Brahma Thread

[LaLa Chickie]

I'll have to look up what a Rat Snake looks like...I've only seen Garter/Gopher snakes and Rattle Snakes and King Snakes umpteen years ago...

Definitely a San Diego Gopher Snake...

 

[LaLa Chickie]

Sounds like a successful day! Today was a me day, didn't do any work on the new coop. I'll pay for it tomorrow. I have my plan of attack in place and by Sunday, everyone should be in the new condo together (except the roos). I also have a batch hatching on Saturday~Sunday, so I'm going to be one busy girl this weekend.

Congrats on a successful introduction!

Thank you! Sounds like you do have a busy weekend ahead! WHEW!

 

[LaLa Chickie]

this is my Light Brahma Hen I had her since she was a baby but shes like family to me now and shes only 9 months old to

Aren't t!hey sweet. My LaLa demands I pick her up while she orders the others to go in the coop and for me to hand carry her and put her personally...they are so funny

 

[bumpercarr]

Definitely a San Diego Gopher Snake...

Thanks for the ID. I'm not familiar with gopher snakes, we don't have them around here very much. Most of the time we find rat snakes (great snakes by the way). All of them...garter, rat and now I guess gopher are very similar looking. Good call!

 

[bumpercarr]

Aren't t!hey sweet. My LaLa demands I pick her up while she orders the others to go in the coop and for me to hand carry her and put her personally...they are so funny

That's funny. I have one brahma hen also insists that I carry her into the coop (she's also the alpha hen). I'm hoping the new condo coop will be so roomy that she'll go in with the rest of the group, but I'm not holding my breath. The roo always stays out with her too, I guess he isn't comfortable going to bed without knowing that everyone is settled. Even when I carry her to the coop, I set her down on the ground in front of the ramp and give her a butt pat, but she'll still not quite put her legs down until she's sure that I'm not going to carry her around with me (maybe she's thinking she belongs in the king size bed inside the house.....). She purrs at me and talks to me like I'm her best friend and thank you for putting me to bed. I'm hoping that I'll miss those moments....tired of going out every night with the flashlight to tuck her in and give her a kiss goodnight.

 

[kilby]

yes TNBEARCHICK, I edited to add your name but it did not stick.

 

[brahmabreeder]

We had not done any hatching on the Blue Columbian yet, they took most of the winter off and we just seperated them. So hopefully soon.

I don't have anything out either, and not because I wasn't trying. I lost one of the two breeder boys part way through winter. I just keep telling myself that the extreme cold is what's delaying everything. The girls are on a break right now likely caused from me removing the light in their coop. Hopefully when they do start laying again the pen with the male will have fertile eggs. I was getting a bunch of eggs, but no fertile ones. That's why now i'm just leaving the male in one pen hatching 50 and having him move on. I was trying to rotate him between the pens every so often, but I think the girls weren't adjusting to him and getting comfortable enough to let him mate.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

I don't have anything out either, and not because I wasn't trying. I lost one of the two breeder boys part way through winter. I just keep telling myself that the extreme cold is what's delaying everything. The girls are on a break right now likely caused from me removing the light in their coop. Hopefully when they do start laying again the pen with the male will have fertile eggs. I was getting a bunch of eggs, but no fertile ones. That's why now i'm just leaving the male in one pen hatching 50 and having him move on. I was trying to rotate him between the pens every so often, but I think the girls weren't adjusting to him and getting comfortable enough to let him mate.

Sometimes you can get a hen who is very bossy who just won't let the rooster do his job. It is hillarious to watch a hen run off a rooster. We haven't started collecting Brahma eggs yet for incubation but hopefully next week. I know generally you wait 2-3 weeks but I don't think it will be a problem identifying if it wasn't my rooster fertilizing the girls. We are going to give it 10 days. I am not planning on selling any of the first hatch anyways. These will hopefully be my new flock for next year, hoping that our big boy does his job of improving type and feather quality. They are pretty nice but I think they need improvement.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

Nice going and so early in the year. Mine are not doing that well. NW Pacific climes. I get 6/day from 8 hens. I have never seen such a diversified flock and elegant at that. I have a lavender and morans, chantecler, wellsummer, red comets, and an americauna. How did you start it? this spring I have a light brahma, jersey giant, and 2 barred rocks all 3 weeks old now. the light brahma is such a character too : )

We do love our birds, are you asking how we started our flock? With 5 mutts, then 24 Black Australorp chicks(my first pure bred birds) then Buff Orpingtons, then Light Brahmas. After that a few easter eggers(we jsut kept getting more curious, so we bought a few Barred Plymouoth Rocks. Then a customer mentioned he had bought some Lavender Orpington hatching eggs and told me where(I had to have them). From there it was like skittles, always one more color. We have 32 breeds/colors and enjoy everyone of them. We work a full time job(believe it or not), evenings and weekends are chickens and church.

 

[kilby]

thank you. me too. but trying to have it all in a back yard that is too small. don't even have a normal coop just a sleep house which is secure and dry.
bravo. Once you are good at something it's like riding a bike. bravo!!