Brahma Thread

[brahmapapa]

This thread is not for your personal sales. That is what the BST area is for.

DAK, i deff. don't want to see tempers flare and issues get flared up again. So far as i read Brahmarama was answering a request by another poster on this thread as to the process difficulties of importing hatching eggs. I did not see Brahmaramas posting as a sales tactic, but only helpful advice. I remember the adversarial air in this thread not too long ago and we all need to try to be understanding of each other and each others opinions. I found the info provided to be useful.

 

[Tammy N]

This is our Brahma chick. Don't know much about it. Was at feed store and there were only 4 left and some bought 3 but left this one so we added it to our Easter Eggers. Very interested to know if this is a Roo or not. My daughter loves it and doesn't want to have to let it go but we can only have so many roos.

Dark Pullet Very nice at that and so fun to have trust me you wont regret getting her

 

[Tammy N]

Baby brahmas....pullets or roos? ?!
(the first chick from left being a faverolle and the 3rd a barnvelder)

Pullets

This is our Brahma chick. Don't know much about it. Was at feed store and there were only 4 left and some bought 3 but left this one so we added it to our Easter Eggers. Very interested to know if this is a Roo or not. My daughter loves it and doesn't want to have to let it go but we can only have so many roos.

Dark Pullet Very nice at that and so fun to have trust me you wont regret getting her

 

[Tim63]

DAK, i deff. don't want to see tempers flare and issues get flared up again. So far as i read Brahmarama was answering a request by another poster on this thread as to the process difficulties of importing hatching eggs. I did not see Brahmaramas posting as a sales tactic, but only helpful advice. I remember the adversarial air in this thread not too long ago and we all need to try to be understanding of each other and each others opinions. I found the info provided to be useful.

Her (Brahmarama) original post, where she was trying to sell her eggs, was deleted by moderators. Thats the post Dak was referring to.

 

[ginger g]

That's a very odd looking chick. I went to cackle hatchery site and looked over the offered breeds, the only thing that makes even a remote amount of sense to me is the Black Breasted Red Phoenix bantam, but that's the brownest Black Breasted Red chick I've ever seen (and they are listed with a different assortment). The rest of it matches up pretty well. Single comb, leg color, etc. second guess would be an Easter Egger bantam with a single comb since those can have any comb type and color pattern.

Thanks for the response. Not sure if you can tell from the photos, but this chick has feathered feet, which is why I thought Brahma in the first place. The feet and legs are dark with feathers. Could he be a brahma mix with a wrong comb? Here are the "possibles" from the order I placed at Cackle:

Bantam Pullet Deal​

Hatchery Choice Pure Breed 1 day old pullet bantams (80% sexing guarantee). May or may not be assorted. Breeds can include: Buff Brahma, Barred Rock, Dominique, Barred Old English Game, Rhode Island Red, Crele Old English, Barred Cochin, Golden Laced Cochin and/or Red Cochin Bantams. A great deal for the city or town back yard where space is limited and NO noisy rooster crows are allowed.​

 

[Dirt Farmer]

And it appears to have green feet/shanks which isn't acceptable for Brahmas or Cochins.

Quote:Originally Posted by ginger g





Is there any hint of yellow in the legs, that is just covered with heavy duskiness? Are the soles of the feet yellow?

Now I'm curious.

 

[ginger g]

More pics! The front of the legs are dark, but the bottom of the feet are quite yellow. Still baby feathers on the legs down to the toes. Wing feathers are pretty brown at tips and sort of laced/mottled on the interior.

 

[BGMatt]

Sorry about that. My eyes are going apparently. I browse the forums on my phone and didn't see feathers on legs.

 

[Huntress78]

Happy Easter Everyone
I know I am going to ramble a bit here, so please forgive me in advance.
Life-long chicken owner. Grew up sitting on the back lawn plucking Sunday dinner.
Always owned dual purpose birds, but just mutts.
Rarely pluck a chicken…instead just slit the chest and pull the breasts.
Owned a herd of Angus cattle for most of my life. Spent lots of time and money culling mother cows and each year buying either the best bull for my “type” of cow or the best semen for AI.
We also raised and trained cow horses. 2 stallions, about 20 mares and would breed about a dozen outside mares per year.
Same thing as with the cows. Only kept those mares that were considered “weak”… meaning they were already very good mares in most all areas, but they didn’t throw their type…the foals resembled the stallion, which is what I wanted. If I got a “strong” mare, she was gone in a year or two. The mothers are important, but I have always believed the stallion was just a bit more so.
I have read this thread for an hour and I hope you can tell I really relate to those of you improving the breeds.
I can also relate to those that just want chickens for eggs and meat and like the animals being around.
I fall into the latter as far as chickens.
I am an old guy with a very young wife. We finally got the last kid gone and built our new and last home…..a log home waaay back on our property. Love it.
We got rid of the chickens 3 years ago when we moved, but now the boss wants to get back in.
Evidently she spent quite a bit of time looking at birds and decided on Standard Brahmas.
Note: we absolutely need a few roosters. Way too many cats and coyotes and coons and dogs.
All our chickens have…..and will have free range daily. And we take good care of them………. Like all our livestock.
So, with that background, here are a couple of questions:
She ordered 15 chicks from McMurray
5 each of Light, Dark and Buff.
Straight Run.
We are actually hoping for a good percentage of these chicks being roos because she wants to learn how to slaughter as soon as feasible, so culling roosters would be just fine for that.
She also totally understands that we need roosters protecting our flock and wants to keep one of each color Brahma rooster ……along with whatever is left over as hens.
We have never bought chicks before, but let our broody hens keep our chicken population where we wanted it.
So, finally, here are my questions and/or concerns:

In one quite large chicken house with a flock of 12-15 birds, can three roosters get along or ???

I think with three different colored brahmas we will be having very few true-to-type colored birds as the years go by………probably end up with plaid brahmas.
She could careless about color type, etc. Where as I am OCD about bloodline purity and improvement.
So, the rooster question is one question.
And (although it will not be the end of the world) am I correct in assuming next years chicks will be all over the board as to color?
What quality (health, vigor, size, egg laying, etc) can I expect out of McMurry. Certainly not looking for show birds, but healthy stock that will carry the appropriate type and function.
Just trying to set my expectations.
Thanks so much for reading and any responses will be welcome.
Bruce.

I started a flock of Brahmas last summer...couldn't find a local breeder so I got 14 lights and 12 darks from McMurray. The chicks were all healthy but the differences between the two colors was like night and day. The lights were all larger and very laid back...not much fighting and they were pretty friendly. The darks were all smaller, all they did was fight and attack me every time I put my hand within reach. As they grew I had to separate the colors and then separate the dark cockerels from the dark pullets due to fighting. I put the dark pullets back in with the lights one at a time (a day apart) so they were the 'new one' in the flock. This seemed to help but the cockerels were kept separate till butchering...all they did was fight till the last day. The light cockerels worked out their differences with posturing and a little sparring....no bloodshed at all.

You should have a few cocks for butchering. Out of 14 lights I got 5 cocks and out of 12 darks there were 6. I butchered the 6 darks and the two smallest lights at around 12 weeks old and butchered one at 24 weeks....you can see the amount of meat I got in the post I did here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730323/how-to-butcher-skinning-method-graphic-pics#post_10107102

I still have two light roos left (one is with the flock the other is kept separate) and just hatched my first chicks. Fertility was 100%. I feather sexed them and think there are far more cockerels than pullets...we'll see as they grow. I'm not worried about the dark/light crosses as these birds are just for meat/eggs.

Hens: These are typical hatchery birds. Many are small, have pinched tails and the color is poor. The more you handle them the friendlier they are...one of mine will jump into my hands to be picked up and held. They started to lay at 24 weeks old, are great free rangers and got along well this winter in the coop (14 hens in a 8x12 coop). They now lay 3-4 days in a row then skip a day.

Hope this answered some questions for you...good luck with your chicks!

 

[dak]

DAK, i deff. don't want to see tempers flare and issues get flared up again. So far as i read Brahmarama was answering a request by another poster on this thread as to the process difficulties of importing hatching eggs. I did not see Brahmaramas posting as a sales tactic, but only helpful advice. I remember the adversarial air in this thread not too long ago and we all need to try to be understanding of each other and each others opinions. I found the info provided to be useful.

That is because the initial post pimping expensive non-standard eggs was deleted. Perhaps you missed it prior to it being deleted. Subsequent posts regarding importation are still present.