Are Brahmas (sp??) meat birds?

[Mommysongbird]

I seen my very first Brahmas today and OMG, they are HUGE birds. These guy (all roosters) were on 5 months old and they were huge!!! They made my six month old barnyard mix EE x leg horn x ??? look like pee ants.

A guy I know was selling them at a church yard sale for $5.00 each and sold all five of them, so I am sure someone got a really good deal, but are they cosidered a meat bird? I would think as big as they are. Just wondering?

 

[Noymira]

I know of several people working with them for meat- they do get big, fast!

 

[LilyD]

They are good meaties. They have a great breast on them and grow well. They don't get fully grown until around a year of age but they are very nice by 18 weeks about 7 pounds or so.

 

[Noymira]

Quote:
I was hoping someone from Bristol would jump in!

I know there are two of you down there working with Brahmas.

 

[LilyD]

Mine are still pretty young only 11weeks but they already outweigh most of my other birds. I have 5 more girls just hatched in my brooder now and I a just waiting for them to start laying. They are very impressive.

 

[Illia]

Again, it varies on strain as I always say.


My hatchery girls are hardly bigger than the rest of my hatchery hens, however my non-hatchery Blue Partridge girl? Oh yeah, she could be a meat bird!

She's already the 2nd biggest chicken in my whole flock and only a continuously growing 7 month old pullet. (the biggest is pretty darn big. . . )



Brahmas are in fact slow growers, but getting the right stock still gets you a bigger bird at 6 months than most other breeds and their strains. Remember, the standard asks for a HEN of 9 lbs.

 

[rjchicks]

Well Brahmas are considered a dual purpose breed which means they can be used for meat eggs and ornamental. I have two brahmas, one rooster and one hen. My rooster is huge he is atleast 10 pounds and I love them both and could never eat either but they are really great birds and got tons of meat on them.

 

[LilyD]

I took some pictures of the young brahmas I have. Keep in mind they are only 11 weeks old right now but they are larger than my 6 month old chickens. They have meaty breasts and really look good.

Some I will keep others will be dinner.

One of the girls

They eat very little and lounge most of the day close to the coop. They do have access to a large area they can go to eat bugs and forage but they will eat a bit and go nap. They are like the lounge chickens of the chicken world. But boy are they big. Loving them so far.

 

[AV Brahmas]

Not around here! Cornish Rocks are way better at converting feed to meat. Around here a Brahma is a show bird first. After showing they are breeders/egg producers. Not the longest living bird probably due to size. We lose them after 5 years or so. That allows for them to stay on here in retirement as we never get overpopulated. I get fond of them after a few years of breeding/showing...what can I say?

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
I disagree the Cornish Rock is not better at feed conversion. The reason I can say that is that if you keep track of the amount that a CornishX eats in 8 weeks and how much a Brahma eats in 6 months you will find that they still go through the same amount of food. I was going through a 50 pound bag of food each week for feeding 50 Cornish X and that is with having them do 12 hours with feed and 12 hours without which is what is recommended. For 50 egg layers (I have Brahmas, Cochins, Delawares, Comets, Buff Orpingtons, and Easter Eggers) I am going through a 50 pound bag about once every month because they spend most of their daylight hours outside foraging and finding their own food rather than eating the pelleted feed. I think my resident squirrel is eating more than all my chickens lol. Yes the Brahma grows slower but uses pretty much the same amount of food as the Cornish X by the time they are ready to process at 6 months if you process at 18 weeks or 12 weeks even better because they will have used less.

Plus not only to the Cornish X eat more but they have a higher mortality rate due to growing problems such as broken legs, heart troubles ascites, and stress due to heat and shipping. All those losses have to be taken into account as well.

My personal preference but I would go with a Brahma over a Cornish X any day. Just my opinion no harm or meanness intended.