Brahma Breeders thread

[Sunshine0235]

Lets see that was back in February, I think I got 7 from you. Yeah just looked it up, 7 eggs arrived, 4 made it to lockdown, and then 2 of those hatched. Of the two that didnt hatch that made it to lockdown, one pipped, and the other didnt do a thing. The other one that hatched with it had foot problems and died at about 6-7 weeks old, its foot was all twisted up funny, and despite me trying to put boots on, it just didnt survive, which is fine, couldnt have used it anyways, and I hate culling them, rather sell them as pets, or laying hens, but that was a little cockerel too.

I must have been lucky with the Shamrock farms guys then, all my chicks hatched pure colors, GL and the one BL.

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

Ok, yes, I remember you told me this I think when we wrote back & forth. I hate to hear that. I always like customers to at least get a few good ones. Sometimes I have people pay for shipping & send more eggs. I love this breed & want others to enjoy them as well. I usually recommend buying more eggs because my chicken math is this (which is not always on point-sometimes better, sometimes worse): If you buy 12 eggs, 6 will hatch, of those 6 at least 3 will be cockerels (if not more). So you will have 3 cockerels & 3 pullets, more or less. lol Did you get chicks or eggs from shamrock? Glad you go pure colors. It just threw me off when he told me that. How can you get pure colors when you mix them?? Am I missing something?? I'm not expert by any means though. I just try to keep close to the SOP, except with regards to color. I love crazy colors. I'm actually starting to work on one now. Hope it works.

 

[Sunshine0235]

Egg from him. And you did offer more eggs, which i was grateful for, but the PO smashed them. Only one made it intact, and it didnt develop, which was no surprise to me with how the others looked.

But yeah i dont understand mixing the colors up either. Which is why im in the process of dividing up coops. Im planning on 7(possibly 8), and I currently have 6 made, so we will see. Only brahmas that I'm going to have are the GL, and I finally get to start on my speckled brahma project. I have have 4 light pullets, and 4 buff pullets, and a speckled sussex over them. Just got my first egg from them 4 days ago, but i probably wont be hatching from them until late this year, maybe Nov-Dec to try to get offspring laying early next year, Im hoping to do a rotation between 1 and 2 generations a year at first, and slow down one i get closer so I can growout to get closer to the standard.

But brahmas are one of my favorite breeds, along with polish.
I was hoping to pick up a good buff brahma cockerel at Ohio Nationals this year, but with that cancelled this year, I might have to get one shipped in next year to put over the second generation.

 

[Lemac]

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!

You have alot experience of Brahma .
Could you sell hatching egg of this breed ?
I hope a giant chicken with lemon pyle or blue buft or blue patridge colour

 

[bumpercarr]

You have alot experience of Brahma .
Could you sell hatching egg of this breed ?
I hope a giant chicken with lemon pyle or blue buft or blue patridge colour

I'm sorry, I don't sell eggs or chicks.

 

[big medicine]

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

I wouldn't blame the breeder too much, or at least too loudly. You will come to find that you can put two perfectly marked birds in a breeding pen and produce chicks all over the spectrum (especially when mixing bloodlines). After breeding only from the nearest to perfection for several generations you will reduce the number of these "flyers", but be prepared to be surprised often enough to keep it interesting. This is one of the main reasons most old time breeders will not sell eggs, or chicks. They want to be right sure none of these anomalies get out into the world with their name associated with it. Rest assured they still produce them, but they make sure they are not among their show, breeder, or sale pens, at least not the sale pens they take to shows.

With my projects over the years I have produced some lovely specimens that were no where near what I was shooting for. These perfectly healthy birds were destined to be back yard layers and freezer bait. I have, and still sell some hatching eggs occasionally, but then I don't have a show breeder reputation to protect.

 

[big medicine]

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.

Again concerned with wing carry on the gold laced.

The first cockerel looks to potentially very nicely laced, will have to see how he develops.

The second cockerel may be carrying some sort of gold inhibiter/buff coloring.

The white wing feathers may be an issue down the road, but I wouldn't let it sway me much at this point, especially if you are shooting for speckled bird.

The buff laced wings look better, the hocks concern me though.

 

[Clayton 1974]

A few pictures of my Dark Brahmas at 13 weeks old.

 

[hensanity]

I wouldn't blame the breeder too much, or at least too loudly.  You will come to find that you can put two perfectly marked birds in a breeding pen and produce chicks all over the spectrum (especially when mixing bloodlines). After breeding only from the nearest to perfection for several generations you will reduce the number of these "flyers", but be prepared to be surprised often enough to keep it interesting.  This is one of the main reasons most old time breeders will not sell eggs, or chicks. They want to be right sure none of these anomalies get out into the world with their name associated with it.  Rest assured they still produce them, but they make sure they are not among their show, breeder, or sale pens, at least not the sale pens they take to shows. 

With my projects over the years I have produced some lovely specimens that were no where near what I was shooting for. These  perfectly healthy birds were destined to be back yard layers and freezer bait.  I have, and still sell some hatching eggs occasionally, but then I don't have a show breeder reputation to protect.

Good to know, all of her other birds were amazing quality so maybe it was just a throwback! I will definitely keep this advice in mind from now on!

 

[DesertBrahma]

Is it normal after separating pullets from the cockerels for the dominant cockerel to try and break the pullets out of "jail" and the pullets to try and get back to the cockerels, and keep beating the poor new pullets up? I'm trying to get the pullets to form a flock. After they have a good bond going I'm going to put my biggest, and best looking cockerel in with them. The other 2 are slated for the freezer. My 2 pullets that are the same age as the cockerels are walking the fence, and trying to get back out to the cockerels. My dominant cockerel is constantly trying to get them out, or running over to the fence if any of the 4 pullets make a sound. I know there will be a bit of "fighting" among the girls at first to decide the pecking order. My original 5 chickens are 5 months old. The 2 new pullets are 4 to 5 months old. I have 2 feeders and water containers in the coop and run for the girls so everyone can get to them. I'm trying to distract them from being too violent by scattering some sunflower seeds and other goodies when it's cooler out. What else can I do to make it a little easier for the new girls to be accepted? Also without the girls with the boys they are now doing a bit of shuffling with each other. I know I changed the flock dynamic when I removed the 2 girls. I also know I changed it when I added the 2 new girls. I want them to be happy and comfortable with each other and me. Also my 2nd to biggest cockerel occasionally tries to have a go at me. Yes he's going in the freezer. He's not exhibiting the correct behavior to stay with my girls, and have my 2 children around. I have this breed because they are supposed to be calm and gentle with everyone including children. All of my chickens are Dark Brahma with 1 having a possible lavender strain in her. I've started all of them on the Nutrena Feather Fixer 18% because it gets so hot here in NM that bumpercarr suggested. I also put frozen water bottles in their water containers when it's hot out. I'm freezing some fruits and vegetables in bowls of water as a kind of popsicle treat to also keep them cooler. Is there any other way to try and divert any bad aggression, and just have their regular pecking order scuffle?