or chicks, we would be very interested.
We raised chickens then Cornish x then American Bresse first and third birds were noticeably different in texture and flavor We have American Bresse now and do not see a reason to change....totally agree with your statements etc on the difference. Another good video...thank you.
Another nice analysis 👍 My in-laws get fresh CX twice a year from their neighbors who raise them in a barn. They call them for pick-up on the day they butcher them. Massive amounts of meat and fat - they’re tasty and tender, but purely grain fed and it shows. I can’t wait to try my Bresse. They have such a varied diet which I hope translates to deeper flavor and better nutritional content.
There will absolutely be a difference in flavor! I had forgotten how mushy/soft/bland the CornishX are. To do a better comparison I'd have to raise the CornishX myself in the same conditions but I doubt their ability to survive our methods and I'm struggling with actually wanting them on the property, even if it is "for science". 😄
We are raising our first flock of America Bresse (they turned 16 weeks today!) and this video just solidified why we made the switch. Our final batch of CC this year was dismal. The average weight after 12 weeks was 3 pounds! Every chicken was small! Needless to say, we can't wait for our first batch of American Bresse for freezer camp next year. Another great video Mandelyn.
That's weird that they were that small! I've seen a couple of mentions of undersized birds this past season, so I wonder if something else was shipped instead or if something is going on in 1 of the 4 flocks that they come from. Hard to say. But I find a lot of relief in maintaining a breeding flock and raising our own, on our own schedule. Plus they "store on the hoof" a lot longer than the CornishX can, in case something comes up at processing time.
we had the same dismal weight with our cornish x the last two years, from to different sources of suppliers.We checked out a couple other breeds and then decided on the AB and glad we did....an egg supplier that tastes great.
We’ve been raising Bresse for about 8 years now and despite all the hype, most of our customers still prefer the Red Rangers or similar birds. We incubate, hatch, brood and breed our own flocks. One caution on the Bresse is they have extremely weak legs and once they go down, they don’t recover. We feed a 30% protein game bird starter which gives all our birds a good launch.
Have you dug into possible causes for that? I haven't experienced it outside of seeing the occasional male early on if the structure was poor with severe knock knees. Wobbly and unstable. Those we culled and and have guided the flock towards a more consistent stance with good legs. We had to cull pullets too, for bring too tight between their legs with their bowed in knees. They had come from a different hatchery than our original birds... of 21 chicks only 2 were keepers. There can also be lameness issues from B vitamin deficiency and the Mareks disease will cause lameness as well, after 12 weeks in both instances. There's additional causes for lameness that wouldn't be as common.
I’m a trucker and have raised a few chickens but wow I’m so thinking I could use my four Orpingtons hens only six weeks old now maybe in the spring to hatch a few of these out. Looks yummy!
Not poo pooing all the great info. The Breese were not for me. I raised one batch and because I only eat white meat, they weren't for me. I have had chickens for many, many years and don't know what I may have done wrong. The skin was tough and didn't care for the meat. Couldn't wait to get rid of them! Wishing you all the best and luck with your endeavors!
Unfortunately there's a ton of variation in the breed and they're not all the same. Our first experience was fantastic 8 years ago, then a series of disappointments from other sources, then recently an uptick back to good ones from Recreational Homestead. Thankfully I have enough pen space to have kept our original line running smoothly while doing little side breeding experiments to learn more about the state of the breed and their genetic variables. I'm now a firm believer in line breeding and it took me 25ish years of chickening to come to that conclusion. I've seen differences in growth rate, fleshing, meat to bone ratio, rate of lay, egg color, fat composition, skin thickness (and color!), how dark or light the thigh/leg meat is (some may as well have been Turkeys!) so the breed is very much "buyer beware" and that makes me sad. The positives we found initially were great enough to cause a systematic flock change over and now our 1600sq ft coop is all American Bresse, besides my little science project pen. I'm never buying birds again, too iffy out there in chickendom.
Would have been a better comparison if both were home grown. Our home grown cornish x are way better than store bought. I guess I will have to do the comparison myself.
Exactly the cornish cross were probably store bought processed and fed a bunch of growth hormones and produced by manufactured breeding and raised in a synthetic environment
Extremely informative video. Explained a lot as far as genetics, confined housing vs. pastured, and finishing tips with the corn mash and milk…We will definitely consider the American Bresse just for the sustainably aspect alone…I guess the only disadvantage (lack of efficiency) would be the grow out time, but….Cornish cross is kind of freakish when I think about it…for our homestead level it seems as if quality is the only way to go
Thank you. No matter the breed you end up trying just make sure to acquire them from table focused bloodlines. Otherwise, hatchery stock will be "laying bred" with lean bodies and generally poor fleshing. That can happen in the Bresse as well, from lack of breeding selection on the table traits. It's become apparent to us that it needs to be focused on and selected for, in order to keep those desirable traits in the line strongly. There's still meaty, good growing varieties out there, that are in smaller, more isolated flocks. Such as Noll line New Hampshire. They grow faster but lay less than the Bresse.
We made the switch some time ago got tired of the cornish cross quality and number of birds that died for no apparent reason. The American Bresse are doing great. And like a lot of others We can raise our own.
The need is quality food, not quantity. The fat is the reason to raise and eat Am Bresse. It tastes good because your tongue knows what will satisfy the brain. I just got my AmB, hoping to be able to dabble with white cornish and white rock with them.
It took us 6 years of breeding work/selection to achieve a broiler type growth rate in a purebred bird. The benefit to that is that a purebred bird will breed itself forward for predictable results, while a hybrid would not breed itself forward into like kind again, not without a multi-generational selection strategy. When it comes to hybrids, it's much easier to just keep buying them. Some hybrid strains require 4 different parent groups to produce the cross. It's easier with purebreds, when all of the pens can be the same sort of birds.
All muscle fibers run the whole length of the muscle belly. Is it possible that they were talking about fast twitch and slow switch muscle fibers? Fast twitch fibers are large in cross section and deliver explosive power, white meat, and slow twitch fibers are thinner and recover more quickly which is useful for stamina (dark meat).
No doubt the American Bresse are better BUT, It's Kind of an unfair comparison being home raised vs store bought. Even in CC vs Freedom ranger ( and other colored meat birds) you can tell a difference. Plus how they're raised, fed, and processed plays a big part. I can even tell a difference in CC when I have a summer batch vs fall batch and if they are fed fermented feed vs not, Local mill feed vs Commercial feed, etc. Love the Freedom Ranger type meaties too BUT can't wait for the American Bresse to get done. I think each breed has it's place in the meat market. For those that don't have a lot of space or can only raise spring to fall I think the regular meat birds are fine. We are hoping to make the complete switch to be able to breed and raise our own meat birds rather than buying every year.
I am in northern Wisconsin. We get very cold -35 F. There is such a huge comb on the American Bresse. It is the only thing holding me back. I bought some Chanteclers, but this would be a long road to get them where the American Bresse already are. Any suggestions or ideas for me?
I tried a Bresse/Chantecler cross, using female Bresse, in hopes of gaining the carcass with the cushion comb. F1 was a lot like the Chantecler with their slower growth. Your fastest solution is to dub the males until the future generations are acclimated with smaller combs, while ensuring that your coop is properly ventilated, insulated and free of drafts. The #1 cause of frostbite is humidity build-up inside the coop, or constant drafts of a wet cold.
You really surprised me with your extraordinary knowledge of the commercial animals, and culinary as well as processing aspects of poultry in general. Rigor mortis, flavor development in older birds, muscle and fat development in range vs barn birds. This is not common knowledge. Farmer, butcher, chef levels of info.
Thank you Chet. It's a habit I have, to dive into learning adventures. I still have plenty of knowledge gaps though, especially in cooking. It's a fun process to go through though, filling in those gaps.
What can you breed a cornish cross with to get something closer to a cornish cross for meat . Our family love cornish cross but want something we can grow at home close to it for that big breast meat
They are their own bird, so nothing. You can try using them, but it typically fizzles out within 3 generations. It's the double muscle gene that makes the bigger breast, a recessive gene. They're a 16 way hybrid, so not viable in a home flock. They also carry a dwarf gene, to shorten the bone.
It would come with eventual loss of vigor and size, as the genetics revert and favor one side or the other, showing peak variation at the F3 point, that may or may not be salvageable based on the number hatched and grown to select from.
Cornish Cross 8 weeks, "Ranger" 12 weeks, Bresse 16 weeks Costs per ounce is going to tick up and up, I'd hazard A bet 90% of Americans are not going to pay for the premium chicken with any consistency and given the degradation of "Western Culture" 80% couldn't be bothered to prep and cook the bird ............... Much less slaughter them personally. Your target market is SMALL and seems it will be till circumstances force more people to directly involve themselves in their own "Food Production". Surprised nobody seems to have cultivated and "Egg Layer" genetic strain of Bresse.
All true, they fall into a niche market with the rest of the Heritage or Standard bred type birds. The Bresse start laying eggs at 18-22 weeks old on average and they'll lay 5-6 eggs a week during active lay. They're the only variety I have found that truly serves both purposes in under 6 months of age. For my specific market, it suits our scale and our meat buyer comes monthly for 20-30 birds if I have them available. He isn't American and his whole family appreciates the flavor. The birds are more of a "Homesteader" type chicken, for those who want to be self sustained and hatch their own table birds. They're also good backyard layers and typically have a friendly disposition. Thankfully, they don't need a separate layer strain.
@@natureisawesome1 Every Leghorn I have ever seen or heard of is A great layer, the White Leghorn is the best of them because every other possible feature is bred out or down in favor of laying. I have 2 "Ideal 236" they have Ancona bred in so they took A LONG time to lay consistently, the part they don't tell you is the Ancona lays A bit better than 1/2 what A Leghorn does.
Not a fair comparison at all! Most meats that are cooked low and slow are juicier and more tender. You should try doing a real comparison. Same cooking temperature😮
So the Cornish cross just has more breast meat.. but not the marbling. The Bresse have much larger thighs.. I am a thigh man so looks like this is the bird for me.. marbling in the thigh too if you finish them properly.. feed that Bresse gene... fatten it up. Now yer making me hungry.. I'm out :)
