New Brahma Group: Blue Partridge x Partridge, Plus Dark

[Pyxis]

Yup, nothing like setting eggs to have a broody finally show up. Brandy was running around clucking yesterday. I'd expect her to begin sticking to a nest within days since I have 27 eggs in the bator on Day 6 today. Geez, Brandy, thanks. Now, I'll have a glut of chicks, if the bator does the job. I know Brandy will!

Awesome! I cannot wait to see all the chicks

I've ended up with some partridge brahma chicks as well. Not on purpose, the woman told me they were light brahma chicks, I drove out 45 minutes to meet her, got there, and suddenly it was "You know these are out of a blue partridge hen, right? The rooster is a light brahma."

...no? How could I know that if you don't say so in your ad? Anyway, there was one light and two partridge and I drove 45 minutes so I took them. However, playing with a genetics calculator tells me that that cross is actually sex linked, with all females being light brahmas and all males being partridge, sigh. So I have two partridge males that I have nothing to do with.

Turns out she does have one light hen so maybe my light one is actually fully light, will have to grow it out to see if the columbian patterning is correct or only partial to find out. Or if it's a rooster then for sure it's out of the light hen.

 

[speckledhen]

Seems like a pretty big detail to leave out to me! Grrrr. This time I have eggs in there from my B.J. so if one colors out as a Dark Brahma, I know it's male. And with Bash being blue partridge, it could be a blue dark male. I cannot find a pic on the web of one of those yet to see what it might look like, sounds really handsome, though. Probably exactly like a Dark Brahma rooster, but blue where the dark is black. So blue with silvery hackles? Oooh, can't wait to see!

 

[Pyxis]

Seems like a pretty big detail to leave out to me! Grrrr. This time I have eggs in there from my B.J. so if one colors out as a Dark Brahma, I know it's male. And with Bash being blue partridge, it could be a blue dark male. I cannot find a pic on the web of one of those yet to see what it might look like, sounds really handsome, though. Probably exactly like a Dark Brahma rooster, but blue where the dark is black. So blue with silvery hackles? Oooh, can't wait to see!

That sounds gorgeous! I would love to see that if you end up with one. But would you be able to keep him if you did, or would he have to be sold?

 

[speckledhen]

That sounds gorgeous! I would love to see that if you end up with one. But would you be able to keep him if you did, or would he have to be sold?

Probably have to be sold unless something happens to another of my roosters before I have to make the decision. Sigh. I love Bash's temperament and so does my husband. Another sweet-natured giant studly guy would be hard to let go, but alas, not much choice if no one else leaves here before that time.

 

[speckledhen]

So, the 27 incubator eggs are on Day 15 now. And Brandy is on 8 Brahma eggs on Day 3. Yep, she finally got serious.

My husband came in yesterday all complimentary about how easy it is to deal with Bash, how he obeys when he's told to go home, how sweet he is when you approach him. He's really won us over with his sweet spirit, that big giant teddy bear. The Brahmas really are easy keepers. Yes, they eat a tad more than the others do and a few go broody quite a bit, though not all. B.J., Betsy, Bailey and Cora have not gone broody yet, though Cora is only a year old. Bash and his original girls will be 2 years old in June.

 

[speckledhen]

I moved the eggs out of the turner. Tomorrow is Day 18 and I'll just hand turn them the rest of today, but I candled them. I did it about day 9 or so, and though I thought all except one or two were developing, I think my flashlight was not working so well. I had to remove 5 eggs. One was an early quitter, but 4 of them seemed to either be completely infertile or they stopped super early, no blood rings. From the shapes of the eggs, it looks like two were B.J.'s, my Dark Brahma hen, and the others belonged to another hen, maybe Bailey, but can't say for sure. I know that every one whose name I had marked, when I knew who laid the egg, mainly Betsy or Brandy or Bonnie, was fine. I don't know if I got any of Cora's in there, not sure. So, I'd say Bailey would be the most likely suspect on a couple of those.
One Brahma egg had a tiny hole about 3/4 of the way down toward the pointy end. Could have been a calcium deposit that got knocked off in the turner. I took out that egg to candle first and found a live chick and an aircell in that same location, very odd. I put a tiny piece of tape over that hole, but it's going to be questionable to go the distance. It was definitely placed in the turner, large end up, so not sure why the chick was positioned that way, but it happens.

Of course, all six eggs from the Hector pen seem perfectly fine.

 

[speckledhen]

Candled the eggs under Brandy and the two I know are B.J.'s are also not fertile. Chemical incompatibility of some sort, maybe? I know it happened with Suede and my Lt. Brahma, Miranda, because I did numerous test hatches of her eggs after many folks never got any from her, only Caroline.
Bonnie is also broody. Sigh. See her all puffed up? She was growling at me because I kept petting her, sounded just like a dog, LOL. And Betsy on the top of the portable nests, B.J. and super-weirdly-dark Bailey on the roosts.
And my sweet Bash.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Maybe Bash isn't doing his job. Your birds always look good. I can hear Bonnie's growling from here.

 

[speckledhen]

Maybe Bash isn't doing his job. Your birds always look good. I can hear Bonnie's growling from here.

Oh, Lisa, he's doing his job with panache! He is insistent on breeding those girls. And I see him breed every one multiple times each day. So, either he's not getting it right with her or something physical is off between those two. Hard to say. But, I'd like to see what they produce!

 

[Pyxis]

Oh, Lisa, he's doing his job with panache! He is insistent on breeding those girls. And I see him breed every one multiple times each day. So, either he's not getting it right with her or something physical is off between those two. Hard to say. But, I'd like to see what they produce!

I wonder if maybe he's not making contact with her because she has so much fluff? It's a problem that happens in some breeds like orps, silkies, cochins, etc, and the feathers around the vent are trimmed back to make sure the rooster can actually make contact during mating. Maybe she needs a little feather trim