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This remarkable table breed is considered a national treasure in its native France. Reputed to be the best-tasting chicken in the world, a roasted Bresse can cost hundreds of dollars at a Parisian restaurant. Greenfire Farms is the original and only importer of this extraordinary breed.
Item1+Quantity
Bresse White Day-Old Chick Unsexed29.00
White Bresse Eggs12.00Sold Out
Bresse chickens have a long and colorful history that underlies their unique claim in the poultry realm: They are reputed to be the best-tasting chickens in the world. From that simple but powerful claim flows a fascinating story that his rich in tradition, intrigue, and nationalistic pride. Bresse stand at the pinnacle where food and fowl intersect.

As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, the Bresse imported by Greenfire Farms are at the forefront of a movement to re-position chicken at the top of the list of gourmet table fare. By raising American Bresse in the French tradition you can be a part of this revolutionary shift, too.

Breed History

About 500 years ago, Bresse (rhymes with “bless”) emerged as a distinct chicken breed in the former province of Bresse in eastern France. Somewhere between the Rhone River and the French Alps sits a 60-mile by 25-mile swath of fields and woodlands. Here the breed was formed from a now-forgotten mix of local fowl. Through a combination of luck and selective breeding, small flocks of poulet de Bresse that dotted the French countryside soon earned the reputation of having a unique and exquisite flavor.

There are four varieties of Bresse: white, black, blue, and gray. The white variety is the best known and mirrors the red, white, and blue pattern of the French national flag with its large red comb, bright white feathers, and steel-blue legs. (As newly hatched chicks their legs are yellow.) Greenfire Farms has focused its efforts on curating this variety of Bresse. White Bresse produce a medium to large-size cream-colored egg.

In order for a chicken to taste like a Bresse chicken it must, perhaps inconveniently, be an authentic Bresse chicken that can directly trace its genetic lineage to the flocks of eastern France. Bresse belong to a genetically distinct chicken breed that metabolize feed in a certain way, distributes certain types of muscle across their frames in a certain pattern and at certain rates, and produces meat with a unique and distinct flavor. Bresse are known to have unusually light bones and thin skin. These many physical differences flow from the singular genetics of Bresse. More than a half-millennium of breed selection has produced a Bresse that cannot be replicated by simply crossing other unrelated breeds of chickens to create a Bresse facsimile.

As early as 1825, the prototypical epicurean Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin described Bresse as “the queen of chickens, and the chicken of kings.” Bresse has been said to possess “the tastiest, the firmest, and most succulent flesh of any chicken anywhere.” And so, because of its legendary meat quality, Bresse commands a huge premium compared to conventional commercial poultry and is the basis of a thriving agricultural industry in France. There is a single center in France that is in charge of producing the finest Bresse breeding stock. These breeders are distributed to three hatcheries that use them to produce more than 1.5 million Bresse chicks each year. The Bresse chicks are sold to about 400 small farmers. The birds are raised according to the exacting Bresse production protocol and processed by a small number of butchering facilities.

Finishing

The traditional methods of raising Bresse can be approximated in the United States by providing them access to pasture and finishing them on organic grains and dairy products.

Here are a few links that describe the finishing process in detail:

https://www.ambresse.com/finishing-american-bresse.html

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/bresse-chicken/

https://www.pouletdebresse.fr/volaille-poulet-bresse-aop-appellation-origine-protegee/

Appearance and Behavior

Here at Greenfire Farms we only have the white variety. The White Bresse should have solid white plumage with no brown are black feathers or markings. They should also have white earlobes but white with red is also acceptable. We are working to improve the earlobe color at our farm as we are seeing some birds with solid red earlobes.

We have noticed this breed has a moderate temperament. The roosters are normally protective of the hens and do a great job of sounding the alarm and/or jumping into action whenever there is a threat. This breed does well at a higher rooster-to-hen ratio of about 1:12. Normally the roosters will weigh between 6 to 7 pounds at maturity.

The hens will sometimes become broody and goodness, they are serious about it. Normally the hens will weigh between 5 to 6 pounds at maturity.

To read more about the standard of appearance, click here - https://www.americanbressebreedclub.org/breed-standard or http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/07e02a04.pdf

Notes

The French argue that for a Bresse to be called a Bresse it must have been raised in France. (For this reason at Greenfire Farms we make a clear distinction from French-hatched birds by referring to our chickens as American Bresse.)

Greenfire Farms has imported white Bresse a few times and most recently in 2017. We have blended both lines so the chicks you receive will be a mix from the lines in order to maximize the genetic diversity of your birds.

Hatching Eggs

We incubate at 99.5F and 55% humidity. Once you've placed your eggs into your hatcher for lockdown, you should expect to see that most of the eggs will hatch on day 21! Typically we see about an 85-90% hatch rate from the eggs we've placed into our hatcher.

Limited Availability

This breed is very popular and in the last year the breed has become even more popular. With that in mind, we are filling orders as fast as we can. There is no waitlist for the breed this year, all orders are first come first served. Please check our availability regularly, Tuesday and Friday are the best days to check, so that you can secure an order.
Egg Color tinted
Egg Size Large
Average number of eggs per year 250
Gamefowl no
Table Breeds Yes
Country of Origin France
Also called Bresse Gauloise
Cold tolerant no
Year of import(s) 2015, 2017