White or Black American Bresse? Find Out the Important Difference

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One of the cornerstone principles of homestead living is becoming less dependent on outside systems. For many homesteaders, the food system is usually at the top of the list of concerns. Before Philip and I made our permanent move to the homestead, we decided to purchase American Bresse chickens. This dual purpose breed was getting rave reviews as a sustainable chicken breed. Our neighbors warned us of their struggle to protect chickens from predators in our remote area. So we opted to start with Black American Bresse chickens. However, we quickly learned that the difference is more than color. In this post, I hope to save you time and money by sharing the difference between white American bresse and black American bresse chickens. 

What are American Bresse Chickens? 

The American Bresse chicken is a newcomer to the chicken scene in the United States. Greenfire Farms is noted for importing Bresse chickens to the United States in 2011.  French farmers adamantly believe that Bresse chickens must be raised only in France. They have been granted a legal status called an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC). In English, it translates to “registered designation of origin.” To honor this copyright, the line of birds bred in the US is referred to as American Bresse. Greenfire Farms raises only white American bresse chickens, having imported multiple groups of breeding stock from Europe. More recently, in 2023, Greenfire Farm imported an unrelated bloodline of Bresse chickens to continue improving the American Bresse lines in North America.

American Bresse is NOT recognized as a heritage breed by the American Poultry Association. Their French counterpart traces back over 500 years in eastern France. Here in the US they are quickly becoming popular among homesteaders seeking a good dual-purpose breed that can be sustainably bred on the farm.

True Foragers

Many homesteaders raise poultry in a free roaming pasture. Bresse are active foragers. In France, they are fed a low-protein diet that encourages foraging. When fed a low-protein diet, they seek the protein their bodies crave by foraging for insects, worms, and likely small rodents.

Friendly, But Not Annoyingly So

American Bresse chickens have good temperaments. They aren’t as friendly as some backyard chickens, but they are easygoing and come running when they think treats are involved! I find the roosters are less gentlemanly with their hens than some of my roosters, but overall, not aggressive towards people. 

Patriotic Poultry

American Bresse are best known for their solid white plumage, blue feet, and red combs. American Bresse chickens come in four color varieties: white, black, gray, and blue. Breeders refer to purebred mottled-colored birds as splash. The roosters have a tall, red single comb that stands upright with red waddles. American Bresse typically have white earlobes, though lobe color can vary from red to only partially white. 

Climate Tolerant

In our region in Kentucky, American Bresse chickens fit our climate perfectly.  They are both heat and cold-tolerant. On our off-grid farm, we don’t provide heat during the cold winter months in our chicken coops, though we ensure our chickens have solid, draft-free shelters where they can escape the elements. Still, my American Bresse roosters are more prone to frostbite than roosters with more compact combs.

The Best Tasting Chicken

The Bresse chicken breed produces marbled meat, regarded as the most delicious chicken in the world. They don’t produce as much meat as larger birds, such as the Cornish cross; however, their meat is sought after by chefs as it is tender and rich in flavor.

True Dual-Purpose Breed

For the homesteader, the best homestead chicken needs to meet multiple needs on the farm. The biggest perk of this breed of chicken is the ability to breed a self-sustaining flock of meat birds on the farm without outsourcing the purchase of chicks every year. Additionally, they are good layers, laying about 260 cream colored eggs a year, an impressive number of eggs for dual-purpose chickens. 

Black American Bresse Chickens

With heightened concern about predators on the homestead, he opted to start our flock with Black American bresse chickens. I drove over 100 miles to purchase an adult trio of breeding stock that were being culled for their imperfect color variations. It is said that the black feathers mimic the look of crows. Aerial predators are often taunted by crows and, as a result, they steer clear of black chickens. While I can’t say I know this to be fact, it made sense. In the almost two years since we moved to the homestead, I haven’t lost a single chicken to an aerial predator (or any predator for that matter)! 

Admittedly, I purchased culled stock, meaning my black bresse chickens don’t meet the color standards of the breeder. However, since I prefer not to eat the feathers, I never considered that an issue on our homestead. My original rooster, Chanitcleer, is gorgeous! He’s protective of his hens and easy to handle. I pick him up almost daily since he insists on roosting in the wrong chicken coop! While I am not an expert in genetics, his silver coloring earned him a place on the cull list of the breeding farm I purchased him from. 

When I first picked up my black American bresse chickens, I was surprised by the dainty size of my black American bresse hens.  Even Chanticlear is what I would consider a smaller rooster. He doesn’t let it bother him, he is still the alpha male among my flock. 

Notable Difference

In researching this post, I have dug through multiple chicken breeders’ websites, and all the ones I reviewed list the size of the black American bresse chickens as the same as that of the white. Some will note that the black ones are “slightly smaller”. Black Bresse males are typically listed at 7 to 8 pounds in weight. A typical Bresse hen weighs about 5 pounds. 

Black American bresse chickens lay a light brown egg, almost cream, but slightly darker than the white American bresse. The Black bresse eggs are slightly above average in size, usually about 2.25 ounces. 

White American Bresse Chickens

In researching the differences between the colors in this breed, there is more information about the white Bresse. Since American Bresse is relatively new to our country, the breed is still being developed to a standard that can be accepted into the American Poultry Association.
The proposed weight standard is: 

White American bresse must have completely white feathers. Any black spots, called leakage, and even a yellowish tint to the feathers, typically found on roosters, are being culled in selective breeding to improve the breeding programs in the US. 

American bresse typically start laying around 16 to 17 weeks of age.  Slightly younger than many breeds at 20 weeks. The egg color is a light cream color. The eggs are average in size, weighing about 2 ounces. 

We purchased our white American bresse chickens as hatching eggs from a small farm whose main goal is to get these chickens onto as many homesteads as possible! 

Differences That Matter to the Homesteader

Unfortunately, I did not realize that the physical differences between the black and white American bresse were more than just color. Many hatchery websites provide the same statistics regarding the size and weight of these backyard meat birds. Our original goal was to keep two separate breeding groups, a small group of both the black and white varieties. 

That first summer, we ran our incubators multiple times, hatching the next generation of meat birds on our farm. As chicks, the two varieties were of similar sizes; however, as the chicks began to grow, the differences became more obvious. The black American bresse pullets and hens are of a very slight build. Even the black bresse roosters are smaller than the white bresse roosters, shorter in height and not as broad breasted. This became most obvious when we began butchering the excess roosters. 

First Impressions

Our first group of roosters we butchered at 16 weeks. This is the recommended grow-out time frame for the best-tasting and tenderest chicken. The good news, American bresse chicken lives up to its reputation as being the most flavorful chicken! Admittedly, it tastes like chicken, the birds have much more beautiful yellow fat than typical meat birds. Both the black and white Bresse chickens have dark legs and thighs with true dark meat. 

Both breeds have white skin.  A distinct problem when butchering black feathered birds is the dark pigmentation in the quills of the feathers. This black coloring can transfer to the skin of the chicken or leave black spots in the skin. 

Processing Difficulties in Black and White American Bresse

Having spent years raising Cornish Cross broilers, I was spoiled on birds that are easy to eviscerate.  Large-bodied birds that I can easily use my entire hand inside the body cavity. Bresse hens are particularly small. I found it extremely difficult to remove the organs, even as a woman with smaller hands.

I found it easier to piece the chicken rather than gut the bird.  Once plucked or skinned, the breasts, wings, legs, and thighs can be removed without evisceration. Unfortunately, that leads to waste. Typically, we feed selections of the organ meat to our animals. The carcasses can be used for chicken broth. Skipping the evisceration step means that we are unable to process the entire bird. Even the black American bresse roosters have a tight body cavity.  While I could fit my hand inside, the bones nearest the vent would dig into the back of my hand while I eviscerated the birds. 

Our last group of white and black American bresse chickens were butchered at a year old, much older than the typical 16-week butchering time frame. Even at a year old, the black  American bresse rooster dressed out at under 4 pounds.  The white American bresse roosters dressed out almost 2 pounds heavier! 

Are American Bresse Worth the Hype?

As egg layers, both varieties of American bresse are a great addition to any small farm. Their foraging ability means that you’ll save money when it comes to feeding your flock. We purposely feed our chickens grain late in the day, which encourages them to work for their supper! They are excellent at keeping the cow manure spread, eagerly looking for fly larvae and undigested grains. Like true omnivores, they eagerly clean the carcasses of wild game we harvest in the fall. They will pick the bones completely clean, not leaving a single morsel!

Their hardiness for both hot and cold climates makes them most versatile, especially for those of us who experience the best (and worst) of both seasons. 

As a meat breed, both varieties produce delicious and flavorful chicken that is tender to eat.

However, on our farm, we want to get the biggest bang for our buck! Both varieties grow out in the same time frame and eat a similar amount of food. However, if we raise 25 roosters for our annual chicken supply, raising Black American Bresse roosters that weigh 1 to 2 pounds less than White American Bresse roosters, means we have 25 to 50 pounds LESS meat in our freezer for the same investment. 

White or Black American Bresse: Our Decision

For us, the decision was simple: my black American bresse chickens have been turned out with my barnyard mix. While they will live a productive life as egg layers on our farm, we are not breeding them as meat birds. 

Our White American bresse are segregated to protect the purebred breeding line. As an effort to diversify my breeding stock, I am looking to replace my rooster, Elvis (for his blue suede shoes). Never one to put all our eggs in one basket, we still raise Cornish Cross broilers on our farm. I love the fast-growing and tender white meat chicken that can be raised in only 8 weeks. However, to make our farm more self-sufficient, the White American bresse chickens have become our preferred choice of sustainable dual-purpose chicken that we can raise from egg to table right here at Kowalski Mountain.