What a true American Bresse should be
The hallmarks we breed toward — what a show/breeder bird should show.
Type & build"Long, wide, and broad." A long back with good width and depth, a deep chest, and a wide stance. Fine-boned but heavily fleshed. Too tall, lean, or thick-boned is a fault.
Breast & fleshingFull, well-fleshed breast — you shouldn't feel a sharp keel. Meat should carry the full length of the keel (about 3 fingers from the pin bones to the keel's end).
Legs & feetA clean, true blue — neither too dark nor too pale. Color "sets" by ~8 weeks. Pink, green, or washed-out legs are a cull; knock knees or bent toes are faults.
TailCarried low — around a 45° angle, full and graceful, roughly a third of the bird — flowing smoothly off the back with no cushion. High, squirrel, or split tails are faults.
PlumageClose-fitting, pure white (Dominant White). No straw, brassy, or yellow cast, and no black, red, or silver "leakage."
CombSingle and red, balanced to the head, with a complete rear blade and clean spikes. Side sprigs, an overgrown comb, or a comb still pink at 14+ weeks are faults.
Earlobes & skinWhite, almond-shaped earlobes (red lobes are a fault); thin white skin, which we prefer over yellow.
Head & eyeA clean face and a dark eye. A brown beak, or red/foxy color bleeding into the white plumage, is a fault.
EggsThe breed standard calls for a white egg. In practice the white American Bresse line lays a light, tinted cream — and lighter is better, so we cull beige, speckled, tan, or brown toward pet/eating. ~60 g+, single-yolk once laying settles.
Weights — the target we breed towardThe US proposed standard sets a big size goal: males 8–9 lb, females 6–7 lb. It's further than most lines reach, and it's where our selection is headed — our flock grows into it generation by generation.
Drawn from the American Bresse Standard of Perfection and current breeding guidance published by Mandelyn Royal / American Bresse Breed Club (ambresse.com).
Live birds — chicks & started
Every bird is healthy and raised by hand. The grade is how closely it meets the standard.
Show / Breeder Quality
$14 EACH · DAY-OLD CHICK
Started, 4–10 wks $18
- Correct true-blue legs, clean and fine
- Close-fitting pure white plumage, no brassiness or leakage
- Full, prominent breast, "long, wide and broad" body
- Low, full 45° tail and a clean single comb with white earlobes
- Heavy fleshing the full length of the keel, good growth & vigor
- From our lightest-egg lines bred toward the standard
- Best for breeding to the standard, showing, or improving a flock
PET Quality
As low as $3 EACH · DAY-OLD CHICK
Started, 4–10 wks $7
Lineage not guaranteed. These birds still carry a trait or two leaking through — like speckled feathers instead of pure white — that most hatcheries would quietly cull. We'd rather offer them honestly, at a fair price.
These will no longer be available soon considering how close we are to providing a pure breed. But for now, it's a cheaper option to put meat or eggs on your table, or a great new pet.
- Healthy, vigorous birds that fall short of the show standard
- Faults such as pink/green legs, straw, brassy, or off-color leakage, a comb or tail fault, a narrow or lighter-fleshed body, or smaller size
- Or simply birds we haven't selected as breeders
- Still excellent layers, table birds, and pets
- Great value for eggs, meat, or a backyard flock
- Not intended for breeding-to-standard or showing
We sell day-old chicks and started grow-outs (4 to 10 weeks old); older birds are priced higher for the extra weeks of care. Standard quantity discounts apply — 10% off over 2 dozen, 20% off over 4 dozen.
Hatching eggs
Both are fertile — the difference is the parents behind them.
Show / Breeder Hatching Eggs
$7 EACH · ONE-DOZEN MINIMUM
- From our best breeder pairs, selected to the standard
- Our lightest, nearest-to-white shells, good size (~60 g+) & shape
- Bred for true-blue legs, white plumage, full breast, correct type
- Your best odds of standard, show-track offspring
PET Quality
$3 EACH
- Lineage not guaranteed
- From the general flock — not paired for show traits
- Includes our off-color eggs (cream, tan, dark tan, brown) we're breeding out
- Great for low-stakes, fun backyard hatching
- Fertile, but a wider range of outcomes in the chicks
- Best value if you're not chasing the “show” standard
How we select & what we promise
Our selection
- Our fast track to the standard: we developed our line by culling primarily on color — the quickest way to lock in correct color — and we're now pairing it with Mandelyn Royal's line of large birds. She spent nearly 10 years perfecting the breed's size and features, which makes this pairing a perfect match: we expect to gain the ideal size of her line with the near-perfect colors of ours. We hope to have the final cross available to the public sometime in 2027.
- We breed toward Mandelyn Royal's American Bresse standard and select hard for the breed's white egg. The standard color is white; in practice the white American Bresse line lays a light, tinted cream, so we keep our lightest, nearest-to-white layers as breeders and move any beige, speckled, tan, or brown toward pet/eating — selecting lighter every generation.
- We grade as birds develop: leg color is "set" by about 8 weeks, white earlobes show by 10–15 weeks, and we do our main sort for type, fleshing, and size around 16–22 weeks (pullets begin laying ~18–22 weeks).
- Size is a long game. The standard sets an ambitious target (males 8–9 lb, females 6–7 lb) — further than most lines reach. We select our biggest, fastest-growing, best-fleshed birds as breeders so the flock grows toward it generation by generation, rather than claiming we're already there.
- We breed only straight-keeled, well-fleshed birds and move the lesser birds to the table or to pet/food homes — improving the flock season by season.
- Chicks are sold straight run (unsexed). American Bresse aren't reliably sexed at hatch, so we let you grow them out — leg color, comb, and earlobes make the cockerels and pullets clear as they develop.
Honest guarantees
- Show/breeder birds are our best selections to the standard — but final maturity and a judge's eye decide a show, so we can't guarantee specific placements.
- These are live animals, sold healthy at pickup. We back them with a 48-hour live guarantee: if a bird or chick doesn't make it within 48 hours of pickup, send us a clear photo and we'll replace it or refund that bird. After 48 hours, care and conditions are in your hands.
- We're glad to talk through any bird or egg before you buy — just ask.