Brahma Thread

[CarolinaHen]

Thanks for the info. It seems that the slide rubs slightly on the hammer, so it has some feed problems when using a 36 grains vs. 40 grain ammo. I realized after shooting yesterday that I only have about 150 rounds of 40 grain left, and of course no one has it right now. So, I'll hope that the 150 I shot yesterday and the 150 that I'll shoot out of it tomorrow will wear down that hammer or slide enough to make it stop hanging on the lower grain ammunition. I'll look when I'm on my way out of Houston next week to see if maybe Gander Mountain has some 40 grain ammo. Otherwise, I'll save enough rounds to use if I need to until summer gets here and the backlog is caught up.

I really wish that we had a decent gunsmith anywhere close by. We only have two in town, I used one to mount my scope on my AR and I had to remount it myself after spending about 100 rounds to try to sight it in. The other one always tells me he can't do anything when I ask him to take a look at my gun...I think all he's capable of doing is breaking down and reassembling or something...don't know how he stays in business. My husband needs his sig adjusted but he is afraid to take it to anyone here

I guess we need to look further away to find a good gunsmith.

Too bad we are in SC, or we would fix it for ya!

 

[bumpercarr]

The only times I can recall having issues with birds not going in at night are.

Young birds on their first couple times going outside, some just not figuring out how/where to get back in the coop.

Changing bedding with young birds. Sometimes freaks them out, and are afraid to step foot on this strange new stuff in their coop.

Sometimes new or timid birds being bullied by the established occupants of coop.

If running multiple males in a pen, a change in the power structure can some times result in the overthrown male being kept out by the new boss.

If a over abundance of hormoned up young cockerels, pullets may be hesitant to enter coop.

If this is a new thing, I would be looking for something that has spooked them, such as a cat or something taking up sleeping in the coop. Or possibly something making it unpleasant for them at night like being unbearably hot, or possibly a heavy mite infestation.

I have never known a cockerel to have that much sway with hens. Especially hens of any age, they would probably be more likely to challenge him to a fight.

Thanks, big medicine. None of those things apply. I moved them to this coop when they were about 2 months old, they went into the coop for a while and then all of the sudden decided they just didn't want to sleep in there anymore. This is what I think, let me know if I'm just blowing smoke or if it is a possibility.

When I built the coop for them, I put the roost in at a height that I thought was sufficient. However, they got bigger than I thought they would. I suspect that the roost is too high and they can't use it because their heads hit the roof. If I put the roost any lower, they will have to jump over it to get to the nesting boxes. Just a poor coop design for Brahmas I think. So, they've decided to roost in a low bush that is inside of their run.

So, I'm waiting for some chicks right now, and once they get here I think I'm going to swap out the coops since I'll be causing a ruckus anyway. I'll put the Brahmas in the bigger coop where the roof is higher and they can use the roost and the layers, which are much smaller chickens in the coop that the Brahmas are using right now. Of course all of that is going to cause a ruckus with all of them. I don't like the layers in the smaller coop because they are able to fly over the fence in that run, where the Brahmas can't really fly very well. Also, the layers pen has more cover for them to hide in and to get away from anything that may go after them from overhead. The brahmas haven't had any problems with overhead predators, probably because of their size. Hopefully if I move everyone at the same time it will keep the layers in their new coop and run. Or, maybe not. It is worth a try when I get back from my next trip. I'll let the layers out to range, move the brahmas into the layers pen and then force the layers into their new pen when it's time to come back in. My layers are pretty wild, they'll follow me for meal worms but they won't let me pick them up at all. The brahmas are all pretty tame, at least the hens are. The cockerel will let me pick him up if I force the issue (and of course every single night when I put them to bed), but he prefers to just stand close by and watch me to make sure I'm not hurting anyone when I'm handling his girls. He knows that I am dominant and doesn't ever come after me or anything like that, he just likes to keep watch and make sure everything is okay.

 

[bumpercarr]

Too bad we are in SC, or we would fix it for ya!

Yeah, SC is just a little too far away.

 

[mrs1885]

This is King Henry. He was given to me with hens of a few different breeds. He's the only Brahma that came in though. I loved this guy to pieces from the very second I saw him, but he hated me with a purple passion.

The day we brought him home he managed to jump over a 4 foot concrete wall and take off. We spent weeks trying to get him back to the yard, even putting his hens in a huge dog crate in their fenced yard and leaving out food. Nothing worked.

We had a note on the front door from our next door neighbor about a week after he'd made his escape that the neighbors across the street let their dogs loose and the dogs killed him. We found out later it hadn't killed him, but injured him very badly. He fought it for several days while we kept trying to catch him before he finally died from the injuries.

I've wanted another roo like him ever since. He's just the most handsome guy. I looked all over and couldn't find anyone locally that breeds them. I gave up and contacted someone about picking up some Black Jersey Giants in two weeks. Then today I found a local breeder that has some of them. I'm kicking around getting some of the Brahmas too. Seeing as how we also have RIR, EE, Black Sex link hens, White rock hens, and a roo and four Black Australorp hens, I'm thinking I might have an addiction problem to chickens. Did I mention I'm picking up a couple Seramas this week as house chickens?

 

[bamadude]

these seem to be fighting brahmas. They all despise each other. Especially the roos.

 

[bumpercarr]

these seem to be fighting brahmas. They all despise each other. Especially the roos.

That's funny. Mine are real sweethearts and whenever another breed goes after them they just seem to look confused as if they can't understand the other chicken's behavior. They never fight, not with each other or with anyone else.

 

[brahmabreeder]

My males sometimes do, but that's about it.

 

[bamadude]

These brahmas are mean as heck to each other. So funny when their neck feathers puff out

 

[bumpercarr]

These brahmas are mean as heck to each other. So funny when their neck feathers puff out

How many cockerels or roos do you have in the flock? Even my other hens only peck at each other, I never see any except the male of the species get all puffed up.

 

[Hannahs Hollow]

someone mentioned a few posts back about buying young chicks or pullets... I am a backyard chicken keeper I simply have 5 hens, a 2 month old and a 1 month old. although I agree with buying hatchlings and pullets for pedigree and specifics, I hate the idea of shipping live animals and I don't like to bring in new stock to my existing flock. yes there are reputable breeders out there no doubt however there are lots of people who will send you chicks with all sorts of problems. Like crd, lice and mites. Be very careful to isolate for a month at least!

I have Brahmas crossed with the Icelandic strain. I'm pretty sure they have VH but they just seem to look fluffy to me. I'm not sure. I only breed for my own purposes. The one thing I love about this particular cross breeding is you never know what the chicks are going to look like! downside is my Bramhas top out at less than 6 pounds.

Is a pretty flock tho!

and since my Brahmas are really good broody hens going broody at only 8 months old, this spring I will look towards getting some pure bred BO eggs from a local respected breeder nearby and hatching them out myself. One thing about buying eggs are they are a bit cheaper. you let a broody look after them and you get a higher hatch rate. IMO.