Mistral Gris order going in for May 1st hatch date

Mistral Gris are a rustic broiler -- similar in growth characteristics to the Freedom Rangers that some of you are familiar with. They look much like Barred Rocks, but of the sort that should try out for sumo wrestling. They get to >5 lbs live weight by 9 weeks old, and at the recommended slaughter age of 12 weeks they dress out as nice big roasters. They are active, healthy and very 'chickeny'. Unlike the FR's, which are owned by Grimaud who protects their control over those birds by inserting deleterious recessive genes, the MGs all robust parents and grandparents and (with some special rearing methods to preserve their fertility) can be safely used to cross with heritage birds to increase the size and growth rate of your flock.

Perhaps most important, they are available to Canadians by group order for 2.50/chick delivered to the US border post office of your choice -- that includes the chick (straight run or sexed, your choice), the health papers and shipping. [The shipping is cheaper if you allow your order to be shipped with other others going to the same PO, but if you really want to do it all yourself, that is an option.] Orders must be paid for in advance, but after all the shipping has been done under one set of health papers we will calculate the actual costs and rebates will be issued. I'm not making any money on this -- I just want to get these birds better known, because I think rustic broilers are the best

The hatchery in Pennsylvania that produces the MGs is owned and run by an Amish farmer who is willing to ship to us, but does not want to do the foreign exchange, talk to bunches of foreigners, etc. and doesn't do credit cards, email etc. etc. So our agreement is that I will do all the paperwork for him to submit to get the health papers, and then we all benefit by sharing that cost on a prorated basis.

The April order, which will be shipped next week, was for 700 chicks to be shipped, mostly to BC and Alberta.

The May order, which I must get off to Henry on April 3rd, already is up to 1,200 chicks, coming in to BC and Ontario... none to Alberta yet. This is a nice big order to jump in on, because the savings of sharing the health papers and combined shipping will be substantial.

Sorry for the short notice -- I've been chatting this up on ACE and forgot about WCPS. If you are interested, email me right away. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

These sound interesting for sure. I am a bit confused on the all in one paperwork? If they are shipped to be imported do they not have to have different importer's names on the papers in order for them to work? I am sure I am just misunderstanding your works, but please explain it to me.
These sound like interesting birds for sure, might be interested in trying some out. But not sure I would be able to work it in this year. I will be following this thread for sure.

Hidden River wrote:If they are shipped to be imported do they not have to have different importer's names on the papers in order for them to work? I am sure I am just misunderstanding your works, but please explain it to me.

There has to be a separate health certificate issued for each consignee (i.e. the person who takes them through the border), but one consignee can import chicks for many different buyers in Canada. And the cost of the health certificates includes the special inspection of the breeder flock and the trip up to Harrisburg to get all the papers issued under that inspection stamped. So, when I brought in my first order of MGs, the health certificate cost me $250 ($10/chick!): this was ~$100 for the inspection, ~$50 for the paper, and ~$100 for the time and transportation to get it stamped. When we bring in 700 chicks in April the health papers will cost about $300 for all (~$0.42/chick): $100 for the inspection, $100 for 2 sets of certificates, and $100 to get them stamped.

Most people don't want to cross the border and pick up their own chicks anyway, but they have to connect with someone who is going to do it.

That makes sense now. Thanks.

What were they like to raise last year? I remember a few posts of yours but cannot remember how evenly they finished out?

Hidden River wrote:
What were they like to raise last year? I remember a few posts of yours but cannot remember how evenly they finished out?

I weighed them all at 9 weeks, because the specs I had been given claimed that they would weigh 5 lbs by 9 weeks, and I wanted to see if they did that. They did. Then I started processing them after 10 weeks and didn't keep much data on dressed weights. This is what I've got:

65 days (~9 weeks) Males average live weight = 6.7 lbs, smallest 5.8 lbs, largest 7.6 lbs. The largest birds were developing crooked toes at this age.
65 days Females average live weight = 5.2 lbs, smallest 4.7 lbs, largest 6.1 lbs. No growth problems in the females.

At 9 weeks these birds are still in their rapid growth period, and in particular the breast fills in nicely after this age. The recommended slaughter age is 12 weeks. At that age the birds were dressing out as roasters 5.5 lbs and up. I did most of the boys at 12 weeks, by 14 weeks they were larger than what I wanted I the kitchen, and starting to get tough. But the girls at 14 weeks were sublime!

It's easy to overfeed these birds, and waste food, which is especially regretable if you have them out on pasture and want them to forage. So I have developed a recommended feeding guidelines for them, with the help of Ken Wilkinson at the Co-op.

What will the price per chick be? Also can they be chipped to Dawson Creek, BC?

chickenjo wrote:What will the price per chick be? Also can they be chipped to Dawson Creek, BC?

The May order is closed now. The next order will be for the June 26th hatch.

The chicks must be prepaid, $62.50 / 25 chicks. You can get straight run or sexed chicks, whatever you like.

They cannot be shipped direct to Dawson Creek. The way this works is that one person crosses the border and picks up all the chicks for their area, and then the chicks travel north relay style. So your best bet is to connect with someone south of you who is getting some chicks on the same order, and arrange to pick up your chicks from their farm.

Thanks for the info.. I'll see what I can find out.

While researching the genetic history of your Mistral Gris, (via the Pennsylvania hatcheries) my search has lead me back to Hubbard Breeders of France.

Hubbard seems to offer designer meat birds that are geared towards satisfying Europe's "Label Rouge" standards for slower growing pastured fowl. They offer two designer hybrids that result in a Barred product. They also have the Barred parent stock. Your Mistral Gris refers to which of these products?

Also, is Hubbard willing to give permission to us using their stock in a local breeding program? If so, do you know what they need before providing such permission?

I posted another topic on that forum that has an implication on this topic.

Omega Blue Farms wrote:While researching the genetic history of your Mistral Gris, (via the Pennsylvania hatcheries) my search has lead me back to Hubbard Breeders of France.

Hubbard seems to offer designer meat birds that are geared towards satisfying Europe's "Label Rouge" standards for slower growing pastured fowl. They offer two designer hybrids that result in a Barred product. They also have the Barred parent stock. Your Mistral Gris refers to which of these products?

Also, is Hubbard willing to give permission to us using their stock in a local breeding program? If so, do you know what they need before providing such permission?

The Mistral Gris are still owned by the farmer who bred them (with the help of Don Shaver). Nothing to do with Hubbard.

I guess I'm confused because I searched the Pennsylvania Hatcheries and contacted those that sold non-white broilers. Each responded that they were working with stock that came from Hubbard. I contacted Hubbard and their representative seemed pretty confident that they owned the genetics.

So what hatchery did I miss?

I fully appreciate that many of these non-white broiler genepools were developed at the expense of the Canadian taxpayer, and then sold to Hubbard. I can understand believing we have a right, on principle, to use them, but who can afford to fight Hubbard to defend this right?

This is why I'm digging into this. I think we need more transparency to be sure we are not exposing our heritage flock owners to such risks.

I asked similar questions of the Orlopp Bronze and sure enough, our heritage bronze has now been replaced in western Canada by a Hendrix owned genepool that Hendrix is on record for indicating they won't hesitate to using legal action to protect. Hate to see the same thing happen to our Barred Rock genepools.

I'd say you missed at least 5 hatcheries. The Amish farmers don't need websites and other connections to the outside world to do their business, working with other Amish farmers in their area.

I have seen the grandparent flocks of the Mistral Gris. I am quite sure that this breed and at least 10 others have never been sold to anyone outside the local community. And I have verified the history of the MGs development with Don Shaver.... who, BTW, said some very unkind things about you, including most emphatically that he does not want you to contact him.

Anyone wanting to persue this topic with Tru North please do so by PM or email.