“I prefer it to a capon, I find it much more tender and pleasant in the mouth. » Like every year before the holidays, Nolwenn made a detour to the Halles Centrales of the Breton capital to order a cuckoo chicken from Rennes which she will accompany with “potatoes, chestnuts and pumpkin”. On Christmas tables, free-range poultry will still occupy a good place alongside seafood. With a choice of turkey, guinea fowl or capon, while the finest gourmets will turn to Bresse chicken, often considered like “the Rolls-Royce of poultry”.
But another race, more confidential, could also claim this honorary title in the person of the Rennes cuckoo. A hen with a funny name, in reference to its pretty gray plumage barred with white, reminiscent of that of the gray cuckoo bird, which, as its name suggests, comes from Brittany. From the end of the 19th century, they were found on all farms in the region and particularly in the Rennes basin. A fairly wild chicken, feisty and resistant to cold and rain, it was crowned “best French breed” in 1903 at the General Agricultural Competition before its official approval in 1914.
A hen appreciated by star chefs
A golden age which lasted until the middle of the 20th century before its slow decline after the war. “It no longer corresponded to the criteria of agro-industry where it was necessary to produce quickly and in quantity,” underlines Olivier Renault, breeder in Louvigné-de-Bais, not far from Vitré (Ille-et-Vilaine). The breed is almost extinct, the Écomusée du pays de Rennes still manages to find traces of a few specimens before embarking on a rescue mission. Paul Renault, Olivier's father, also lets some of his clientele restaurateurs taste the chicken, including great chefs like Pierre Gagnaire, Olivier Rœllinger and Alain Passard.
“All the feedback was unanimous,” underlines Olivier Renault, praising “the very tasty flesh” with the slight nutty taste of the casserole. In the process, an association of producers was created “to get the chicken out of the museum” and relaunch a micro-industry with very demanding specifications. “It's a minimum of five months of outdoor breeding, compared to two and a half months for a Label Rouge, with a diet based on cereals from the farm and a whey finish,” explains Olivier Renault.
Covid crisis + war in Ukraine + bird flu
Well pampered, the polar opposite of their counterparts raised in cages, the cuckoo hens also have a space of at least 10 m2 each and are only raised in small batches of 500. “They don't have much to complain about in effect”, smiles the breeder, proud to have saved “this typical and ancient breed which was threatened with extinction”.
But for four years, new threats have weighed on the eight breeders who still produce this luxury chicken. First there was the Covid crisis which stopped all sales with the closure of restaurants and markets. Then the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022 which caused the price of cereals to explode. And finally the avian flu which has finally knocked out breeders, forcing them to confine their poultry.
Despite aid from communities and customer loyalty, the association of cuckoo producers emerged from this washer with a debt of 50,000 euros that its members are struggling to pay off. Hence the cry, or rather the cackle of alarm, of these breeders who have launched an online prize pool to help them “safeguard this genetic heritage and pass it on to future generations”.
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