Backyard Brahmas!!

[SD Bird Lady]

Broody chicken????

Have your Brahmas ever gone broody? I was just wondering how many eggs they had "saved" before they sat or if they were crazy birds that sat on an empty nest.

I have been leaving eggs in the nest for a week and a half (8 eggs) but am trying to decide if my efforts are futile & I am just wasting good eggs or if she is thinking about it & just doesn't have enough.

if I leave her in the coop/run she sits on the eggs on & off all day but if she can free range she is gone until she needs to lay and then she is gone again. So should i leave her "cooped up" and see what happens or just forget about it.

 

[Huntress78]

My first ever broody Brahma...She is the ugliest bird in the flock, both in looks and temperament, but I'm hoping she'll be a good mom. She has such a vile personality (I call her the Green Meannie) that I took her eggs away and replaced them with others. She's only 10 months old so new at this nesting thing...she comes off the nest for about 15 minutes every day and one day she went back to the wrong nest. I moved her back to the right one but don't know how long the eggs were without her. I'll candle in the next day or so to check.

Bird Lady, this one was always on the nest at the end of the day when I closed the coop and collected eggs. I took hers away for 4 days then gave her 4 other eggs to set. She has always growled at me when I get near the nest boxes so it took me a couple days to realize she was broody. I've never had luck cooping them up to make a broody and I always take out all the eggs each day, so I don't know if it will work to leave them or not. Up till she went broody I left the golf balls in the nests that I put there when they started laying...maybe that had something to do with it. Good luck...let us know if you get one too.

 

[Vickis Girls]

Huntress, I don't know if you were trying to be funny, but the story about "Green Meanie" and her vile personality, omg! I laughed so hard!

 

[Huntress78]

Vickis Girls it's true and I have the scars to prove it!

She has drawn blood from me more than once and I even got a bruise through an insulated leather glove...my boyfriend suggested I wear welding gloves.

Funny part is she's just a little thing, maybe 5 pounds, but boy can she pack a wallop!
Her name comes from her attitude and her green leg band.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

My first ever broody Brahma...She is the ugliest bird in the flock, both in looks and temperament, but I'm hoping she'll be a good mom. She has such a vile personality (I call her the Green Meannie) that I took her eggs away and replaced them with others. She's only 10 months old so new at this nesting thing...she comes off the nest for about 15 minutes every day and one day she went back to the wrong nest. I moved her back to the right one but don't know how long the eggs were without her. I'll candle in the next day or so to check.

Bird Lady, this one was always on the nest at the end of the day when I closed the coop and collected eggs. I took hers away for 4 days then gave her 4 other eggs to set. She has always growled at me when I get near the nest boxes so it took me a couple days to realize she was broody. I've never had luck cooping them up to make a broody and I always take out all the eggs each day, so I don't know if it will work to leave them or not. Up till she went broody I left the golf balls in the nests that I put there when they started laying...maybe that had something to do with it. Good luck...let us know if you get one too.

Thanks for the advice. I decided that if she isn't interested in setting once there are 10 eggs then I am calling it quits. Just to clarify when I say cooping up I just meant not allowing her to free range. She still has a pretty good area to roam just not the whole 10 acres haha

I just got my e-mail from Cackle, my new babies will hatch 5/20/2013..........

 

[crazycluck86]

HELP! My pullets turning into a roo!!! Or is it just me??? The chick at the top looks like a pullet, but the bottom chick has a longer tail and its head is more silvery. Any ideas?

 

[Sjisty]

No worries, it's still a pullet. It's a dark Brahma, right? This is what "he" would look like. Not much lacing and a white band over his shoulders.

 

[crazycluck86]

Pheeew!!! I hope so- This is a pic of 'its' father....it does look quite different to its sister, but I see what you mean about the lacing. 'It' also has solid black feathering underneath.....its a heshe lol!

 

[Vickis Girls]

Huntress, I haven't been around a broody hen before, and am curious if Green Meanie is nice the rest of the time, or is she always so vile? I'm getting chicks soon for my granddaughters, and am hoping this is not a common trait the rest of the time. I don't blame you for saying she's the ugliest, her personality is sure making her look that way now.

 

[Huntress78]

Vickis Girls, all the dark pullets I bought last year were 'mean'. From day one they would attack my hand every time I put it in the brooder. Now I say 'mean' but they may have been scared. They have never lost that 'in your face' attitude as they are the first to run up to me demanding food/treats and if they don't get it they'll just peck my shoes or pant legs to show their displeasure. They all growl and peck hard if I try to take an egg out of the nest while they are in there....even the ones that aren't broody. The lights I got from the same hatchery are just the opposite....calm and sweet. However, I do not cuddle my birds. My rooster respects me and I respect him by leaving his girls alone. If these dark hens had been handled from young on they may not have developed the bad attitude. Also I have heard from others that their darks are sweet birds....maybe I just got a bad batch.