[RPF]

This La Bresse is much bigger than the others, I like the shape of his father an uncle, the latter of whom died recently so he' s a keeper so I don't loose that bloodline. He was raised by a bantam but mega friendly and certainly not flighty.

[RPF]

LB HEN, I'm going to keep and sell the larger ones whilst the smaller ones are going for the pot. I'll cull pretty hard so as to keep my bloodlines strong.

[RPF]

I have recently watched a video on utube about rearing LBs in French so I'll translate the gist of it -

Chicks are under heat for 35 days with starter crumb then put outside
New ration is 60% wheat, 20% maize, 10% milk powder (cereal ground to flour)
Birds have 10m2 of grassland, capons20m2
Birds fatttenec for 16 weeks with 2 weeks minimum in epinettes
Hens 20 weeks and 4 weeks in epinettes
Capons 40 weeks and 4 weeks in epinettes
Fattened on wet mash mainly
Some producers do their own ration so each may vary, ie with rice
White maize, which is from the area is used but not normal maize due to the cerotine that would stain the flesh, needs to be as white as possible as it is a sign of quality

[RPF]

The LB producers either grow their own cereals and produce their own milk or source it locally, which is part of the LB protocol. LB is famous for its butter so a lot of buttermilk is used.

In South Oxfordshire, we do not grow white maize nor do we have much dairy. Sticking to the local theme, I buy my cereals from a farmer down the road. I use lam lac or nearest equivalent. I hope to get a couple of Golden Guernseys to utilise their milk in the near future.

John Seymour says that barely is the best grain to fatten chickens on. I was giving mine a mix of 50%, 40% crushed barely and 10% milk powder as a wet mash. However, the birds didn't like the whole wheat so much so I give them either just crushed barely or boiled whole barely and boiled wheat with milk powder. Recently I've acquired an 8x 4 trailer load of potatoes that I boil up with whole barely and milk powder, which they seem to enjoy.

So, if you are going to use wheat, either grind it in a small grain mill or boil it. Birds don't like whole barely so much so it needs to be crushed or boiled.

Feed is administered twice a day and provide ad lib. The reason it's twice a day is so that it keeps fresh owing to the milk content. Don't chuck a mountain of food out as it quickly goes stale.

I'm sure there are other methods out there but this method uses what I have to hand locallly and tries to stick to the LB protocol as much as I can.

[Dave C]

Thanks for the info Robin, very interesting mate.
How long before your first batch are on the table ?

Weighed my LB cockerel the other day and was pleased as he is over 10lb.

My Poulet Galouise are for the chop in the morning so interested to see how they dress out.

[RPF]

Hi Dave,
Was a pleasure! My first batch must be 9/10 weeks so I'm going do put a small batch in more confinement in about 6-7 weeks. They'll remain there for 2 weeks to fatten so still a while off yet! I'll try one or two of each - LB cock, LB X IG. Hens I'll leave another month with 4-5 weeks in confinement.

Wow, that's a good size bird, you should get a 6-7 lb carcass off of that! Let me know what they dress out like.

I picked up a blue IG cock yesterday, very handsome indeed!

[Dave C]

His age is unknown and I was looking to replace him with one of his sons but it's looking like they are all hens, so he has a reprieve for another year.
Next season I will only pen him with around 5 hens to try to improve his firtility.

[RPF]

I've got a new batch hatching at the moment. I'm not at home this week for I'm in the Lakes. My wife reports that so far 12 have hatched plus 2 dark IG bantams. There's a mix of Coronation Sussex, BrahmaXDark IG and  LB.  I'll have to post some pics Friday or Saturday. The bantams were a shock as they were due Friday so we thought that they weren't going to hatch.

[Dave C]

Hows the project going Robin ?

Are any at processing weight yet ?

[RPF]

Hi Dave, thanks for the message. I think I'm on about week 14. One of my LBs is massive and could be ready but due to his size I'm keeping him for breeding. His father has a lovely shape and I like the cocks from this bloodline and prefer the hens from my other.

The LB X IG are coming on really well. If you are familiar with IGs, they are quite leggy at this age. However, they've got some good weight to them, especially the hens.

I've stopped giving them milk with their ration, too bloody expensive, so will just give it when I confine them at the end. I got the farmer where I get my grain from to grind the wheat so they eat it quicker. Hasn't made a huge difference and had to buy 280kg at a time.

I hatched out another batch but only 30 ish hatched. I think it's due to one of the cocks being too old, he croaked it last week so became bait for fox trap. I was told the older ones in group were 3 when I bought established breeding flock, must be older though.

About 10 hatched were Brahma x IG, which are turning out to be lovely birds; 10 ish are Coronation and Light Sussex, which come out pretty well and 10-ish are LBs. I managed to hatch 2 IG Bantams, looking like a cock and a hen.  I've got them on game crumb for a few more weeks.

[RPF]

These are up to date photos so far. The first is of a LBXIG hen that looks very gamey. It was hard to get a good shot at the cock but he looks leggy at the minute. Notice the hens retain the blue legs but the cocks don't. You can really see the jubilee colouring in the cocks but not the hens, they are whiter or lavender

[RPF]

Cock birds

[RPF]

This is a BrahmaxIG hen, note the beautiful colouring. The cocks are more ginger. Sold a few of these and they prove popular due to their nice colour and feathered legs. Still pullets/growers but so far seem the same size as IGs the same age. Not sure what they will dress out like, got several cock birds to fatten.

[Clansman]

Like the look of these 

Whats the idea behind them eating the ground wheat quicker?

[Dave C]

Cant see the pic of the Brahma x IG mate 

My La Bresse are 15 weeks old now, very tall and leggy but look like there going to make big birds when they fill out, my IG are about 11 weeks and have a bit of growing to do.
Will take some pics and try to post them up.

Which crosses are maturing the quickest do you think ?