Coop run for free range hens?

[Liz Birdlover]

Thank you for the honesty. It is possible and this is my first go around at chickens. If it gets to the point of them overpowering my yard, I’ll relocate a couple. But the plan is, to keep them. I like the idea of keeping them in the run for certain seasons, I might go with a longer run after all.
Like all people, we will upgrade… except, due to my profession, I absolutely need a 1 acre property with a large shop. That is another story and hopefully within the next 3yrs, that will come to fruition.

Wish we lived closer, I'd adopt whatever Brahmas you'd part with. I would love a Brahma Rooster! I absolutely love their gentle, giant personalities & my Brahma mama has been the best brooder & raiser of younsters that weren't even her own. It doesn't sound like you're considering how much you & your family will come to love them, because trust me, you will.

 

[NatJ]

Wish we lived closer, I'd adopt whatever Brahmas you'd part with. I would love a Brahma Rooster! I absolutely love their gentle, giant personalities & my Brahma mama has been the best brooder & raiser of younsters that weren't even her own. View attachment 3777764 It doesn't sound like you're considering how much you & your family will come to love them, because trust me, you will.
View attachment 3777765

Brahmas have small pea combs. That hen has a big floppy single comb.

She's also missing some foot feathers (Brahmas should have quite a few more), and it looks like she has white feet (Brahmas should have yellow feet.) The black in the feathers doesn't look quite the right shape either, and she has some bits of brown mixed into the white areas.

Given the way comb genetics work, that comb should not be possible if even one of her parents is pure Brahma. So she might be part Brahma, but it's probably at least two generations back (she could maybe have part-Brahmas on both sides of her ancestry.) If she's far enough from pure Brahma to have a single comb, she's got plenty of non-Brahma ancestors to account for the other not-Brahma traits as well.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Given the way comb genetics work, that comb should not be possible if even one of her parents is pure Brahma.

I agree she is not pure Brahma with that comb but the pea comb genetics are partially dominant. If both of those genes at that gene pair are pea then you get a pure pea comb. But if one is pea and one is a not-pea you only get a partial pea effect. I call that a wonky pea. You can see the effect from the pea gene but it can look pretty weird. I had that with the EE's I made from pure Ameraucana with single combed breeds. Lots of different interesting looks.

To me that does not look like a pure single combed hen either. A single comb means she does not have either pea or rose comb genetics. So some kind of Brahma mix.

 

[NatJ]

I agree she is not pure Brahma with that comb but the pea comb genetics are partially dominant. If both of those genes at that gene pair are pea then you get a pure pea comb. But if one is pea and one is a not-pea you only get a partial pea effect. I call that a wonky pea. You can see the effect from the pea gene but it can look pretty weird. I had that with the EE's I made from pure Ameraucana with single combed breeds. Lots of different interesting looks.

To me that does not look like a pure single combed hen either. A single comb means she does not have either pea or rose comb genetics. So some kind of Brahma mix.

A Brahma is supposed to be pure for pea.
Given that a split pea/not-pea looks different, you should not find that in a pure Brahma.

A Brahma who is pure for pea comb cannot produce a chick that is pure for single comb. Just not possible.

To me, that hen looks pure for single comb (no pea gene, no rose comb gene, no duplex gene) That is why I said I do not think either parent is a pure Brahma.

Of course I could be wrong about the comb type. If I am wrong about the comb type, then I am wrong about everything that logically follows from the comb type.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A part of the problem with combs is that there are several other gene pairs that affect appearance. Do they stand upright or flop over? How big are they? There are others. The Buttercup effect comes to mind.

It is certainly possible that is a single comb with some different modifying genetics. It is maybe likely because I don't see the thickening I normally associate with the pea gene. But it doesn't look that different from some of the wonky pea combs I got when I crossed single comb chickens with my pea combed Ameraucana. You may be 100% correct that there is no pea gene effect there.

 

[NatJ]

A part of the problem with combs is that there are several other gene pairs that affect appearance. Do they stand upright or flop over? How big are they? There are others. The Buttercup effect comes to mind.

It is certainly possible that is a single comb with some different modifying genetics. It is maybe likely because I don't see the thickening I normally associate with the pea gene. But it doesn't look that different from some of the wonky pea combs I got when I crossed single comb chickens with my pea combed Ameraucana. You may be 100% correct that there is no pea gene effect there.

I agree with you about not seeing the thickening that is common with the pea comb gene. That is a large part of why I thought it was probably single. Yes, I've also done some pea/single crosses and seen a variety of wonky comb types, with the actual single combs standing out in two ways: they are skinnier than pea-mix, and they have tall narrow points (vs. the pea-mix ones that usually have shorter or no points.)

I took it as a floppy single comb: similar to what Leghorn hens often have, combined with being pale and extra-floppy because she was broody instead of laying at the time of the photos (I assumed broodiness because of the chick in the first photo.)

As regards other genes: I ruled out rose, buttercup, and V because of what I saw in the photos. There doubtless are other genes that affect various details of comb size and shape, but I don't know about them.

I'm sure that comb is wrong for a pure Brahma, but I'm not entirely certain about most other aspects of it.

 

[EdgeC]

I had been free ranging mine (fruit tree orchard, leaves fell off winter opening them up), however over the winter when food sources became scarce hawks moved in and started picking off the chickens (ducks survived fine). I ended up making a 25' x 50' run (around their coop) and they make bird netting for the roof. If you want to fortify it, razor wire is cheaper than electric and no animal large enough will want to try to dig in/climb over.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Chanel is a Brahma mix, a rescue basically, so I really do not know what exact mix she is. I do have another Brahma, she is only 6 mos old but she is supposedly pure Brahma...who knows though, the man I got her from gets these chickens from others. Her feet are not yellow skin either, so probably Brahma mix, too. She has a similar body & personality as Chanel. I just love them, though, such big girls, so sweet & have everyone's respect in the coop, all of the other hens treat them both like queens.

The younger Brahma, Sunflower

 

[Breadhead]

What’s everyone’s opinion on this wire for the run? Looks like they are small squares vs. The 2”x4” rectangles.

https://kencove.com/fence/detail.php?code=WH10-6-14

I plan to use this 1x1 on the bottom and above, use the material in the link above.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/VEVOR-H...mL2G_FJrAvlNjW_-rRzhxzjfB_ia6HnYZYoKl9t8bssFw

 

[fuzzi]

What’s everyone’s opinion on this wire for the run? Looks like they are small squares vs. The 2”x4” rectangles.

https://kencove.com/fence/detail.php?code=WH10-6-14

I plan to use this 1x1 on the bottom and above, use the material in the link above.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/VEVOR-H...mL2G_FJrAvlNjW_-rRzhxzjfB_ia6HnYZYoKl9t8bssFw

Get the 1/2" hardware cloth for the perimeter, at least 2' up from the ground and another 2' apron flat on the ground. That will prevent predators from digging under or reaching through.

This shows the apron: