Backyard Brahmas!!

[livininbrazil]

Livininbrazil, Yeah, why don't I just hang in there!!! I don't know why I have to freak out about these things. Yes, the pic is in post #898. They're the little crows. The one standing over the cucumber has been re-homed, Wally is the little Black crow(he's the one who usually hangs out with the girls) and Ginger is the big boy in the back. I adore him When I stroke his back he squats. Omg. He melts my heart. Are roosters ever gay? Thank you for your sound advice.
Quovadis, You're right, hatchery birds are smaller. I think it's because they're crossed with reliable egg layers, because that's what the hatchery needs to stay in business...Lots and lots of hatching eggs. They still look the same, though not show quality. They're still sweet, just a bit smaller. I'll leave the question about Bantams up to someone who knows, I'm unfamiliar with them.
If you're interested in breeders' birds, check out the Brahma thread. Tim shows Bantams, There are lots of L. F. breeders there.
Summer98, I could be wrong, but I think the hens have a single row and the cockerels have a triple row. Yeah, the huge Brahmas are awesome, but they eat a lot!

Justin24, ask the Brahma thread people, they might be able to fix you up with eggs. Hope your luck is better than mine. I've only ever hatched four eggs...all four were cockerels!

Oh, the 'wood-pile boys'. Yes, I see they don´t have that Brahma 'chunkiness'. So, depending on the strain/mix, they may or may not get along, just wait and see. My neighbour here has a mixed flock of little scraggy hens, mainly they have indian blood in them. I had Rocks and Brahma-mixes here, so I let him have 2 rock cockerel chicks and 2 mixed-brahma cockerel chicks for him to improve the size of his birds, so he didn´t just have bones in his pot! Well, the cocks are absolutely beautiful, and all 4 of them get on fine together, and also no probs with his already-resident boney indian cock. Now, they are free-range, so they have lots of space, but it shows that a number of cocks can get on ok. And as yours have grown up together, they could be absolutely fine.

Just see how it pans out, and enjoy your birds.

 

[Vickis Girls]

I finally got a good night's sleep, not worrying about little cockerels! Thanks for all the advice, I'll take it one day at a time.
"Be prepared, not scared" That's a good one! Huntress, I would have loved to send you the little incubator, but already gave it to my sister. It only held seven eggs so sounds like it wouldn't have been much use to you anyway. It really was a neat little thing, a Brinsea. The size of a mixing bowl, so that's just what I did. I put it on the kitchen island and hatched out 100 percent cockerels! What a neat experience though!
I think I might order some baby chicks today. Anyone order Brahmas from Ideal? Please let me know. My Pet Chicken was awesome last year, but I want some Darks.

 

[livininbrazil]

I finally got a good night's sleep, not worrying about little cockerels! Thanks for all the advice, I'll take it one day at a time.
"Be prepared, not scared" That's a good one! Huntress, I would have loved to send you the little incubator, but already gave it to my sister. It only held seven eggs so sounds like it wouldn't have been much use to you anyway. It really was a neat little thing, a Brinsea. The size of a mixing bowl, so that's just what I did. I put it on the kitchen island and hatched out 100 percent cockerels! What a neat experience though!
I think I might order some baby chicks today. Anyone order Brahmas from Ideal? Please let me know. My Pet Chicken was awesome last year, but I want some Darks.

Glad you´re feeling easier about it all now. But I know what you mean about not sleeping well over these things!

I´m worse over my goslings!

I can´t help on the hatcheries point, I´m not sure there is such a thing here....at least, not for ornamentals, as they call them here...I get mine from breeders, but not all breeders have reasonable birds, so I have to look carefully!

With reference to Darks; I like the colour too, but some people reckon they´re not as friendly, so it may be good to do a bit of research first,
I have partridge, they´re lovely.....
Have fun with your chicks!

 

[livininbrazil]

Brahmas are considered to have pea combs right? Whey does my rooster's comb not look like "a row of peas" like the girls? It looks more like a rose comb (I think). My EE and brahma hens all have the pea comb.

A Brahma rooster should have what appears to be three 'rows'.
Sometimes, with the introduction of colours from other breeds, the 'brahma' characteristics can get lost, so sometimes you´ll get one that will sport a characteristic from a breed that has been used to develop a particular new colour. You shouldn´t have this problem with the older standard colours, but the newer colour experiments will do it, or an accidental cross-mating. What colour is he?

 

[SD Bird Lady]

@ Vicki's Girls:

I purchased a few girls (5-6) from Ideal last year and I wasn't impressed. IMO the chicks I got from cackle were much livelier they also matured to have better color and size to them. It could have just been a bad hatch from Ideal, and this is just my experience from one purchase. I have had good luck with Cackle and since I like to get a few ducks here and there they have worked well. I am not sure if they carry Darks though. Good luck on finding new chicks

 

[CarolinaHen]

I need some help with my Brahma boys. They are MASSIVE and are full of hormones right now. They just started crowing and mounting the girls so they are very uncoordinated and clumsy in their breeding attempts. I have a mixed flock and they are super interested in my EE girls. They are so heavy and so much larger that they are all but squashing the girls when they mount them. My EE girls take off running and screaming if they see them come near. The Brahma girls squat for them and all is well in that arena. My question is whether they will ever be able to free range with the rest of the flock or should we build a seperate pen for the Brahmas. I would prefer to just put them in the small pen with only Brahma girls until they settle their hormones a bit. Is it possible to keep a rooster this large with mid sized hens and not have them harm them? These are the first Brahma roosters we have had, so this is a totally new area for us. Our other roosters have always been on the small/light weight side.
Thanks!

 

[livininbrazil]

I need some help with my Brahma boys. They are MASSIVE and are full of hormones right now. They just started crowing and mounting the girls so they are very uncoordinated and clumsy in their breeding attempts. I have a mixed flock and they are super interested in my EE girls. They are so heavy and so much larger that they are all but squashing the girls when they mount them. My EE girls take off running and screaming if they see them come near. The Brahma girls squat for them and all is well in that arena. My question is whether they will ever be able to free range with the rest of the flock or should we build a seperate pen for the Brahmas. I would prefer to just put them in the small pen with only Brahma girls until they settle their hormones a bit. Is it possible to keep a rooster this large with mid sized hens and not have them harm them? These are the first Brahma roosters we have had, so this is a totally new area for us. Our other roosters have always been on the small/light weight side.
Thanks!

Just my experience, but I´ve never had big cocks hurt small hens. I have, though, had big cocks hurt big hens. Chances are, the EEs aren´t up for it yet, maybe they don´t want to submit to a cocky youngster, so they squalk and make a lot of fuss..the biggest problem is having randy males over-doing the poor hens, and if the hen doesn´t want to crouch for the cock, she can get hurt by his claws or spur. What is your ratio of only Brahmas? I´ve not found my Brahma cockerels to be as sex-mad as some other breeds I´ve had.

 

[CarolinaHen]

Just my experience, but I´ve never had big cocks hurt small hens. I have, though, had big cocks hurt big hens. Chances are, the EEs aren´t up for it yet, maybe they don´t want to submit to a cocky youngster, so they squalk and make a lot of fuss..the biggest problem is having randy males over-doing the poor hens, and if the hen doesn´t want to crouch for the cock, she can get hurt by his claws or spur. What is your ratio of only Brahmas? I´ve not found my Brahma cockerels to be as sex-mad as some other breeds I´ve had.

My EE girls absolutely do not want to submit to these young cocky guys.

They much prefer the adult finesse' of our Polish rooster

We have two Brahma cockerels and for pullets. Not a good ratio. If we decide to build a pen for them, only one cockerel will go in with the girls. In the large coop/free range area, we have around 30 hens/pullets and only the one Polish and the two Brahma boys. The Seramas and Silkies have their own bantam pen. We can wait it out if it is just a maturity issue with the Brahma boys. The size of them is what I am concerned about, but if that really isn't an issue I'll but the boys in the time-out pen and let them mature a bit before trying to rejoin the flock. Suggestions?

 

[livininbrazil]

My EE girls absolutely do not want to submit to these young cocky guys.

They much prefer the adult finesse' of our Polish rooster

We have two Brahma cockerels and for pullets. Not a good ratio. If we decide to build a pen for them, only one cockerel will go in with the girls. In the large coop/free range area, we have around 30 hens/pullets and only the one Polish and the two Brahma boys. The Seramas and Silkies have their own bantam pen. We can wait it out if it is just a maturity issue with the Brahma boys. The size of them is what I am concerned about, but if that really isn't an issue I'll but the boys in the time-out pen and let them mature a bit before trying to rejoin the flock. Suggestions?

Well, firstly, who doesn´t like finesse? !

I can only speak from my experience, that size hasn´t been a problem. I´ve had my Brahma cocks with ISAs to broaden the ratio of hens, and they´re really quite small. No problems.
Do you really want to keep both the Brahmas boys? And 30 hens with 2 Brahma cockerels and one Polish isn´t a bad ratio. Or separate the one Brahma cockerel with the 4 pullets and leave the other one in with the Polish and the 26 hens?
Also, the Polish may just show the one Brahma cockerel how to be a gent, and the other one with the 4 gals may get put in his place. If you separate the 2, leave the less dominant in with the Polish...just what I reckon, someone else may have better ideas.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Well, firstly, who doesn´t like finesse? !

I can only speak from my experience, that size hasn´t been a problem. I´ve had my Brahma cocks with ISAs to broaden the ratio of hens, and they´re really quite small. No problems.
Do you really want to keep both the Brahmas boys? And 30 hens with 2 Brahma cockerels and one Polish isn´t a bad ratio. Or separate the one Brahma cockerel with the 4 pullets and leave the other one in with the Polish and the 26 hens?
Also, the Polish may just show the one Brahma cockerel how to be a gent, and the other one with the 4 gals may get put in his place. If you separate the 2, leave the less dominant in with the Polish...just what I reckon, someone else may have better ideas.

I agree with this advice. If one configuration doesn't seem to be going smoothly, try another. Be patient as they work out their "pecking order" Currently my 2 boys each have a "queen" ,a hen that that is by their side almost all day (not sure if that is normal or not) , and then the other hens get attention more or less by chance if they walk by and look enticing the roosters go for them... at first there were some squabbles where they both fought over one gal but now things are pretty stable and everyone knows their place.