Breda Fowl thread

[maryellen21]

If that's the case then all 8 chicks are female and #9is a male as his tail feathers are just coming in. The 4 pure bredas,and 4 silkie mixes had tails grow really fast with the wing feathers. My 1 cuckoo maran rir langshan mix just started getting tail feathers In. I hope I get at least one breda roo though. The next 4 months will go slow probably lol

 

[Sylvester017]

Oh darn. I'll just wait till the tail feathers show then

You might eventually know your line of birds so well you might inherently come to recognize your females from males early. Wouldn't that be nice? It's like Silkies -- you're guessing for 3 or 4 months about sex and sometimes still don't know until one lays an egg or crows! The only Silkie variety easily recognized at about 2 months old is the Partridge variety since the males almost immediately become obviously more colorful than the pullets. I have a Silkie source who DNA-sexes their chicks and the sexed chicks are ready to go to homes by a month old so you can enjoy a pullet or cockerel while the chicks are still babies. The higher prices of their pullet chicks is relative to how many females from males were found in a single testing. So their DNA sexed pullet chicks can range from $75 to $125 each depending on the ratio of males that came out of the DNA testing. Not that I'm rich, I'm on a retirement income, but being sure I have a pullet is worth it to me since I can have only 5 hens and no roos on my property -- finding homes for unwanted cockerels is difficult in my city environment.

 

[Sylvester017]

My Breda chicks are not cuckoo unfortunately. , mine are black and mottled chicks. I was just curious as 2 of them their tail feathers are set different then the other 2

Females at about 2 months start getting even rounded tail feathers on the ends while the males have pointier irregular tail feathers. It's not rocket science but seems to be the norm for most breeds. This is a cute video put together by someone trying to help identify juveniles by their tail feathers --

 

[Sylvester017]

When our Cuckoo Breda pullet was molting her juvenile feathers, we were finding her broken toe feathers all around the house. It's a shame that once the Breda are outdoors their toe and leg feathers start to break off when they forage. Doesn't seem to cause any problems but it's sad to see those pretty feathers break off.

 

[maryellen21]

Knowing my luck the 9 will all be roos lol. One breda roo I'm keeping to expand the bredas. I'll just wait and see how they turn out

 

[Sylvester017]

Knowing my luck the 9 will all be roos lol. One breda roo I'm keeping to expand the bredas. I'll just wait and see how they turn out

If you need a Breda roo then the odds will be better to get all cockerels rather than all pullets! But they say the odds are 50/50 so we will wait breathlessly with you while they mature!

 

[Sylvester017]

HAD to share -- Partridge Silkie and Cuckoo Breda in an 11x11 nestbox!


Hey you -- MOVE!



No way -- YOU move!

 

[maryellen21]

2 of the silkie /breda mixes are jumping out of the brooder when I open the top. I'm thinking these two are males. So I figure so far 2 males out of 9. I think 2 of the bredas might be male ,only due to their size, as 2 are smaller. I have a small cuckoo maran rir langshan mix chick who has a small comb, that might be a male too. Most of the chicks scare easy, so I hoping females

 

[rooster 2011]

nice to see that people are starting to take interest in this thread again been a few weeks since I posted myself here's a pic of my black Breda hen

 

[boskelli1571]

Here's 'Trouble' - the runt of my babies. About half dead thanks to the PO. Now peeping,eating &drinking also nesting on my shoulders!