Braggs Mountain Buffs

[free burd]

Hello Free Burd,

I think the final weight is going to be bit more as the rooster we weighed was a bit boney. These birds have huge feet and heavy legs so I don't know what the meat/bone ratio is going to be like. They are definately dual purpose birds, they seem to be comparable to our Birchen Marans.

I have inserted a picture of one of the eggs we collected last night. Didn't weigh it but Diana was impressed enough to take this picture. The other egg is a large egg. They are not all this big but they are all larger than anything else we have laying.

The birds are not flighty or agressive at all but don't seek attention.

I don't know about their foraging ability as they are in a run that is bare ground. We do have predator issues here and don't want to risk any at this time. They get alfalfa pellets along with their lay pellets and I typically pick some grass/weeds and toss them in their run, which they consume. The place we picked them up from was very arid and all I saw in their enclouser was some prickly pear catus and a mesquite bush. I understand that the gentleman fed them once a day by tossing their feed over the fence. So, these birds were raised on very little. Although they do seem to consume their fair share of food since we picked them up, LOL.

hello qball53
first of all, you are an excellent communicator and the BMB is fortunate to have you...
much of the basic information you have provided us is not given
by the braggs people on their website - one wonders what
those people are thinking...or if.
(and no way to contact them except through snail mail on the order form - wow -
do chickens make people crazy ?)

the meat to bone ratio is something i hadn't even considered - information
on them is so limited. so marans is one of the largest duals as i understand it
and that is a good size bird then.
it's nice that yours are now getting enough to eat. but sad that they didn't.
they seem/look pretty sturdy after all they've been through (except the ones who died)

at your convenience - possibly next season - would you say something
about the carcass - possibly compared to a marans or a
commercial broiler. and the taste if that matters to you.

and that picture of yours is A STUNNER.
2 yolks or a giant yolk ?
i wondered if you have any sense at this point for weather their
internals can handle that size of egg without prolapse or binding etc.?
(i feel like i read something about this being a problem a year or so ago)
(i wonder what would hatch out of something like that)

did their new chicks hatch out 'large' - did they mature early or are they slower growing?

here is one jumbo laying red suggestion if you need an out-cross.
http://mtdifarm.com/dynamite_reds.html
(or is this a replacement for braggs since it is easy to get ahold of)

robert braun [email protected]

 

[qball53]

Well everyone is in an awful molt at this time. The few we have growing up are not impressing us yet. This spring we will hatch out about 30 and see how they do. Other than the size of their eggs nothing here worth promoting yet.

 

[free burd]

Well everyone is in an awful molt at this time. The few we have growing up are not impressing us yet. This spring we will hatch out about 30 and see how they do. Other than the size of their eggs nothing here worth promoting yet.

well shoot,

sorry to hear about that after all of your effort.
maybe that egg size can be bred into a better bird.
i'll be fingers crossed for next seasons hatch.

i really hope you are blessed with a surprise.

robert

 

[qball53]

Thanks Robert, we'll see how it goes. Diana likes them more than me, she likes the color a lot. Haven't given up on them yet. Here are a few pics taken today, it was windy so feathers may look funny.

 

[animalsRawesome]

Hi all,

I ordered 100 of these birds back in February. Talked to the gentleman and heard all the problems he was having too, was very upset he cashed the check and told me he won't have any chicks available this summer! He then said he would be able to send them in early Nov, so I'm staying patient and hoping it's not a scam.

Did you get your birds?

 

[loudounberry]

Hey Folks,

Here is my situation with the 100 BMB chicks I had ordered back in February. After calling the number listed on the website, it goes right to the mailbox with the mailbox full message. I searched the web all over and found a business info site that had a number to the owner David listed. So the day before the chicks were to be shipped I had called him and he said "I was just going to call you" Anyway he said that he would not be able to send the chick now till spring due to the Texas heat limiting the hens egg supply. I was very disappointed and told him my frustration with the way he was handling this situation, I told him there’s no way to contact anyone from the site by email, or the phone and the mailbox is full, cashing the check and not sending any chicks or contacting me with updates. I asked if he was truly ever planning to ship me the chicks and he took great offense to that, stating never to call a Texan a liar. After that I simple asked him to please return my check and call me when you have some available. He said he would and I will be at the top off his list. It has now been two weeks and still I have not seen my returned check.

He did say several times he would be able to get me some chicks in the spring, so I guess I will wait.
To be continued…

 

[animalsRawesome]

Wow. I'm sorry to hear that. Sounds like he is giving you quite the run-around

 

[qball53]

Hey Folks,

Here is my situation with the 100 BMB chicks I had ordered back in February. After calling the number listed on the website, it goes right to the mailbox with the mailbox full message. I searched the web all over and found a business info site that had a number to the owner David listed. So the day before the chicks were to be shipped I had called him and he said "I was just going to call you" Anyway he said that he would not be able to send the chick now till spring due to the Texas heat limiting the hens egg supply. I was very disappointed and told him my frustration with the way he was handling this situation, I told him there’s no way to contact anyone from the site by email, or the phone and the mailbox is full, cashing the check and not sending any chicks or contacting me with updates. I asked if he was truly ever planning to ship me the chicks and he took great offense to that, stating never to call a Texan a liar. After that I simple asked him to please return my check and call me when you have some available. He said he would and I will be at the top off his list. It has now been two weeks and still I have not seen my returned check.

He did say several times he would be able to get me some chicks in the spring, so I guess I will wait.
To be continued…

If you read back through the thread you will see we had a very similar experience. When we finally got the birds we believe they were much older than he admitted to. We now have culled the birds down to 4 hens .... still don't know their age. 2 roosters one quite old and one probably not over two. We also have one pullet growing. They have stopped laying since it cooled off and of course their molt hit at that time. BTW we went to the gentlemans ranch in Texas and it was 106 degrees the day we were there. His coop had a basket holding eggs he collected and there were easily 100 eggs in it, don 't know how long he had been collecting. I told my wife if he is storring eggs at 100+ degrees for a week, no wonder he had low hatching success. My point of saying this is that not laying in the heat is crap they sure do!

Come spring we are going to hatch enough to get a half dozen hens and a rooster that we like. We will give them a chance to grow out and then make an assessment of the breed.

 

[K Epp]

I'm getting in on this thread rather late in the game, but find it very interesting. Man those birds have huge legs and eggs. qball53 please let us know if you decide to sell and ship some of the eggs for incubation. I'm in GA and sure don't want to deal with the folks y'all have.

 

[qball53]

I'm getting in on this thread rather late in the game, but find it very interesting. Man those birds have huge legs and eggs. qball53 please let us know if you decide to sell and ship some of the eggs for incubation. I'm in GA and sure don't want to deal with the folks y'all have.

We have culled the flock down to 3-4 hens now. Just begining to gather eggs for hatching now. We'll see how these chicks do before we decide about shipping anything. Funny you should mention the huge legs .... we were just commenting on that this weekend. Other roosters of comparible size don't have near as heavy of legs.