Braggs Mountain Buffs

[Rock Home Isle]

Is there anybody here that has purchased the Braggs Mountain Buff? I know that there have been threads about them in the past, but these are old threads.

They make some pretty strong claims about their birds. If you have them I'd like to know your impressions of the bird. And what was your experience in ordering from the supplier?

http://www.braggsmountainpoultry.com/

 

[qball53]

Thanks Robert, we'll see how it goes. Diana likes them more than me, she likes the color a lot. Haven't given up on them yet. Here are a few pics taken today, it was windy so feathers may look funny.

 

[CathyInAquilla]

I have 13 Braggs Mountain Buffs that I bought from the man in Whitney, TX (near Waco) in September of 2014. He caged the hens and met me halfway, so I didn't get a look at his place, but the hens were in really rough shape when I got them. He said they were molting. I knew absolutely nothing about chickens except what little I had googled while building a coop and getting ready to get some chickens, and, unfortunately, I had let him know that. He said the chickens were under 2 years old, but I believe he sold me his older hens. At first they wouldn't roost or use the nesting boxes, and now they will roost, but only use the lower level nesting boxes. It took me several months to get them looking decent because the larger ones picked on the smaller ones, but they finally seem to have quit that for the most part. The most I've ever gotten out of them was 11 eggs in a day, but usually more like 7-8. For the last few months, they've only produced 2-3 eggs a day. The eggs are varying shades of brown, and they are large, often too large to fit in the egg carton, and they have a very firm, dark yellow yolk.


I'm not ready to give up on the breed yet. I got them because they are supposed to be good for meat and large eggs. Haven't tried the meat yet, but the eggs are great! I'd like to get a BMB rooster and hatch some chicks to see if I have better egg production out of younger hens, but, once again, I'll have to google it to find out how to do that. First I need to figure out which hens are laying and cull out some of the others.

I've read (on this site) that some people got BMB roosters that were infertile... So, any suggestions as to how I go about getting a Braggs Mountain Buff rooster that is fertile?

 

[ajazz2]

Thank yoi find one

 

[Blaineiac]

I remember seeing their adds in Small Farm Today mag (before it turned into basically a newspaper). I don't have any experience with them though. Those were some awesome stats on them though. Seemed a little pricey for me to try out. GoodLuck. Blaine

 

[Rock Home Isle]

That is where I first heard of them as well. I recieved that issue and it was more of a teaser article than anything else. It got me interested in the breed, but then there was no follow up information about breed performance and direct comparisons to the more common and notable breeds. When you go to the Braggs Mountain website...there is no supporting material about the breed, there is no information as to how the breed performs, no independant reviews....nothing. What I see is a very expensive bird that has no information to support that it has any re-deeming qualities.

I take it that the breed must be a mediocre breed that does not meet the advertised expectations.

 

[qball53]

Is there anybody here that has purchased the Braggs Mountain Buff? I know that there have been threads about them in the past, but these are old threads.

They make some pretty strong claims about their birds. If you have them I'd like to know your impressions of the bird. And what was your experience in ordering from the supplier?

http://www.braggsmountainpoultry.com/

We placed an order for 25 chicks over a year ago. There have been lots of excuses over an extended time. I know the drought here in Texas last summer caused problems for a lot of folks, so we have been patient. This weekend we finally made the 5 hour round trip to pick up some of these birds. My wife agreed to accept 14 pullets and a couple roosters instead of the chicks because he said he still didn't have enough chicks. Well when we got there the story changed again and he he let us pick 14 mature birds and 3 roosters. He said these birds were about 2 years old and laying good. My bet is that these birds are a good bit older than 2 !! Well we got our birds and brought them home, south of Houston. When these birds saw the food they ate ravinously until their crops looked like they had swallowed a softball. Thinking back on our visit we saw no feeders around and in fact did not see a source of water. His place was near Waco and it was esentially desert, lots of prickly pear and not much else. The birds are quite large but had very little meat on their bones. I believe when they fill out they are going to be REALLY heavy birds. We don't believe his birds received optimum care but if we get some viable eggs I think with a little culling we will be real happy with these birds. We trimed toenails, spurs and beaks when we put them in their new pen. A couple of the hens had significant spurs which we will cull to eliminate. They also had considerable sized combs, one or two would rival a rooster comb. My wife checked their vents and is convinced they are hens. We plan to cull for color, (dark mustard), bird size, egg size and comb. The wife thinks she likes the bigger combs on the hens since it ist different from other breeds. If folks are still reading this thread we post more as we get familiar with these birds.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

We placed an order for 25 chicks over a year ago. There have been lots of excuses over an extended time. I know the drought here in Texas last summer caused problems for a lot of folks, so we have been patient. This weekend we finally made the 5 hour round trip to pick up some of these birds. My wife agreed to accept 14 pullets and a couple roosters instead of the chicks because he said he still didn't have enough chicks. Well when we got there the story changed again and he he let us pick 14 mature birds and 3 roosters. He said these birds were about 2 years old and laying good. My bet is that these birds are a good bit older than 2 !! Well we got our birds and brought them home, south of Houston. When these birds saw the food they ate ravinously until their crops looked like they had swallowed a softball. Thinking back on our visit we saw no feeders around and in fact did not see a source of water. His place was near Waco and it was esentially desert, lots of prickly pear and not much else. The birds are quite large but had very little meat on their bones. I believe when they fill out they are going to be REALLY heavy birds. We don't believe his birds received optimum care but if we get some viable eggs I think with a little culling we will be real happy with these birds. We trimed toenails, spurs and beaks when we put them in their new pen. A couple of the hens had significant spurs which we will cull to eliminate. They also had considerable sized combs, one or two would rival a rooster comb. My wife checked their vents and is convinced they are hens. We plan to cull for color, (dark mustard), bird size, egg size and comb. The wife thinks she likes the bigger combs on the hens since it ist different from other breeds. If folks are still reading this thread we post more as we get familiar with these birds.

This is an awesome post and is exactly what I was hoping to get as a reply. Thank you so much for posting this information. Please keep us updated as to your further experiences with the Braggs Mountain Buff.

If at all possible photos would be helpful as well.

I'm very interested in the breed and would like to know as much about them as possible.

 

[draye]

We placed an order for 25 chicks over a year ago. There have been lots of excuses over an extended time. I know the drought here in Texas last summer caused problems for a lot of folks, so we have been patient. This weekend we finally made the 5 hour round trip to pick up some of these birds. My wife agreed to accept 14 pullets and a couple roosters instead of the chicks because he said he still didn't have enough chicks. Well when we got there the story changed again and he he let us pick 14 mature birds and 3 roosters. He said these birds were about 2 years old and laying good. My bet is that these birds are a good bit older than 2 !! Well we got our birds and brought them home, south of Houston. When these birds saw the food they ate ravinously until their crops looked like they had swallowed a softball. Thinking back on our visit we saw no feeders around and in fact did not see a source of water. His place was near Waco and it was esentially desert, lots of prickly pear and not much else. The birds are quite large but had very little meat on their bones. I believe when they fill out they are going to be REALLY heavy birds. We don't believe his birds received optimum care but if we get some viable eggs I think with a little culling we will be real happy with these birds. We trimed toenails, spurs and beaks when we put them in their new pen. A couple of the hens had significant spurs which we will cull to eliminate. They also had considerable sized combs, one or two would rival a rooster comb. My wife checked their vents and is convinced they are hens. We plan to cull for color, (dark mustard), bird size, egg size and comb. The wife thinks she likes the bigger combs on the hens since it ist different from other breeds. If folks are still reading this thread we post more as we get familiar with these birds.

Did these come from the main source or from someone else that was breeding them?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

That is a good question. I assumed that they way that the post was worded that the chickens came from the primary source. Clarification as to the source would be nice.