Bress-Gali chickens

The Bress-Gali breed of chickens was first mentioned in chronicles dated 1591. France at that time was not yet a united state, and clashes often broke out between the feudal lords. Bress-Gali chickens were so valued that only 24 heads were considered sufficient gratitude for help in battles. The first mention of the Bress-Gali breed of chickens is connected precisely with the conflict between the feudal lords and the presentation of 2 dozen chickens to the Marquis de Treffolt as a thank you.

The Gallic rooster was highly valued in France. So much so that this breed has become a symbol of France. In 1825, the famous gourmet Brillat Savarin wrote in his book Physiology of Taste that the Bresset hen is the queen of chickens and birds.

The first association of breeders of the Bress-Gali breed was created in 1904. And in 1913, 82 specimens of this breed were presented at the Paris Poultry Exhibition. At the same exhibition, Bress-Gali chickens were noticed by poultry farmers from other countries. After the exhibition, the export of the Bress-Gali breed to America, Canada, Brazil and England began.

In 1914, the Bress-Gali breed standard was established and the acceptable colors were established: gray, white and black. Later, in 1923, Count Gandele, the president of the Bress Club, introduced the blue plumage color to the standard.

One of these colors (fawn) was obtained by crossing a blue Bress-Gal with a fawn Orpington. To get red, Rhode Island red was added to Bress-Gali.

general description

Bress-Gali chickens are a meat breed. Bird of medium size, elongated, elegant, lively. The skeleton is graceful. Very thin and white skin. The live weight of a rooster is from 2,5 to 3 kg, chickens from 2 to 2,5 kg.

The conformity of the size of the Bress-Gali chicken to the standard can be determined by the diameter of the ring. For a rooster, the ring should be 18 mm in diameter, for a hen 16 mm.

The white Bress-Gali rooster has a ring size of 20 mm (the largest size for poultry), a hen 18 mm. The larger size also led to the greatest distribution in the world of white Bress-Gali chickens.

Rooster Characteristics

The elongated body is well balanced, slightly raised. The head is rather short and thin. The face is red and smooth. The comb is red, leaf-shaped, of medium size. The comb has a fine texture, triangular teeth, the back of the comb is raised above the back of the head.

Earrings red, medium length, smooth. The lobes are white, medium in size, almond-shaped. The eyes are large and brown. The beak is relatively long and thin. The color of the beak depends on the color of the bird.

The neck is short, mane with well developed lancets. The back is wide, long, slightly sloping. Shoulders are wide. Highly set wings fit snugly to the body. The loin is well developed. The tail forms an angle of 45° with the line of the back, dense, with numerous well-developed braids.

Chest broad, full, prominent. The abdomen is well developed. Thighs powerful, well muscled. Hocks of medium length, with small blue scales. Unfeathered. There are four fingers on the paw.

Chicken Characteristics

The description of the chickens of the Bress-Gali breed almost coincides with the characteristics of the rooster, but adjusted for sexual dimorphism. The tail is very similar in set and fullness to a cock’s, but without braids. A well-developed comb stands straight up to the first tooth, and then collapses to the side.

Serious defects

The description of the exterior of the Bress-Gali chickens indicates the vices in which the bird is excluded from breeding:

• high-set tail;
• too narrow body;
• poorly developed crest;
• a comb falling to the side of a rooster;
• white coating on the face and earrings;
• insufficiently dark eyes.

In Our Country, in fact, only the white color of the birds of this breed is present, while the French description of the Bress-Gali chickens provides for four types of plumage, one of which is also divided into subtypes. And this is precisely the white color, although at first glance there is nothing to share there. But the French have a different opinion.

White

Completely white feather. Hens of standard white color have red comb, earrings and face. The beak is bluish white.

The bleached white is distinguished from the standard by a pale pink face crest and earrings. The texture of the comb and earrings should be smooth, without roughness.

Color Defects: Yellowish tinge to feathers and feathers of any color other than white.

Black

The plumage is pure black with an emerald sheen. The beak is dark. Metatarsus grey, may not be very dark.

Color faults: the presence of feathers of any color other than black; purple feather tint instead of green.

Blue

The rooster has black feathers on its mane. The tail is black. The back and loins are covered with black feathers with blue dots. Only the chest and belly are uniformly gray.

The color of the chicken repeats the “wild” partridge color in other breeds, but in “blue tones”. Feathers on the neck are darker than the main color of the body. The back, chest and abdomen do not differ in color.

Beak with dark horn. A small light edging is allowed along the edges.

Color flaws:

• too light blue color;
• red feathers on the neck;
• yellowish plumage;
• black or white feathers.

Rather ambiguous requirements, since with the ban on black feathers, roosters are half black. Although when you look at the photo, the description of the Bress blue chickens becomes clear.

Gray

The oldest color of Bress-Gali chickens.

The rooster has white feathers on its neck, lower back and chest. On the plumage of the body, each feather has gray spots, which are often hidden under the longer decorative plumage. On the white wings there are two transverse dark stripes, which are called “double cuffs”.

A photo of roosters of the Bress-Gali breed of chickens clearly shows high-quality and low-quality cuffs on the wings. On the right is a good breeding rooster.

The tail feathers are black. Pigtails should be black with a white border. The color of the down is slightly reddish, the color is possible from pure white to slightly grayish.

Color defects in a rooster: “unclean” neck, back, chest and lower back plumage; pigtails with a lot of white.

The chicken has a white head, neck and chest. On the feathers of the rest of the body there is an alternation of white and black areas. In general, the chicken looks motley with a predominance of white. The tail feathers are also colorful. The belly is white, sometimes it can be grayish. The metatarsus is usually dark gray, but may be bluish.

The photo shows the feathers of the Bress-Gali chickens, corresponding to the description in the standard.

Color defects in chickens: dark stripes on the feathers of the head, neck and chest; completely black feather shafts; completely black tail feathers.

The beak of chickens of this color is bluish-white.

In the description of the Gallic chickens, there is also a “golden” color. This is the partridge we are used to.

These hens are distinguished from the usual village laying hens by dark metatarsus, white lobes and strict requirements for the crest, similar to Bress-Gali.

Comb

French poultry farmers believe that the shape and development of the comb are of great importance when evaluating a rooster as a producer. Given the relationship between the development of the wattled comb and the testes of the rooster, this opinion is justified. Do not open the rooster to make sure that he could be a good breeding bird.

Comb quality assessment

To the photo of these roosters of the Bress-Gali breed of chickens, a description of the combs and the reasons why these birds should be excluded from breeding are given.

1. The beginning of the comb does not meet the requirements of the standard. It has too many small teeth. Different in height, they violate the overall harmonious line. The back is also unsatisfactory. The end of the comb is not triangular and too small. The general combination of imperfections makes the comb too rough and disharmonious.

2. This comb has too thin and long teeth with a small base. There are a lot of small teeth at the beginning of the comb. The first large tooth has an additional process; as a result, the top of the tooth is also incorrect due to the perpendicular growth of the excess part. Such a tooth is called split. In addition, the back of the crest fits snugly against the back of the head.

3. In the third photo, the crest is satisfactory, but the first tooth is poorly connected to the comb, possibly due to trauma in youth.

4. On the 4th photo, a description of the vicious crest of the Bress-Gali breed of chickens. At the very beginning of the crest, the tooth closest to the beak bifurcates. This is not yet a defect, but already a disadvantage.

Further, the bifurcation of the ridge continues on individual teeth. The whole comb looks inharmonious. This cock should not be allowed to be bred, as such defects persist in the offspring for a long time.

5. The comb is not harmonious. There is a strong difference between the first denticles and subsequent denticles in height and width. The ridge-shaped lobe is too “cut” behind, when it should end in a continuous curve in the form of an arc.

6. Rooster with a good simple comb, suitable for breeding.

7. In this photo, the comb corresponds to the description of the breed of Bress-Gali chickens completely. The scallop has beautiful regular teeth and a fine texture.

The disadvantage of this scallop is a small distance from the back of the head. The last tooth of the comb should be arched, but here it is spoiled by the last tooth, due to which the comb is pressed against the back of the head.

8. The crest in this photo is interesting in that its back part repeats the curve of the back of the head, without touching the head and neck. For Bress-Gali roosters, this is a satisfactory space between the neck and the crest.

But the comb has other disadvantages: there are unwanted micro-teeth in the front part, the outgrowth on the second tooth is not needed, the ridge line is severely cut. This rooster is also undesirable for breeding.

Productive characteristics

The French standard wisely indicates the weight of eggs – 60 g and the color of their shell – white, but not a word is said about the egg production of these chickens. According to chicken breeders, Bress-Gali chickens can lay up to 200 eggs per year.

As an advantage in the description of the Bress-Gali breed of chickens on sites, the possibility of obtaining eggs from 4 months is often indicated. Allegedly with proper feeding. But the French argue that with proper feeding, laying hens will mature by 5 months and this period should not be rushed. Up to the point that it is recommended to separate chickens and cockerels, defining a different diet for them.

But this breed is valued mainly because of its tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat. Roosters are characterized by rapid weight gain. At 2 months they can already weigh 1,6 kg. But when keeping young animals for fattening, certain rules must be observed.

With such severe restrictions, one will have to come to terms with the fact that there cannot be Bress-Gali chickens in Our Country, just as there cannot be champagne and cognac. These brands belong to specific French provinces. But the name change is unlikely to affect the productive characteristics of the breed.

Nuances of content and diet

In Our Country, there are practically no Bress-Gali breed of chickens. Only a few farmers brought these birds to the Federation. Therefore, the experience of growing these chickens in Our Country has not yet been accumulated.

According to French farmers, Bress-Gali chickens must be divided into groups by sex as soon as it becomes clear where the cockerel is and where the hen is. This happens at the age of 2 months.

After separating the population by sex, the males must be restricted in movement for better weight gain. Heat is harmful to Bress-Gali chickens, therefore, in aviaries, birds should have enough shelters from the sun’s rays and constant access to clean water.

Roosters should be kept separate to avoid fights with younger chicks. In a calm environment, they gain weight better. In addition, this allows the development of a separate diet for males that promotes weight gain.

Chickens in the process of growth should not get fat, so they develop a diet that does not allow them to gain excess fat. You also need to make sure that the feed does not provoke early ripening.

As they grow, the roosters become pugnacious, and they are advised to wear special “glasses” to help stop fights. Intensive growth in this breed ends by 4 months.

According to experienced breeders of the Bress-Gali breed of chickens, such measures allow them to get the maximum benefit from breeding these birds.

Start of egg production

Thanks to the “eggs from 4 months” ads, delayed laying is a concern for inexperienced owners. In the absence of eggs, there are two options for what to do if the chickens of the Bress-Gali breed do not rush. If it’s related to age, then nothing. Wait until they grow up. In other cases, egg production may stop due to molting or short daylight hours. Link needs to be overcome. Light day to increase artificially.

Also, chickens can stop laying eggs due to illness or a lack of vitamins. It is necessary to establish the cause of the decrease in productivity and eliminate it.

Reviews

Conclusion

The Bress-Gali breed is a legitimate reason for pride among French poultry farmers. It is hardly possible to get objective feedback from them about the Bress-Gali breed of chickens. But with the appearance of these birds in the farms of farmers, in a few years it will be possible to accumulate our own statistics about this breed.