Backyard Brahmas!!

[bumpercarr]

Hey all!!
New to Brahma's and chickens all together!
I have 3 light Brahma's that I was told were pullets when I bought them until I called the store the other day on suspicious that I have a Roo, and now they claim they were straight run..

.. We dont want roosters.. Only girls, here for eggs.. Ive posted on a few threads to get opinions and the majority is that its a roo but that their maybe a small possibility it could be a pullet so here it goes.. What do you guys think...its 7/8 weeks old. Thanks

Probably a cockerel.

 

[Katt66]

Well, of course they are, but you wait till they´re over a year old...they´ll be stunning.

I love mine as teenagers, especially my cockerel. He's so darn adorable. He's getting his adult feathering and is downright luscious looking. But those legs. They're so so long and gangly right now. He's got to grow into them.


This is about as close as I can get to him before he runs. He's so hard to get a flattering picture of because he runs screaming as soon as I walk towards him. This is a love that can not be. I suppose I should be happy that my rooster is afraid of me. Means he most likely won't end up in the stewpot when he grows up. Unlike my very strongly imprinted EE rooster who turned into a total creep because he saw us as romantic interests when he hit that awkward age. :C

Anyway, I love this guy so much. He's gorgeous already at 4 months old. He's only hatchery quality but I know he'll be gorgeous he grows into those legs. <3

 

[hugz4all4]

Probably a cockerel.

Thank you!

 

[suyoder]

So all the books say that Brahmas are super laid back and will basically sit in your lap. Um, not quite so with my 7. The pullets only just barely tolerate me but the cockerels think I'm the scariest looking creature around. They go cower in a corner as soon as I open the door. Not cool. Anyone else have this experience with Brahmas?! Is it a faze that will wear off?

 

[cabinchicky]

suyoder try sitting in pen/run with treats in your hand. let them come to you and do it often. once they are comfortable with you they will eat from hand and climb all over you. make very slow movements to pet them . just continue this and they will take you as a non threat and then follow you as well.

 

[Katt66]

I think all pullets go through a stage where they get flighty. Mine all have anyway. As they mature they all settle down. Some like to be held now. Some tolerate it and some only like to sit on or around me as long as I don't touch them.
The cockerels are another story. I recently had to send my resident male to freezer camp because he just couldn't understand that we were NOT part of his flock and property. My current brahma cockerel keeps a respectful distance and this makes me fell pretty good for his chances as a full fledged testosterone filled adult bird. From my experience rooster love leads to the stew pot

 

[bumpercarr]

So all the books say that Brahmas are super laid back and will basically sit in your lap. Um, not quite so with my 7. The pullets only just barely tolerate me but the cockerels think I'm the scariest looking creature around. They go cower in a corner as soon as I open the door. Not cool. Anyone else have this experience with Brahmas?! Is it a faze that will wear off?

Taming any animal that is considered prey by so many other animals is difficult. However, I have had great success in taming mine, most will sit on my lap, allow themselves to be picked up and held without too much hassle (i.e. chasing them wildly around the run until I manage to corner one). I do not tame any of my cockerels, it is their job to be protectors of the flock and therefore, they shouldn't trust anyone but at the same time I don't allow them to mate in front of me or to charge me when I'm handling the rest of the flock. I have to catch the cocks and cockerels, chasing them down or locking them in the coop in order to handle any of them (but once caught, they generally calm down fairly quickly). A good male runs away from the rest of the flock, encouraging the predator to chase them so that the girls can escape to safety.

I tame my pullets and hens by first putting a chair in the run and sitting there for an hour or more a day, usually reading a book. I have their favorite treats, meal worms, and I liberally sprinkle those around (not too close at first) every now and then so that they know where the treats are coming from and are usually waiting for them. I do this for about a week. The next week, I only sprinkle the meal worms close to me, usually right in between my feet so that they have to approach me to get to the goodies. I bend over, move around and do just about every movement that I would normally do while they are down there trying to get some treats (but not try to pick them up until they don't budge when I move around). By the third week, I can shake the meal worm container, everyone comes running, put some worms at my feet and pick up a chicken. After I've picked them up, I feed them some worms while I'm holding them as a reward so that they learn to enjoy being held (I put them in a lid....brahma beaks hurt the hands). After that, they are pretty much tame. So takes about a month, unless you are willing to spend more time in the run than an hour a day. My son can accomplish this in about 6 hours in one day, but he has more patience than I do. My new flock is currently in stage 1 of this process.

I actually will have them fighting over getting on my lap after going through this whole process, which is another problem to deal with but a pleasant one.

 

[carcar80]

I've had wonderful luck with my current oldest cock.. Even acquiring him as a full-grown bird he has been nothing but respectful. I have no problem with him mating in front of me, probably because I've never had him bother with me.

He's not a fan of being caught but doesn't put forth too much effort to get away, and once caught he's just as calm as my best hens. He's a real treat of a bird IMO.

My young cockerels have been good so far too. Only once many weeks ago have I had the largest one buck up to me, but one swift kick and he hasn't bothered me since. We'll see how he does in the long run if he gets to hang around.

 

[Katt66]

I sit on my back steps and feed the treats from there. My guys free in my enclosed yard all day long. The moment the back door opens they all stop and look. If I walk out carrying anything the whole flock is at my feet before I make it two blocks of the sidewalk towards the back steps. I have a very mixed flock so not a lot of brahma specific experience. My dark brahma pullet, Beans, will climb right up onto the wall beside the stairs and sit there talking to me and hoping to get the best of whatever I have because she's the closest. The others all just gather at my feet. While Beans is practically on my shoulder. I've never made any intentional plans on taming up any of my girls. They just sort of figure out where the goodies come from and I guess the result for me is the same as yours. I've learned a hungry chicken is a friendly chicken. As far as training goes. They are more food motivated than my Pit bull

 

[cabinchicky]

Huntress I too have a mixed flock. EE standard and banty, GLW, SS,Black and Blue Cochin and then my LF Lights. My Cochins and Brahmas are so less drama queens then the rest. I really really really want Blue Jersey Giants next year and hope and pray I get to expand for them. But I seriously think the EE bunch will be thinned out to 3 and a Brahma,Cochin and Giant hunt will happen. I love these big ol' sweethearts. I hang out with my Bluebell a lot. She's so fluffy!