Backyard Brahmas!!

[bumpercarr]

It looks like my 9 month old pullet has decided to go broody. She's hidden herself in a corner of the coop and has that evil stare. Two bad things, we are currently over 100 degrees every day for the next week and I'm worried about her health in these conditions. Second, I don't have a single fertile egg to put under her. So, I'll watch her through today and see if she stays broody. If so, I'll need to set up some sort of cooling for the coop - I can't even imagine how hot it gets in there during the day. Second, I need to find some good LF dark brahma eggs to put under her.

Just when you think everything is running smoothly...........

 

[kirbyekitchen]

I just finished catching up on about 10 pages of this thread... I got super behind since my boys are now out of school and life has become pure insanity.

Lots of sweet stuff happening! I can't wait to see how The Colonel's hatch turns out! Here are a couple pics of my flock during snack time this morning. They LOVE blueberries.

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[kirbyekitchen]

And some more:

 

[bumpercarr]

Since I posted pics of the 2 week olds, thought I should post some pics of the 5 week old partridges. They are a little harder to get to pose, and it is too hot to catch them to pose them away from the crowd.

Pullet



Two cockerels



Cockerel to the left, pullet in the middle and the 13 week old pullet didn't want to be left out.


Two cockerels



All three of these guys are cockerels, but the one in the middle is 8 weeks old instead of 5. Couldn't get him out of the way!



Three cockerels and a pullet (second from right). The two bigger cockerels are 8 weeks old, the smaller one on the right was the runt of the hatch, he won't be for breeding.



Cockerel and pullet

 

[Huntress78]

Kirbyekitchen, blueberries wow! Those are some lucky chooks....I don't even buy blueberries for myself.


Bumpercarr, those are 'blue' Partridge? I don't have any of those...only the 'gold'. I wonder if mine will look similar though.
I like the pair in the last pic.

 

[bumpercarr]

Kirbyekitchen, blueberries wow! Those are some lucky chooks....I don't even buy blueberries for myself.


Bumpercarr, those are 'blue' Partridge? I don't have any of those...only the 'gold'. I wonder if mine will look similar though.
I like the pair in the last pic.

Yes, I have blue and gold. You have to have one of each or both blue in order to get the blue. I don't breed blue to blue because I'm not interested in the splash that 1/2 of them would be. With the gold/blue breeding I get (about) 1/2 gold and 1/2 blue. Too bad you are so far away, I'd be happy to get a blue cockerel to you! I don't think I'll be using one of them for breeding this year.

 

[bumpercarr]

Kirbyekitchen, blueberries wow! Those are some lucky chooks....I don't even buy blueberries for myself.


Bumpercarr, those are 'blue' Partridge? I don't have any of those...only the 'gold'. I wonder if mine will look similar though.
I like the pair in the last pic.

Oh, and they are in their really ugly stage right now. I don't even like to take picture them from about 3 weeks to 3 months. I'm trying to get some taken for historical purposes, so that I know better what I'm looking at....I can compare to other hatches.

 

[bumpercarr]

Kirbyekitchen, blueberries wow! Those are some lucky chooks....I don't even buy blueberries for myself.


Bumpercarr, those are 'blue' Partridge? I don't have any of those...only the 'gold'. I wonder if mine will look similar though.
I like the pair in the last pic.

One more thing, out of all of these, I think the two pullets are gold and three of the cockerels are gold. I think I only have one blue cockerel, but it is a little early to tell yet for sure. I'll be able to tell better in about 3 weeks.

 

[OneLostHen]

Brahmas!! I love my Blanca girl. She was my first hen! I will always love her the most. Not to mention she is the sweetest! She will greet me very day when I get home from work. And hollers at me till I pick her up and carry her around for a while.
My big diva girl!

 

[Katt66]

Remember to keep turning them.  Keeping fingers crossed for you.

Also, there are many articles about allowing eggs to cool for a little while every day (simulating the broody getting up and eating/pooping).  You might want to google some of those articles and see if you want to incorporate that into your routine.  My understanding is that it increases the hatch rate....also, it is why brinsea incubators are so popular (and good according to those that have them) because they cool each day automatically.

I have often wondered what the trick is that makes brooder always have a super hatch rate over incubator eggs. Now I know. I shall have to try this next time I'm incubating eggs.