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CLUCKING CHICKENS
Chirping
This is such an uplifting story, thank you for sharing it with me. Definitely helps me appreciate my little Brahmas a bit more and I really hope I have a little “Tank” in my mix.We had several Brahmas, Buff and Light, and they were awesome. We let them go for one full laying season, then processed them for the freezer. I don’t know what the average weights were, but I can tell you that there was a lot more meat on them than on something like an Orpington, which is often touted as a good dual purpose breed.
The only one we didn’t process was Tank. She was a Light Brahma, best buddies with our English Setter. We called them “bookends”. She was so friendly and gentle. She was always the first to greet the chicks as they came out of the brooder every morning, never harming so much as a bit of peach-fuzz on them.
Our littlest granddaughter Kendra has been in her wheelchair since she was 9 months old. I was her full time day-care provider. She loved the chickens, so we’d take her out when they were free-ranging. One day when Kendra was about 4, Tank flew at her. Because Kendra was so closely supervised, I manage to deflect Tank like a football player deflecting a pass. But Tank kept it up every time we took Kendra out. So one day I picked her up and put her in Kendra’s lap. She snuggled right down, despite Kendra’s excited flapping and giggling. Then Kendra took Tank for a ride. It became a routine. I have always regretted not getting a photo of that, but when Kendra was outside with the chickens my focus was on her and making sure she was safe, not on taking pictures.
if I ever get chickens again - which is not likely - you can absolutely bet there will be Brahmas. They did amazingly well in our wild Wyoming winters. The area we live in is semi-desert, so it gets super hot and dry in summer. They weren’t as comfortable in summer, but some common sense cooling methods for the whole mixed flock did just as well for them. They were, however, a little clumsy in the nesting boxes simply because I hadn’t taken into account how big they would be, I’m sure you’re going to be thrilled with your Brahma assortment - and I confess to a bit of jealously!
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Tank supervising as the Silkie chicks leave the brooder for the day. She did this every morning.