Brahma Thread

[Summer98]

Do you ever sell your silvers to people who want them for pets (not breeding)? Or are you concerned about letting the genetics from the culls let out? Your avatar picture must be a silver roo? Very cool.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Quote:
Really nice Gary!

 

[Brindlebtch]

Quote:
I just love big birds!

 

[Brindlebtch]

I had a very large (more than 10 lbs) Brahma hen taken down by a red tail hawk. Just happened to be able to scare the hawk off her - it was standing on her head/neck trying to suffocate her, I guess, if hawks do that. Anyway it had her down and was basically strangling her whether it knew it or not. She was barely alive when I scared the hawk away and the next day her head and neck were terribly swollen. She didn't eat for 3 days so we started tube feeding her and after about a week she started really picking up and healed completely. She spent 2 or 3 weeks (can't remember) inside in a dog crate on the dining room table be babied big time.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Big Med's silver laced Brahmas ARE very very cool birds. Calm, friendly, and extremely hardy. And big!

 

[zekii]

I am considering adding some Brahmas to my flock this coming year... are the pullets/hens good layers , time to first eggs ?

Any recomendations where/who has some nice Brahma hatching eggs forsale ?

 

[Sportsterjeep]

Quote:
Check the egg auctions, that's a good place to get pet quality Brahmas to hatch, there seems to be some on there a couple times a month.

 

[zekii]

Do you have a picture of a brahma that shows the vulture hock issue.. ?

Thanks,
Zekii


Quote:
Thank you, they're coming along. An ongoing process of working on type and size, (as with most serious breeders). The vulture hock issue, (a gift from their cochin heritage), had been getting steadily less common, with fewer incidents each generation. To the point I thought I was near ridding it completely from my flock. I suspect a male I used a couple years ago must have been carrying a copy of this recessive trate, and a few chicks popped up with it again. Which also means that at least one female still carried it as well. And unfortunatly there are likely others that may have recieved a hidden copy from this male. Unfortunately this was also the time I was convinced/decided to release some eggs/birds out to other folks. While not a major setback, it does take a little discretion, and discipline picking your breeders to breed away from this fault, which I'm not convinced everybody who now has them, or some of the other new color projects for that matter, are making a high enough priority, in my opinion. Did not intend to go on a rant here, but wanted to explain why I did not sale any silver laced eggs/chicks/birds this past year, and why I outcrossed to light Brahma to address this, and also hopefully pick up some additional size and width as a bonus.

I take it you prefer the silver laced, over the blue laced reds ?

Gary

 

[zekii]

A search on the web yeilded this page which explains vulture hocks + picture

http://www.fowlvisions.com/?p=1146

 

[big medicine]

Quote:
Not using vulture hocked birds for breeders is a very important first step. But it is not as simple as that, being a recessive trait, and having had VH show up in a chick means at least one hen, and the male in the breeding pen each carried a copy. So it's likely half of the non VH chicks out of this same male will carry a copy, (as well as any other chicks from any hen(s) that carried it), and will pass a copy to half their young. Which will remain hidden untill it meets up with a copy coming from the other parent.