Backyard Brahmas!!

[christine9]

I'm looking for any advice I can get with my brahma hen. She's just over a year old and in with a mixed flock. She's the bottom of the pecking order of 4 minus this year's chicks. I have an 8 month old ameraucana roo inwith them who is just starting to mate pretty regularly. My brahma seems very stressed by this. When she squats for him she buries her head and she stays down for several minutes while everyone else comes by and pecks at her. I've moved her into the coop and out of the run the last two times I saw this, so now she stays hiding in the coop most of the time. As soon as she comes out, it's chaos. I've provided food and water in the coop. I don't know if more hens will change the situation, but I have six more at 14 weeks now. I don't want to isolate her because I think it will make the reintroduction worse. Has anyone experienced this level of submissiveness? Any suggestions?

 

[bumpercarr]

I'm looking for any advice I can get with my brahma hen. She's just over a year old and in with a mixed flock. She's the bottom of the pecking order of 4 minus this year's chicks. I have an 8 month old ameraucana roo inwith them who is just starting to mate pretty regularly. My brahma seems very stressed by this. When she squats for him she buries her head and she stays down for several minutes while everyone else comes by and pecks at her. I've moved her into the coop and out of the run the last two times I saw this, so now she stays hiding in the coop most of the time. As soon as she comes out, it's chaos. I've provided food and water in the coop. I don't know if more hens will change the situation, but I have six more at 14 weeks now. I don't want to isolate her because I think it will make the reintroduction worse. Has anyone experienced this level of submissiveness? Any suggestions?

Usually, a good cock bird will not let the hens in his flock pick on each other. That not being the case here, I'd remove the alpha hen from the group....that is, whoever it seems is starting the picking on the brahma. Brahmas by nature are very docile and mellow, they don't generally like confrontation so it doesn't surprise me that she is at the bottom of the pecking order in a mixed flock. Leave the alpha hen away from the group for at least a week, when she comes back into the group she will have to settle for a lower rung in the order because by then usually another hen has taken that spot. That may stop the aggression. It may not. If you find that the aggression stops but starts up again when the alpha hen is reintroduced then I personally would be putting the alpha hen in the pot. If she has serious aggression issues, she'll start picking on someone else even if the Brahma is gone.

Another thought is to make sure that your birds have plenty of room. Overcrowding can cause this issue as well. Minimum of 14 sq ft per bird, for Brahmas I like to keep it at 20 sq ft (this is the run and coop space combined). Hope this helps.

 

[christine9]

Usually, a good cock bird will not let the hens in his flock pick on each other.  That not being the case here, I'd remove the alpha hen from the group....that is, whoever it seems is starting the picking on the brahma.  Brahmas by nature are very docile and mellow, they don't generally like confrontation so it doesn't surprise me that she is at the bottom of the pecking order in a mixed flock. Leave the alpha hen away from the group for at least a week, when she comes back into the group she will have to settle for a lower rung in the order because by then usually another hen has taken that spot.  That may stop the aggression.  It may not.  If you find that the aggression stops but starts up again when the alpha hen is reintroduced then I personally would be putting the alpha hen in the pot.  If she has serious aggression issues, she'll start picking on someone else even if the Brahma is gone.

Another thought is to make sure that your birds have plenty of room.  Overcrowding can cause this issue as well.  Minimum of 14 sq ft per bird, for Brahmas I like to keep it at 20 sq ft (this is the run and coop space combined).  Hope this helps.

Thank you. I appreciate opinions on this. I think I will remove the alpha hen and see how it goes. She's not aggressive normally. But because I only have three hens, I'm sure she will start again pretty quickly, but maybe it will buy me time. Im hoping as my rooster matures and the young ones get older this will work out. Im at about 16sq ft/bird, so I would try adding space if everyone reaching maturity doesn't help. Thanks again!

 

[ChickyChickens]

I love Brahmas, I don't have yet, but I am getting soon!!!

 

[CarolinaHen]

We got a pair of buff pullets last week to add to our flock. These are our first buffs, but we've had the darks for a few years now. These two girls are extremely flighty. We have a very laid back flock with no bossy hens, and a buff ORP rooster. Actually, our bantam Polish hen is our flock leader. That should tell you a lot about the temperament of our crew since Polish are usually on the bottom of the pecking order

I'm hoping that they settle down in time and stop running away in mortal terror whenever someone walks outside. Leghorns have nothing in flightiness compares with these two!

Are buffs typically more flighty than darks? Could this be from breeding?

 

[The Colonel]

We got a pair of buff pullets last week to add to our flock. These are our first buffs, but we've had the darks for a few years now. These two girls are extremely flighty. We have a very laid back flock with no bossy hens, and a buff ORP rooster. Actually, our bantam Polish hen is our flock leader. That should tell you a lot about the temperament of our crew since Polish are usually on the bottom of the pecking order

I'm hoping that they settle down in time and stop running away in mortal terror whenever someone walks outside. Leghorns have nothing in flightiness compares with these two!

Are buffs typically more flighty than darks? Could this be from breeding?

It could be from breeding, but possibly more from upbringing. I bought a pair of Buffs at a day old and they were lap babies. They were so calm they didn't even run away from the dog that killed one of them :/, but to this day my Lady is the best one in my flock and my personal favorite.

You'll have to excuse her, she's just coming into molt in the picture.

 

[CarolinaHen]

It could be from breeding, but possibly more from upbringing. I bought a pair of Buffs at a day old and they were lap babies. They were so calm they didn't even run away from the dog that killed one of them :/, but to this day my Lady is the best one in my flock and my personal favorite.

You'll have to excuse her, she's just coming into molt in the picture.

I'm hoping they settle in soon and are as calm as our darks. Your girl is beautiful, even when molting

 

[The Colonel]

I'm hoping they settle in soon and are as calm as our darks. Your girl is beautiful, even when molting

Thank you

 

[ChickyChickens]

I'm hoping they settle in soon and are as calm as our darks. Your girl is beautiful, even when molting

X2!!

 

[christian s]

Hey guys my brahmas are HUUUGE and theyve been moved to a bigger coop and now I just got a silkie shes orange and her names is nessie Ill post a pic soon