[Ryder]

Thanks for the update RPF.  Please do update with the live weights if you can, it would be really useful for me to compare with my IG x LS.  I know strains make a big difference, but still, it'll give an idea of which cross may be better for a homebred table bird.

This is my first year of trying to do something for the tabe. I ordered IG x LS eggs from someone who's been doing the cross for a few years trying to improve for table qualities.  At 16 weeks the best cockerel (I only had 4 cockerels hatch) weighed 2.4kg (live weight) and he is not looking all that leggy, although he obviously still has a lot of filling out and growing to do. The second one is not far behind at about 2.3kg.  I'm planning on keeping the best cockerel to breed back to light sussex to see how that works out as it is a classic fast maturing cross for the table, IG x LS cockerel over LS.

I'm just trying to decide on which 2 breeds to keep for improving strains for the table. At the moment I am quite impressed with the IG x LS and I want to see how the Bresse x IG compare.

I've got 4 la bresse growing, they are 8 weeks at the moment (from 12 eggs, again ordered in as I could not find any local), and I've also got some RIR x Dorking and a LS x Dorking growing. 

[RPF]

Batch 2 hen

[RPF]

Hi Ryder, your project sounds interesting! Have you eaten any of yours yet or matey's? Dorkings are meant to be fantastic birds but there's only a few strains out there worth touching for meat.  Are you processing yourself?

I need to get the live weights done. The LBXIGs are not big birds, about the same size as a mature IG cock, well, the strain I have, but just solid muscle! LBs are not the biggest of birds too but very muscular. However, it's not its size you are looking for so much with the LBs but more its flavour.

[RPF]

By the way,

BATCH 1 is 20 weeks approx

BATCH 2 is 15 weeks approx

BATCH 3 is 11 weeks approx

[Ryder]

I've eaten a LS x Dorking I had at 19 weeks, and the flavour was awesome with good amount of meat to bone ratio, but I really needed to let it grow to about 24 weeks for a better meat bird.  It was 2.5kg at 19 weeks live weight.  Not eaten any of the IG x LS yet. 

I was hoping for faster growth rate from the bresse, faster than what a LS can provide to the indian game, as I've heard bresse are very fast maturing. The flavour would be a welcome extra, but doesn't the flavour actually come from the french diet, rather than it being an inherent trait within the breed?

[Ryder]

and by the way, your batch 2 hen is looking like she's already filled out incredibly well at 15 weeks.  Or is that just the angle in the photo?

[Dave C]

LBs and crosses

Nice looking Pure LB
He looks larger than the cross, will be interesting to hear the weights between them.

[Dave C]

Main breeding flock

I like the look of them hens in the main breeding flock, nice & broad.

PS, why is it not copying the pics over when I quote your post ?

[Dave C]

I've eaten a LS x Dorking I had at 19 weeks, and the flavour was awesome with good amount of meat to bone ratio, but I really needed to let it grow to about 24 weeks for a better meat bird.  It was 2.5kg at 19 weeks live weight.  Not eaten any of the IG x LS yet. 

I was hoping for faster growth rate from the bresse, faster than what a LS can provide to the indian game, as I've heard bresse are very fast maturing. The flavour would be a welcome extra, but doesn't the flavour actually come from the french diet, rather than it being an inherent trait within the breed?

That LS x Dorking was not a bad weight for 19 weeks mate especially if it was a meaty bird rather than a large framed bird if you know what I mean. 

[RPF]

So a quick up date. Last night I crated up the birds and took them to the abattoir near Oxford this morning. Was relatively straight forward. In this batch I kept back the 2 biggest cock birds and shoved them in my main breeding pen for next year. In this batch were 8 LBXIG, 2 Jubilee cocks, 4 LBs, and 6 Orpingtons. Some haven't turned out great but should give an OK small carcass. I pick them up fully dressed tomorrow am. I'll weigh them and give the weights tomorrow. Taste test is likely to be the weekend. Watch this space.

[RPF]

ANALYSIS OF DRESSED WEIGHTS

On a lovely sunny morning I picked up the birds today. To tell the difference is relatively easy as there is sufficient leg to see the colour of their skin. The Orpingtons have the same colour leg as the cross cocks but one can distinguish them by a few remaining feathers. However, I've got 2 weighty LBXIG hens that I have to group in with the LB as they have the same leg colour. The IG have yellowlegs so pretty easy but also yellow skin, which I was surprised to see as mine aren't on maize.

A brief recap on ration - wheat and barely ad lib. However, the IG and the small LBXs that a hen hatched are not ad lib but am and pm feeds. The wheat and barley is local, grown about 4 miles away.

LB AVERAGE WEIGHT - 1.49 kg
The smallest that normally would be culled was 1.05kg and the biggest was 1.84kg. I had a small number hatched by a hen that did not come on brilliantly so brought my AV weight down, including some crosses.

LBXIG COCKS AVERAGE WEIGHT - 1.86kg
I had 2 at 2.10 and 2.15 kg but then one a hen hatched at 1.34kg

ORPINGTONS AVERAGE WEIGHT - 1.73kg
I was very impressed with the way they turned out but I accept that they aren't a proper meat bird and has a higher bone weight than LBs. The heaviest bird out of all of them turned out to be an Orpington at 2.3 kg.

IG AVERAGE WEIGHT - 1.35kg
These were Jubilees so  slightly less stocky and they could have done with a bit longer as we're still a bit leggy. The best one of the 2 came in at 1.46kg.

I'm going to do a parallel tasting at the weekend. Will defo do LB first with maybe IG. Some people say IG is too tough so let's wait and see......

[Stereo]

Interesting. You fed them only on wheat and barley? Nothing else ? Sorry, haven't really been following the thread that well. Did you do any sums on qty of feed to get to those weights? Also, how much did you pay for the processing per bird?

[Ryder]

Thanks for the update on the weights.  The LBxIG were about 21 weeks, right?
With those dressed weights, live weights were probably around 3.2kg of the 2 better birds (assuming dressed weight is approx 65% of live weight), which is not bad.

[RPF]

Yes Stero, the birds were feed purely on local wheat and barley. As per La Bresse protocol, I wanted them purely on local grain. I did have them on a bit of milk too but I didn't think it was worth it for the money. I didn't keep a close check on the quantity of ration as I was ill at the time so had to take my eye off the ball. However, someone from the Low Cost Lving website has done some maths on both meat birds and dual-purpose type birds.

According to their figure, my birds would have consumed 26.8lb or 12.2kg of ration over the 21 week period.

Does that sound about right to everyone else?

If so, chick crumb is £12.00 a bag and they each eat 2kg so that's £1.20 each.

They therefore consume 10.20 kg of wheat and barely @ £4.50 a bag costing £2.30

Total Estimated feed cost per bird £3.50

[RPF]

Sorry forgot to say that I paid £3.50 per bird for processing.

According to a recent thread, CastleFarm suggested selling a 2 kg bird for £16.00 so I'm flogging these at £8.00/kg. Not sure if this is too low for La Bresse?

What do other folk think of pricing home grown poultry?

Evidently, the lighter birds are really worth selling as there is too little return to be made.