Our history with the American White Bresse began in 2018 when we set out to find the perfect sustainable meat bird that could also pump out the eggs.  We were introduced to Bresse chickens when our first order of hatching eggs arrived from Goldfather Farms (an earlier Greenfire imported line).  Around the same time, we received a shipment of day old chicks from Greenfire Farms (2017 import line).    After eventually culling most of the hatched chicks as breeders, we were able to integrate the two flocks using our best birds.

Whereas in the past there has been no official American authority established on what traits a Bresse chicken should possess, a formal standard is in the works as of 2022. At B2C2 Farms, our goal is to focus on the major characteristics that create the most viable White Bresse: stark white (no yellowing at all is acceptable in the first year; usually the older ones are prone to sun bleaching), straight blue legs on the shorter side, straight toes, square bodies when looking head on at the bird, a long and elegant side profile, no leakage or colored feathers of any kind, floppy combs on the ladies, and erect, nicely formed combs on the males. Ideally, a white Bresse lays a cream egg, however we do not automatically cull if the egg is a darker variation (we cull if the shape is oblong, which is common in some lines of Bresse). We selectively breed our stock for shorter, wide bodies with meatier breasts.

The Bresse lays 260+ eggs per year, making it one of the most extraordinary breeds. While we do not process our meat birds using the "French method" of hanging the bird in a milk soaked cloth in a cooler for two weeks, nor have we gorged them on milk soaked feed during the last three weeks (both of which I hear are the proper procedures for preparing a Bresse in France), we have fed them as we would have regular meat birds.  There is a slight difference and juiciness in texture in the final preparation when compared to the Cornish Cross birds we have raised in the past. We can understand the hype.

Bresse have soared in popularity over the past year, making it one of the fastest growing chicken breeds available.  When people ask for a recommendation on the best dual purpose bird, the answer never changes.  It is always the White Bresse!

Chicks $12 each

Eggs $75 per 15