The Bresse is France's most celebrated table chicken — white feathers, a red comb and steel-blue legs, the colors of the French flag — and in France the name is protected by law to birds raised in a defined area. American Bresse are the same genetics bred in the US, where the name carries no legal protection but the meat quality reputation still holds. Beyond the table they're surprisingly productive layers of cream eggs and put on well-marbled weight quickly. They're active, alert birds that want to range, so a Bresse flock needs pasture, not a small run.
Beginner friendly
Cold hardy
Heat tolerant
Broody
Flighty
Egg colorCream
Egg production250–270 / year
TemperamentFlighty
BroodinessOccasional
ClimateCold hardy, Heat tolerant
PurposeEggs, Meat
Weight
Hen5.5–7 lb
Rooster7–9 lb
How to spot it
CombSingle
Large single comb, bright red
Earlobes
White
Legs & feet
Steel-blue legs, four toes; white skin
Look for
White feathers, red comb and blue legs together — the French tricolour that no other white breed shows
Single
