Backyard Brahmas!!

[Junibutt]

it's really too soon to tell. You should know in another 3 wks.

Here are some more that are a little bit better. I am really worried about 1 which kind of had a bunny tail:




Chewie pictured to the right, is the only one I am concerned about being a cockerel

 

[bumpercarr]

BTW here are some pics of my 5 week old Brahmas. Although the pics are not that clear but do you see signs of any cockerel?

They look like pullets to me, but often you can't be sure for a few weeks yet.

 

[GAFarmGirl87]

You didn't tell me how old these guys are.  Partridge is really a type of penciling rather than lacing, that might be why you aren't getting what you are looking for.  That is why the partridge X darks work so well, they are both penciled patterns.  The lights are Columbian patterns.  If Big Medicine joins our conversation, he can nail down what you are getting and why much more than I can.  I would recommend playing with the chicken calculator if you are trying to work towards a particular color/pattern.  You can find it by googling and then select the new chicken calculator from the bottom of the page.  The new one has tabs that make it a little easier to get the right genetic makeup.  Choose the male tab and take a gold with black and then select the partridge pattern.  Same for the female, just pick blue instead of black.  Then you can select the offspring to breed back to see what you would end up with on the punnet square and breed back to either mom or pop.

A lot of times the physical problems also come from improper placement in the egg before hatch.  It is really impossible to tell why one would have some deformities and some others wouldn't.  Interesting that your runt/dwarf has a leg/foot problem.  That is one of the problems associated with dwarfism that is not bantam dwarfism.  I'm still reading up on which types of dwarfism are passed from which parents.  There is one type that is only passed to cockerels from their mother, that must be the type that I have since it seems like one out of each hatch had a runt/dwarf in it. I suspect that one of my pullets had the dwarfism gene.  Hopefully, it isn't the only one that is left after the dog attack, but we'll find out when I get a cockerel old enough and brave enough to breed to her.

@big medicine You are needed

 

[GAFarmGirl87]

Here are some more that are a little bit better. I am really worried about 1 which kind of had a bunny tail: Chewie pictured to the right, is the only one I am concerned about being a cockerel

These pics make me a little more confident you have pullets, but like I said you'll need to wait a few weeks before you can know for sure.

 

[Junibutt]

These pics make me a little more confident you have pullets, but like I said you'll need to wait a few weeks before you can know for sure.

Thanks, will post back when they are 8 weeks old.

 

[GAFarmGirl87]

These pics make me a little more confident you have pullets, but like I said you'll need to wait a few weeks before you can know for sure.

Thanks, will post back when they are 8 weeks old.

This might make you feel better. This is one of my light Brahma cockerels when he was almost 5 wks.

 

[Junibutt]

This might make you feel better. This is one of my light Brahma cockerels when he was almost 5 wks.

Oh then Chewie is almost certainly a cockerel because he looks like this! I would hate to give him away because his foot feathers (I am calling them flappers) are the best of all 4. Time to think a lot!

 

[GAFarmGirl87]

Oh then Chewie is almost certainly a cockerel because he looks like this! I would hate to give him away because his foot feathers (I am calling them flappers) are the best of all 4. Time to think a lot!

Give it some time. Chewie might surprise you

 

[Housemom408]

Here's some pictures of mine. I think I have 4 maybe 5 hens and the rest are roosters.

 

[livininbrazil]

You didn't tell me how old these guys are. Partridge is really a type of penciling rather than lacing, that might be why you aren't getting what you are looking for. That is why the partridge X darks work so well, they are both penciled patterns. The lights are Columbian patterns. If Big Medicine joins our conversation, he can nail down what you are getting and why much more than I can. I would recommend playing with the chicken calculator if you are trying to work towards a particular color/pattern. You can find it by googling and then select the new chicken calculator from the bottom of the page. The new one has tabs that make it a little easier to get the right genetic makeup. Choose the male tab and take a gold with black and then select the partridge pattern. Same for the female, just pick blue instead of black. Then you can select the offspring to breed back to see what you would end up with on the punnet square and breed back to either mom or pop.

A lot of times the physical problems also come from improper placement in the egg before hatch. It is really impossible to tell why one would have some deformities and some others wouldn't. Interesting that your runt/dwarf has a leg/foot problem. That is one of the problems associated with dwarfism that is not bantam dwarfism. I'm still reading up on which types of dwarfism are passed from which parents. There is one type that is only passed to cockerels from their mother, that must be the type that I have since it seems like one out of each hatch had a runt/dwarf in it. I suspect that one of my pullets had the dwarfism gene. Hopefully, it isn't the only one that is left after the dog attack, but we'll find out when I get a cockerel old enough and brave enough to breed to her.

They´re babies, only 2 months and 5 months old, thereabouts. And I know about the penciling and lacing, but I don´t have much choice here, so I mess about with what I have. I already had a look at that colour calculator thing, but my partridge hen with her gold laced cock produced mostly black youngsters with red leakage, and a few buffs, males and females of both colours. Well, I couldn´t get the calculator to agree with what they actually produced, probably because they have goodness-knows-what in their background anyway. so, now it´s just mess about some more and see what comes.

I hope all goes well for you with your new breeding program.