Brahma Breeders thread

[hensanity]

Ok, so I've read through the entire Brahma thread, the old and this one! May I say wow and thank you to those who consistently share their expert advice and opinions?! Y'all are awesome!! I'm learning everything I can about my Brahmas, as I want to ensure that I'm breeding to standard. I don't show, but I firmly feel that we should be trying our hardest to keep the breeds true. I've gotten other breeds that were supposed to be "pure" and weren't due in large part to the seller not knowing any better. I refuse to be that person lol. On that note, I would really like to know if I'm on the right track with my cockerel, please be brutally honest as I sincerely wish to learn and know if I'm doing good or not.
This is one of my 5 month old cockerels, he is the one I think is best of this batch.

This one is an 8 month old cockerel that I was beginning to get very pleased about but then I noticed his comb was wrong. As he grew it began looking more and more like a rosecomb?

Same cockerel in the back, showing off his tail. His brother is in front and has a nice comb, but I just don't feel like he has quite as nice a build?

The brother cockerel again

Thank you in advance for any critique!
Val

 

[Lemac]

Ok, so I've read through the entire Brahma thread, the old and this one! May I say wow and thank you to those who consistently share their expert advice and opinions?! Y'all are awesome!! I'm learning everything I can about my Brahmas, as I want to ensure that I'm breeding to standard. I don't show, but I firmly feel that we should be trying our hardest to keep the breeds true. I've gotten other breeds that were supposed to be "pure" and weren't due in large part to the seller not knowing any better. I refuse to be that person lol. On that note, I would really like to know if I'm on the right track with my cockerel, please be brutally honest as I sincerely wish to learn and know if I'm doing good or not.
This is one of my 5 month old cockerels, he is the one I think is best of this batch.










This one is an 8 month old cockerel that I was beginning to get very pleased about but then I noticed his comb was wrong. As he grew it began looking more and more like a rosecomb?

Same cockerel in the back, showing off his tail. His brother is in front and has a nice comb, but I just don't feel like he has quite as nice a build?

The brother cockerel again


Thank you in advance for any critique!
Val

5 month old cockerels very nice , could you estimate his weight ?

 

[bumpercarr]

Ok, so I've read through the entire Brahma thread, the old and this one! May I say wow and thank you to those who consistently share their expert advice and opinions?! Y'all are awesome!! I'm learning everything I can about my Brahmas, as I want to ensure that I'm breeding to standard. I don't show, but I firmly feel that we should be trying our hardest to keep the breeds true. I've gotten other breeds that were supposed to be "pure" and weren't due in large part to the seller not knowing any better. I refuse to be that person lol. On that note, I would really like to know if I'm on the right track with my cockerel, please be brutally honest as I sincerely wish to learn and know if I'm doing good or not.
This is one of my 5 month old cockerels, he is the one I think is best of this batch.










This one is an 8 month old cockerel that I was beginning to get very pleased about but then I noticed his comb was wrong. As he grew it began looking more and more like a rosecomb?

Same cockerel in the back, showing off his tail. His brother is in front and has a nice comb, but I just don't feel like he has quite as nice a build?

The brother cockerel again


Thank you in advance for any critique!
Val

I don't know how brutally honest I can be, but I can tell you what I look for. I'm talking here about what I will breed, not what I'm going to show. First and foremost I look for size. If they don't have the size, I won't breed them. Second, the head. At this age it is somewhat difficult to tell how the head is going to turn out, I'm usually looking for the head to be fully developed by 1 year old. In the males, I prefer three finger width, anything less than two fingers wide is unacceptable (and of course the beetle brow). The third thing that I am concerned about, particularly in the partridge variety, is back width. The back should be wide, and stay wide all of the way through the saddle to the tail. This is where most of my partridge cockerels fail, they are more heart shaped, narrowing at the hips so to speak. If they don't pass those three tests, I don't breed them. To tell you how difficult those tests are, out of 9 very well bred partridge cockerels that I have, only two have passed those tests at 6 months old. Some of them may improve before the decision date (probably November-December timeframe). Then, I choose the one that passed those tests and has the best comb, wing carriage and the best tail carriage. That is of course that all the other requirements are there, yellow legs & feathered feet. I try to keep a back up, just incase disaster strikes.

I can't really tell anything from pictures, so I'm not much help to you. But maybe the guidelines that I use will help you out. Good luck!

 

[big medicine]

A few things that catch my eye.

Obviously the vulture hocks, but being in the UK it is allowed there.

Cockerel number one. I am concerned with the primary and secondary wing feathers. They do not look like they lay tight and proper.

Cockerel number two unfortunately looks to have the best tail spread of the three.

As I don't breed Partridge I would need to get my standard out to refresh my memory as to what is the desired wing color is. You appear to have some birds with solid black secondary wing feathers, and others with gold.

 

[bumpercarr]

A few things that catch my eye.

Obviously the vulture hocks, but being in the UK it is allowed there.

Cockerel number one. I am concerned with the primary and secondary wing feathers. They do not look like they lay tight and proper.

Cockerel number two unfortunately looks to have the best tail spread of the three.

As I don't breed Partridge I would need to get my standard out to refresh my memory as to what is the desired wing color is. You appear to have some birds with solid black secondary wing feathers, and others with gold.

Partridge wing color - this is for rocks but the colors are the same, partridge is down towards the bottom of the page: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Rocks/BRKRocks.html

WINGS: Shoulders & Fronts black. Bows medium shade of rich brilliant red. Coverts lustrous greenish black, forming a well defined bar when wing is folded. Primaries black, lower edges of lower feathers, reddish bay, shafts black. Secondaries black, exposed portion of outer web forming wing bay, reddish bay; shafts, black.

 

[hensanity]

5 month old cockerels very nice , could you estimate his weight ?

Thank you, I have big hopes for this one! He only weighs about 3 kilos atm, but from our experience our Brahmas seem to really start putting on the weight about 7-8 months, so hopefully he'll fill out in a few months.

I don't know how brutally honest I can be, but I can tell you what I look for.  I'm talking here about what I will breed, not what I'm going to show.  First and foremost I look for size.  If they don't have the size, I won't breed them.  Second, the head.  At this age it is somewhat difficult to tell how the head is going to turn out, I'm usually looking for the head to be fully developed by 1 year old.  In the males, I prefer three finger width, anything less than two fingers wide is unacceptable (and of course the beetle brow).  The third thing that I am concerned about, particularly in the partridge variety, is back width.  The back should be wide, and stay wide all of the way through the saddle to the tail.  This is where most of my partridge cockerels fail, they are more heart shaped, narrowing at the hips so to speak.  If they don't pass those three tests, I don't breed them.  To tell you how difficult those tests are, out of 9 very well bred partridge cockerels that I have, only two have passed those tests at 6 months old.  Some of them may improve before the decision date (probably November-December timeframe).  Then, I choose the one that passed those tests and has the best comb, wing carriage and the best tail carriage.  That is of course that all the other requirements are there, yellow legs & feathered feet.  I try to keep a back up, just incase disaster strikes.

I can't really tell anything from pictures, so I'm not much help to you.  But maybe the guidelines that I use will help you out.  Good luck!

That is great advice, thank you!

A few things that catch my eye.
  
Obviously the vulture hocks, but being in the UK it is allowed there.

Cockerel number one. I am concerned with the primary and secondary wing feathers. They do not look like they lay tight and proper.

Cockerel number two unfortunately looks to have the best tail spread of the three.

As I don't breed Partridge I would need to get my standard out to refresh my memory as to what is the desired wing color is. You appear to have some birds with solid black secondary wing feathers, and others with gold.  

I'm hoping that the wing issue is down to his molting atm, but I will definitely keep an eye on it! From the info bumpercarr shared it looks like the 8 month old has another major fault. I went and looked at the 5 month old wings and they are black with a fine edge of rust towards the bottom outer edge. The 8 month old was from a supposed reputable breeder, ugh, which is why my husband and I insist on breeding ours properly! Thank you for your critique!

Partridge wing color - this is for rocks but the colors are the same, partridge is down towards the bottom of the page:  [COLOR=0066CC]http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Rocks/BRKRocks.html[/COLOR]

WINGS: Shoulders & Fronts black. Bows medium shade of rich brilliant red. Coverts lustrous greenish black, forming a well defined bar when wing is folded. Primaries black, lower edges of lower feathers, reddish bay, shafts black. Secondaries black, exposed portion of outer web forming wing bay, reddish bay; shafts, black.

Thank you for that, I'm still having trouble finding a copy of the British standards. You are so helpful!

 

[Sunshine0235]

Just curious on thoughts for these guys. These two guys are unrelated to the pullets I have, each cockerel is from a different breeder, and the pullets are from a separate breeder from thoses two breeders. I know its still early for real critique, but just looking for initial thoughts. The older of the two is this one, 25 weeks, just over 6 months. I know he still hasnt grown in his tail feathers, which is kind of annoying, and has some white feathers, but i want type first, the pullets I have, have nice lacing, and no white.





This is the second cockerel I have, he is 20 weeks, and no tail feathers either. Tried to get a picture from the back, but he didnt like me getting behind him.







Heres the two of them together. Not the greatest picture, but..

Pullets are still too young for confirmation pictures, they are in the background of some of these, and are about 7-8 weeks old I think. I can get other pictures of them if needed, just let me know if a specific shot is needed.

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

Just curious on thoughts for these guys. These two guys are unrelated to the pullets I have, each cockerel is from a different breeder, and the pullets are from a separate breeder from thoses two breeders. I know its still early for real critique, but just looking for initial thoughts. The older of the two is this one, 25 weeks, just over 6 months. I know he still hasnt grown in his tail feathers, which is kind of annoying, and has some white feathers, but i want type first, the pullets I have, have nice lacing, and no white.





This is the second cockerel I have, he is 20 weeks, and no tail feathers either. Tried to get a picture from the back, but he didnt like me getting behind him.







Heres the two of them together. Not the greatest picture, but..

Pullets are still too young for confirmation pictures, they are in the background of some of these, and are about 7-8 weeks old I think. I can get other pictures of them if needed, just let me know if a specific shot is needed.

My Gold Laced Brahma cockerels tail feathers did the same thing. Took FOREVER to grow in-looked like their butts were plucked! I'm no 'eggs'pert lol but the top one seems to have better lacing. Conformation is a little harder to tell since they're still so young. I love the type on my Gold Laced. Their lacing could be a little better, but I think they hold to the standard pretty well in the looks department. I'm sure an expert will chime in for you. They both look cute, nonetheless.

 

[Sunshine0235]

Yeah, the younger one is from eggs I hatched from you, the older is from Barking Chickens Farm. I have a pullet from Shamrock Farms in WI, and a buff laced from there too, and another 7 GL chicks that are about the 6-7 weeks from Carolina rare chicks. I just wish they would grow up already so I can see what I have to work with.

My favorite is probably my buff laced.

Yet again lacking a tail, but I like her.

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

I like the buff laced too but haven't found anyone that has them that look nice. You say the younger one is from me? I thought I recognized your name. I have never had any with that little bit of lacing. hhmmm Some kind of throw back. Maybe he will lace out better when he gets bigger. Not sure about the white on the older one. None of mine had white, ever. It's funny because I think Barking chickens farm got their Gold Laced from the same person I got mine from. The only thing I didn't like about Shamrock Farm is that when I talked to the owner, he said he runs all his colors together. I don't see how that can breed a true color on any chicken. I keep all my colors separated. How many of the eggs that you got from me hatched? I'm always curious to know. I have had varied success with hatching eggs myself, whereas my hatch rates from my birds have been excellent.