Backyard Brahmas!!

[newmarch2014]

I was wondering what age Brahma cockerels normally get their saddle, hackle, and sickle feathers in? Mine are 15 weeks and I'm still not sure on gender.

Do you have a picture or have you posted it and I missed it? I could tell without a doubt that mine was a cockerel by way earlier than that. by 12 weeks it is usually really obvious.

 

[newmarch2014]

^....so on that note, North the rooster started crowing this morning, for the first time, nonstop. Does crowing ever mellow out from the first day or is is "early a constant noise maker, always a constant noise maker" he is ready to finally stand up to the older chickens (that he has been running scared from till last night) this morning, and if he were more quiet about it I would have let him but I had to pull him out and put him in the garage to let the neighbors sleep.

 

[sukochickens]

Do you have a picture or have you posted it and I missed it? I could tell without a doubt that mine was a cockerel by way earlier than that. by 12 weeks it is usually really obvious. 

I hadn't posted any pics yet because I don't have any good ones. I snapped a couple last night but it was about to storm so I didn't get very far. Here they are anyway.

You can see the one in the front to the left has a redder face and larger wattles but they still don't look impressive to me.

 

[newmarch2014]

I hadn't posted any pics yet because I don't have any good ones. I snapped a couple last night but it was about to storm so I didn't get very far. Here they are anyway.

You can see the one in the front to the left has a redder face and larger wattles but they still don't look impressive to me.

Ah, so I would suggest you try again today with the pics but enlist some help to at least wrangle them to a corner to get a better pic of their comb (close up with no glare so be careful for full on light shining on it) and the back of the bird. From the pictures here I am not seeing anything that screams rooster but sometimes it can be tough without all the clues. The comb development really helped with mine, his 3 rows were really evident early. The hackle feathers are tougher because of the markings but his saddle feathers were evident quite a few weeks ago. I posted a pic at the top of my rooster at 12 weeks, see the 3rd row of bumps that run along side the center row? That is quite obviously missing from my pullet.

 

[sukochickens]

Ah, so I would suggest you try again today with the pics but enlist some help to at least wrangle them to a corner to get a better pic of their comb (close up with no glare so be careful for full on light shining on it) and the back of the bird. From the pictures here I am not seeing anything that screams rooster but sometimes it can be tough without all the clues. The comb development really helped with mine, his 3 rows were really evident early. The hackle feathers are tougher because of the markings but his saddle feathers were evident quite a few weeks ago. 

Thanks! I'll try to get some better pics but it's supposed to storm again all day today. This weather has been driving me nuts!

 

[big medicine]

Usually by 4 mos I can see saddle feathers coming in, which look much different than a pullet's cushion. They will be longish (not too long at this age) but have a definite point instead of a nice round feather. At 6 mos, hackle is beginning to come in, again very pointed...the pullet's hackle is not as thin and pointy as the cockerel's hackle. It is much easier to see if you have more than one to compare to each other.

Another thing to think about (if you only had one) is that at 6-8 weeks, the males will still have fluff on their backs instead of real feathers coming in. The females will be much more fully feathered at that age, although if you pick one up and look, you can see that they still have some spots where the feathers aren't quite in yet....I'm guessing that their feathers just cover better when they are younger.

Hope that helps a bit.

Just a couple things to add.

Sometimes the first thing I notice is the sheen that give away sprouting saddle feathers In the right light you sometimes can notice light reflecting off the harder/glossier saddle feathers as they come in.

While comb development may be a secondary indicator, I don't put near as much stock in it as I do posture, feather development, stoutness of leg/feet. Combs I use more of a health or hormone indicator. I have seen some bossy old hens sporting a pretty good sized comb.

 

[sukochickens]

Just a couple things to add.

Sometimes the first thing I notice is the sheen that give away sprouting saddle feathers   In the right light you sometimes can notice light reflecting off the harder/glossier saddle feathers as they come in. 

While comb development may be a secondary indicator, I don't put near as much stock in it as I do posture, feather development, stoutness of leg/feet.  Combs I use more of a health or hormone indicator. I have seen some bossy old hens sporting a pretty good sized comb. 

Thank you! I've been wondering if maybe a couple of them are just maturing faster than others. They're hatchery birds so I'm not really sure if the 3 rows of peas apply to them. Because if it does than almost all of them are Roos. Which I really don't think is the case. They don't spar and I haven't seen any practice crowing. Ugh! Why do Brahma have to be so difficulty. I have an 8 week old Wyandotte that is quite obviously a cockerel. Why can't the Brahma be that easy?!

 

[allyclair]

We had 8 eggs in our incubator from our dark brahma rooster and hen, 2 of them hatched:

I was surprised at the colour of the first chick, didn't expect a yellow fuzz ball

We all thought it was too funny that they come out of the egg with feathered feet!

 

[sukochickens]

Anyway, here are some pics I took this afternoon. They were 15 weeks old on Thursday.
#1 : this is the same one I pointed out in the previous pictures. Her face is a little more red because she's worked up from me holding her.

#2: this is the one with the weird looking comb that I originally thought was a cockerel and now I'm not sure.

The pics don't really do the comb justice. In person it looks more like my poorly bread Wyandottes straight comb. And sorry for the picture overload.

 

[holm25]

To me they look like pullets!!