Brahma Thread

[Tammy N]

Lesser roosters if you have 10 roosters and only 2 look awesome keep 3 the best 3 and have dinner on the rest
bad legs ,feet,wrong body type and weight also id cull for health issues like chicks that hatch 3 days late or weak chicks

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

Late hatchlings never seem to do well.

 

[big medicine]

Would you guys mind posting in order from greatest importance to the least importance the top five things to cull for first. That's my biggest issue with culling them is that I don't what qualities out way the others. Like I know that a nice comb would be less important than a nice wide head but what else. I'm talking about type for now.

As Tim said type is paramount. You could have a bird with all the perfect individual components of a proper Brahma, but when they are hung on a body built more like a Rock, or a Cochin, it's all for naught. Once you develop a good eye for proper type, and body carriage, you've got half the battle won.

Things I look for, or maybe look out for, in some of my project breedings, besides giving the impression of good Brahma build is, in no particular order.

Clean hocks, vulture hocks are very hard to breed out.

Fully feathered middle toe.

Good tight pea comb.

Good tight wing carriage, primaries lay properly, loose wings can be hard to breed out.

Now this falls more under type, and is kind of hard to describe. A well arched neck. I guess you say kind of a lesser exaggerated swan type curve.

 

[brahmabreeder]

Thank you!

 

[Dirt Farmer]

It felt good today seeing my Light Brahma Cockerel we got from Darlene side by side with my Partridge cockerel and seeing their type being very close.

I had LF Lights from Darlene. I didn't appreciate at the time the temperament of that bunch. I'm not one who generally tries to make pets of out my chickens, but they were very curious and seemed to seek out some interaction. (Yea, I know they wanted food.) It added an enjoyable dimension to keeping them.

 

[shotzy007]

We found our sweet Britches dead on the coop floor today. She was 1 year old, never had an egg or a molt, at one time she was the biggest bird we had, lately not so much...I should have paid closer attention to her, I have her in the freezer, will probably have vet check her out. She never roosted, refused really. No matter how much I put her in a box or on a roost, she said "nope" and would always go her own way. She really didnt have a partner/friend that she hung with. Little chirps from her occasionally. She LOVED corn, anyway you fixed it.
My chicken sister had saved some from dinner last night and was going to give her a little treat this morning. I know she hated to make that call to me. In typical German fashion, we cleaned the coop and made everything shiny and new for the remaining 14 girls.
We should all have partners.

 

[LaLa Chickie]

We found our sweet Britches dead on the coop floor today. She was 1 year old, never had an egg or a molt, at one time she was the biggest bird we had, lately not so much...I should have paid closer attention to her, I have her in the freezer, will probably have vet check her out. She never roosted, refused really. No matter how much I put her in a box or on a roost, she said "nope" and would always go her own way. She really didnt have a partner/friend that she hung with. Little chirps from her occasionally. She LOVED corn, anyway you fixed it.
My chicken sister had saved some from dinner last night and was going to give her a little treat this morning. I know she hated to make that call to me. In typical German fashion, we cleaned the coop and made everything shiny and new for the remaining 14 girls.
We should all have partners.

Sorry for your loss

 

[APDoxies]

Are Light, Dark & Buff the only colors that can be shown?

 

[BGMatt]

Are Light, Dark & Buff the only colors that can be shown?

You can show any color, but in large fowl those are the only recognized varieties (which means they're the only ones eligible for best of breed and above). The American Bantam Association also recognizes Black Brahmas in bantams.

Edit: VVV - Thanks Tim, I'm mainly an APA guy so didn't know, that'd be interesting to see the solid colors, I have never seen a Black or a White in person.

 

[Tim63]

The ABA also recognizes White, although i have never seen them.