Backyard Brahmas!!

[SD Bird Lady]

@Violetsfeathers
Thank you, I've always been curious.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

@Violetsfeathers
Thank you, I've always been curious.

Your welcome I took a pic of them too

There's a brahma pullet, Pumpkin, and Speckles all lined up. Speckles is a standard size hen

 

[sroy]

This is my Pumpkin, I got him straight run hoping he was a girl, was so sad when I found out he was a boy. But he's a good roo, never attacks anyone (unlike a silver spangled Hamburg we had) I love him.

My Pumpkin ended up being a cockerel too.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

It's not so bad as long as they don't attack poeple it's good to have a roo if you have free range hens.
And now that I've got pullets they can have pure babies!

 

[sroy]

I just see so many poor little hens with naked backs from the roosters. I don't want that to happen to my little girls. Hopefully he'll be a perfect gentleman in every way.

 

[Blooie]

I need bigger nest boxes for my Brahma Babes.......anyone have a set of plans for a covered aircraft carrier???

 

[Violetsfeathers]

I just see so many poor little hens with naked backs from the roosters. I don't want that to happen to my little girls. Hopefully he'll be a perfect gentleman in every way.

My Pumpkin had two hens but the one hen picked on the other, who's name is muffin, so we separated her and now muffin has ripped up feathers (all the time, I wonder if she picks her own feathers) anyway, Pumpkin has had one hen for a long time, until we got him chicks. The hen did get a tiny bare spot on her back but it wasn't bad. And Muffin is just a mean old grouch that pick on the chicks and is terrified of everything else except Marshmallow (they're buds)
I said too much. I'm sure your Pumpkin will be just fine

 

[newmarch2014]

I need bigger nest boxes for my Brahma Babes.......anyone have a set of plans for a covered aircraft carrier???

Blooie, were yours hatchery or breeder? North is not anywhere near ready to lay yet and I know will keep growing but she is not nearly as impressive in size as I was thinking she would be. Maybe the rooster is skewing my perception because he is absolutely gigantic, literally twice as big as she is. She is only as big as my last years Buff Orp...though she is my biggest bird till the Brahmas came along and North is only now 23 weeks old.......trying to gauge the differences in the breeds and know what is "normal" at all the different ages and growth rates is a challenge.

 

[newmarch2014]

I just see so many poor little hens with naked backs from the roosters. I don't want that to happen to my little girls. Hopefully he'll be a perfect gentleman in every way.

My Light Brahma is a bumbling teenager and though he is not mean and is understandably learning the ropes, he uses the top of one of the BO's heads as a handle and has given her a big awful bruise on her head and taken all her feathers off the top of her head trying to balance himself since he is huge and she is regular size.

. She is my favorite hen and the only one with this problem so he is not on my happy list. I have rigged up a partition that will allow all the girls to get to 1/2 the run but is too small for him to get through so they can spend some roosterless time. She will have to make it past him in the morning and to get to the nest box but this is the best I can do for now short of sending him off to the stew pot. If it makes him get louder being separated he will still be off to the stew pot anyway but we will give it a go.

 

[Blooie]

Blooie, were yours hatchery or breeder? North is not anywhere near ready to lay yet and I know will keep growing but she is not nearly as impressive in size as I was thinking she would be. Maybe the rooster is skewing my perception because he is absolutely gigantic, literally twice as big as she is. She is only as big as my last years Buff Orp...though she is my biggest bird till the Brahmas came along and North is only now 23 weeks old.......trying to gauge the differences in the breeds and know what is "normal" at all the different ages and growth rates is a challenge.

They were hatchery but they are wayyyy bigger than anything else out in the coop - out of the year and half old girls out there the RSLinks are dinky but prolific, the Marans and Easter Eggers are medium, and the Buff Orpington is big. On the other hand, the Light Brahmas are HUGEONIC! I have those plastic nest boxes hanging in the coop and they squeeze into them, but I can guarantee that if there was an egg in there before they decided to climb in it's most likely broken. I have 4 of them, and they are 24 weeks. One of them has been laying for the last 9 days, another started 4 days ago, and a 3rd one laid her first yesterday. One left to go. It's a little early from what I've been reading, but there is no doubt that those eggs were laid by them. I also have 8 Buff Brahmas that are 19 weeks old, and they aren't as giant as the Lights, but they are still pretty doggone big. So I need to get creative here and figure out a better nesting system for them.