The Blue Foot or Poulet Bleu is a Canadian

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

bred to resemble the French

Poulet de Bresse The () or volaille de Bresse is a French chicken product which has ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' status, and which was registered as a Protected Designation of Origin under EU and UK law as ''Volaille de Bresse / Poulet de Bresse ...

History

The Blue Foot was bred by Peter Thiessen of British Columbia and was intended to provide an alternative to the French

, a chicken product from birds of the

Bresse Gauloise The Bresse Gauloise is a French breed of domestic chicken. It originates in the historic region and former province of Bresse, in the regions of Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne and Franche-Comté, in eastern France. Because of legal restrictions on th ...

breed raised and fed in a specific and traditional way within a strictly-defined area in France. It was developed over a period of 15 years starting in the 1980s. The Canadian stock was destroyed in 2004 during the avian flu scare. Some stock in California survived.

Characteristics

The birds are white, with a red comb and steel-blue feet.

Use

Blue Foot chickens are typically slaughtered much later than industrially-produced stock, being left to grow for longer. They require 14 to 16 weeks to reach market size. After slaughter, the chickens may be air-chilled.

References

Chicken breeds {{poultry-stub