Brahma Thread

[Tim63]

Saddle feathers on properly colored Lights. Males of that age would have black saddles laced with white, while females would be solid white. Also females tend to feather more quickly in the saddle region. Saddle feathers on a male would be more pointed as females would be more rounded. Its difficult to determine anything by color on these birds, there is a lot of black where it is supposed to be white.(assuming they are in fact Lights) If they were Darks,it would be obvious by two months as the sexes are colored so differently. My gut says top photo K, bottom P, but that is pure speculation on my part. (a guess)

Tim

 

[brandyk81]

Quote:
Thanks Tim. I reckon I'll figure it out when one of them crows or lays an egg....ha!

 

[Tim63]

It will happen sooner than you think.

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

Is early wing feather coloratition an accurate indication of adult wing feathering? I do not want to cull too early. I also do not see the point of finishing out birds I will cull for sure later.

 

[Tim63]

Quote:
I don't think so. I don't pay too much attention to primary and secondary color in the Brahmas until 3 1/2-4 1/2 months. If your Cochins are all of superior type, you might cull for color a little earlier than that. I just like to pick excellent typed birds first, and then cull for color. I have seen great typed birds with solid black primaries win over better colored less typey birds. I'm not sure if that would be the same for Cochins as my experience is just with Brahma Bantams.

 

[bigzio]

I like to wait til after the first hard molt. It's amazing how much they can change when the new growth comes in.
~ bigzio

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

Quote:
I don't think so. I don't pay too much attention to primary and secondary color in the Brahmas until 3 1/2-4 1/2 months. If your Cochins are all of superior type, you might cull for color a little earlier than that. I just like to pick excellent typed birds first, and then cull for color. I have seen great typed birds with solid black primaries win over better colored less typey birds. I'm not sure if that would be the same for Cochins as my experience is just with Brahma Bantams.

Thank you. Will just feed them for 4 months then sort.

 

[Tim63]

Quote:
What do you mean by "first hard molt"? Your avatar looks like a large fowl, they are MUCH slower to mature than the bantams are.

 

[sableboi]

Howdy BYCer's!

Just wanted to show off this year's F2 birds. I hatched 14 at the end of January and after a few culls (minus some surplus K's I sold) I have narrowed down my batch from 14 - 6 pullets. 3 partridge and 3 Dark. These girls are 16 weeks old and weigh about 4. lbs. They are really developing nicely. I had wanted more pictures, but our camera was MIA over the last few months. Two of the Partridge Girls are going to Janice on here as a swap - but I made sure she got my very best. I have a batch of 10 due to hatch at the end of the week and 6 young darks I am growing that ate 5 weeks old. Busy Busy here at TYMAC FARMS.

 

[Bantimna]

Question: Since LF Brahma's are large would I need to increase the amount of sq ft per bird at all? My current measurement is 4sq ft per per bird, though I am thinking of 8sq ft per bird because of their size.

Bantimna