Brahma Breeders thread

[ocap]

Hello
I am new to Brahmas and have been looking to talk to people about them to gain knowledge about the breed. I have three Brahmas one they to be a rooster and two promised to be hen............Well the larger of the light Brahmas is growing saddle feathers "she" is a light Brahma . She has not crowed yet but I am wondering if I should expect "her" to? She is now six months old and the dark Rooster is crowing now. The three of them are getting along fine and they come up to be picked up and nuzzle me under my chin.

Can you give me some things to look for in them since their waddles are the same on both Light hens.

I suggest that you take pictures of your birds every week so you can refer back to see what was the first indicator in your flock. The wattles might work for you where others use tail feathers or shank size.

 

[Redeemed]

Thank you ,the one thing I have noticed is that this light "Her" has really Fluffy feathers in the rump I cannot see that saddle feathers are developing here?

 

[DesertBrahma]

30 wks, my oldest pullet, and 2 cockerels are now 30 wks. I still don't have any eggs, and the cockerels are low in the meat department. I'm starting to get frustrated. I have them on good feed, make sure they have fresh water and some scratch, black oil sunflower seeds, and occasionally some meal worms. They also grab whatever bugs are in the backyard. I'm starting to think this breed isn't for me, or they just don't like me. I'm trying everything I can to get them to bulk up, and to lay eggs but I still get nothing. I understand this breed takes longer to mature than other breeds, but it's starting to wear on my nerves. Now I have 2 cockerels that are doing the "hey baby look at me" shuffle, for the girls, and me. They are sweet, and not aggressive but darn it I want some fresh eggs. When will they start? Madea is completely red faced, and her wattles are a bit bigger. If I didn't know this was a sign of getting ready to lay I would think she got stung by something and was having an allergic reaction. She's been this way for over a month. The 2 7 month olds are getting salmon colored faces. If one of them doesn't do something soon I'm going to go quite loudly insane. Ok I just went and checked Madea's pelvis bone points. It's about 2 1/4 finger widths. Her vent almost looks like it's trying to prolapse. 1 of the cockerels is sticking very close to her too. I don't know if that means she's close or not. Could someone please give me a hint if she is? I'm almost serious about the going very loudly insane here.

 

[newmarch2014]

30 wks, my oldest pullet, and 2 cockerels are now 30 wks. I still don't have any eggs, and the cockerels are low in the meat department. I'm starting to get frustrated. I have them on good feed, make sure they have fresh water and some scratch, black oil sunflower seeds, and occasionally some meal worms. They also grab whatever bugs are in the backyard. I'm starting to think this breed isn't for me, or they just don't like me. I'm trying everything I can to get them to bulk up, and to lay eggs but I still get nothing. I understand this breed takes longer to mature than other breeds, but it's starting to wear on my nerves. Now I have 2 cockerels that are doing the "hey baby look at me" shuffle, for the girls, and me. They are sweet, and not aggressive but darn it I want some fresh eggs. When will they start? Madea is completely red faced, and her wattles are a bit bigger. If I didn't know this was a sign of getting ready to lay I would think she got stung by something and was having an allergic reaction. She's been this way for over a month. The 2 7 month olds are getting salmon colored faces. If one of them doesn't do something soon I'm going to go quite loudly insane. Ok I just went and checked Madea's pelvis bone points. It's about 2 1/4 finger widths. Her vent almost looks like it's trying to prolapse. 1 of the cockerels is sticking very close to her too. I don't know if that means she's close or not. Could someone please give me a hint if she is? I'm almost serious about the going very loudly insane here.

I have just a hatchery hen that is 31 weeks and just starting to get red. Most people don't really buy these for their early and tremendous egg laying. I have a mixed flock for that reason I waited on the Brahmas and got some production hens first. Then the next year I branched out, since I expected the Brahmas I picked up (unfortunately one ended up being a rooster) to be late I got a couple EE's to go along with them. Sure enough the EE's have been laying for over a month and my Brahma is just getting fat and spoiled. Be patient yours will lay in time.I am surpised your cockerels are small though, my rooster that is 31 weeks is pretty huge and impressive even for being just a hatchery bird. Do you maybe have a parasite problem that is stunting them a bit?

 

[DesertBrahma]

The cockerels look huge until you get your hands on them. They're nothing but feathers and bones. Mine weighs about 9 lbs but looks close to 15lbs. I've been keeping a good eye on them. I didn't know what breed I had gotten when I originally got these. Was expecting something like RIRs, or EEs. They're eating their heads off, and not giving in return. Mine are a week behind yours. My 7 month old pullets are starting to turn a nice salmon color, but Madea is almost as red as the 2 cockerels. She's only a little lighter. The older 3 were hatched March 16th by Privett hatchery. I think I am going to get me some NN pullet chicks this coming spring. I've had Madea, and the 2 boys since they were 5 days old. Skye and Evereste are about 7 months old and just as big as Madea is. I guess I'm too impatient for this breed. Don't get me wrong. My girls are nice and calm. I haven't had any problems with aggressive behavior towards me or my babies. They have gotten a little aggressive in my mind about pecking order but nothing else. They eat, drink and eat some more. At times I feel like I'm constantly filling the feeders and not getting anything back except crap, crap, and more crap. I want some eggs and meat dang it. I deformed them about 3 wks ago. Not enough time to build a new load of parasites, and I dust them, and their coop with FGDE every other week. I don't do parasites around my animals. I'm very careful about not letting my animals get parasites because I can not physically handle it. I can not get sick. If I contracted a parasite from one of my animals I could get very ill. Health concerns suck. Plus I don't want my boys possibly picking up something so I'm constantly dewormig my cats, and applying flea and tick prevention. I think my husband would be a not so happy camper if one of our boys came down with a parasite from one of the animals I insisted we have.

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

30 wks, my oldest pullet, and 2 cockerels are now 30 wks. I still don't have any eggs, and the cockerels are low in the meat department. I'm starting to get frustrated. I have them on good feed, make sure they have fresh water and some scratch, black oil sunflower seeds, and occasionally some meal worms. They also grab whatever bugs are in the backyard. I'm starting to think this breed isn't for me, or they just don't like me. I'm trying everything I can to get them to bulk up, and to lay eggs but I still get nothing. I understand this breed takes longer to mature than other breeds, but it's starting to wear on my nerves. Now I have 2 cockerels that are doing the "hey baby look at me" shuffle, for the girls, and me. They are sweet, and not aggressive but darn it I want some fresh eggs. When will they start? Madea is completely red faced, and her wattles are a bit bigger. If I didn't know this was a sign of getting ready to lay I would think she got stung by something and was having an allergic reaction. She's been this way for over a month. The 2 7 month olds are getting salmon colored faces. If one of them doesn't do something soon I'm going to go quite loudly insane. Ok I just went and checked Madea's pelvis bone points. It's about 2 1/4 finger widths. Her vent almost looks like it's trying to prolapse. 1 of the cockerels is sticking very close to her too. I don't know if that means she's close or not. Could someone please give me a hint if she is? I'm almost serious about the going very loudly insane here.

If you want production style chickens, then I don't think Brahmas are your birds. They don't lay as much as others, like a Rhode Island Red or Barred Rock. They are slow to mature. My hens were almost a year old before they started laying. They eat tons, unless you can free range them during the day. They are a labor of love. If you just want chickens for eggs production, then I think you got into the wrong breed. Don't get me wrong, I love Brahmas. They are my favorite breed, but I didn't get them for eggs production. I got them because they're beautiful & have feathered feet, which I think is cute. That being said, right now my Gold Laced Brahmas are my best layers but that's not saying much because all the others are either Brahmas or Cochins, which lay worse than Brahmas. lol Sorry, I'm not of more help...

 

[Lemac]

My 2 hens lemon pyle brahma fom belgium ( they said around 7 month ) start laying after coming one week >
Another hen 8month from chick still not

 

[DesertBrahma]

Don't get me wrong. They are very nice. I love their temperaments. Extremely docile and they have never tried to hurt me. Although my poor cats that go back there during the day aren't as fortunate lol. They now get locked up at night thanks to 1 of my cockerels getting attacked and eaten. They're not happy about me moving them from their preferred roosts at sunset. I will never get RIRs again. I had some about 10 yrs ago and they were way too flighty and aggressive. Like I said when I got these chickies I didn't know what breed they were. It took 2 days and many calls to finally get a hold of someone at the local TSC to find out. I know heritage breeds take longer to mature but at 8 months from hatchery stock I would think I would be seeing SOMETHING. I've done a lot of research and I can't find a straight answer anywhere about a proximate age they mature. Most everything I saw of course from hatchery websites said 20 wks which couldn't be true. Even on breed review on here said 6 months. I've been keeping track of their ages. I honestly don't care if they produce an egg every day. Heck I just want something. I'm starting to think I got sterile ones. I know the ones I got from the breeder are a bit young to expect eggs from. They're about a month younger. I want calm docile chickens which this breed gives me. I want bug eaters, and foragers which these have been since coming out of the brooder. I don't want crazy flighty aggressive chickens that will attack my boys and I when we go out back to see them. My favorite male comes and talks to me while I'm cleaning, and filling feed and waterers. He's also very careful with the girls. Both of the boys calls the girls to tell them he found some food or bugs. Heck the little stinker tried to round up me with the girls yesterday when one of my cats went in the backyard to look for mice and rats. Then the other boy had a go at the cat lol. So personality wise and temperament wise these are perfect. Exactly what I want. Anything else not so much. I guess I get to research breeds and add more girls to my flock for eggs next year. We're also going to be getting some meat birds to fill the freezer. I hope any new chickens I get will be just as calm as the ones I have because I want my babies to be safe around them. I want them to be involved and any aggression will be met with the frying pan, or crock pot. And no the chickens I have now are not going anywhere unless something happens to them. Oh this reminds me it's almost time to dust and deworm them again.

 

[Redeemed]

Thank one and all for writing about your Brahmas. I am so sorry you are having trouble like I am trying to tell hens from roosters. I learn so much from just hearing from you folks.
To Desert Brahams I hope you stick with them. They seem to me just to be a new chicken with new personalities . I have them finger trained and they will not let me walk without touching me.
These are the only chickens I have except for two Marans which are totally fun.

 

[DesertBrahma]

The girls are almost safe unless they do something really wrong. I know I'm going to keep at least one of the boys. Might keep both if they continue to be nice. I don't think I'll get anymore in the future. Unless I get a pullet/hen that decides to go broody from the other breed I get. I'm not going to get anymore boys. I'm just going to get pullet babies, and some meaties. But I'm not going to keep any of the meaties. Now I get to figure out what breed I want. Mine are fairly quirky at times. When I water the grass and trees they start running around trying to catch any bugs they can. Even when the bug takes flight and they know they can't fly they start running and almost skipping to try and catch it lol. So even though I'm almost pulling my hair out in frustration that mine aren't as fat as I would like them I guess that's thanks to their hatchery breeding. I'm going to deworm them again in a week. Hey I have a question. What is this fermented feeding I've heard about? Do you just make a mash of the feed and let it sit for a while before you feed it to them? When I deworm mine I usually make a warm mash with their feed, and put some oatmeal, FGDE, and small chunks of apples. They love it. Usually I have to separate the dishes I use so everyone gets some.