New Brahma Group: Blue Partridge x Partridge, Plus Dark

[speckledhen]

I am in love. "Splash Partridge." Taking my time before I jump in, my 2 BR girls are teaching me the hands-on stuff and BYC and y'all are just a wealth of knowledge. I would love to eventually be involved in a breeding program. Are there any types of Brahma that you would personally like to see more of out there? Was reading up last month on a breeding program involving Jubilee Orpingtons, so I was wondering if there's anything similar going on in the world of my beloved Brahmas.

The partridge variety is an import color, just like the Jubliee Orpingtons. Breeders are trying to get the partridge accepted into the Standard of Perfection for the U.S. so the more folks that have them and are breeding them to the Brahma standard, aside from the color issue, the more likely they'll be added some day to the standard, or that's the way I understand it. I have a huge bunch of males this year and only a few pullets, but I have a customer in SC who is a 4H leader and she is really into the breed and the color so she is coming to get all the ones that are not sold by the time she can get here (she had surgery and can't drive yet). Her kids are doing color experiments, I'm told, but she hatched mostly pullets and I hatched mostly males so she needs my boys for the girls. That never changes, always need a male to breed!

This page may be of interest to you, the color combinations and what you get from breeding what. It's from Australia.
http://www.brahmacochin.org/poultry-breeding-genetics

 

[1muttsfan]

Some of those Aussie colors are amazing.

 

[speckledhen]

Some of those Aussie colors are amazing.

They sure are. I like the Blue Darks. If B.J.'s eggs would have been fertile, I might have gotten some for myself.

 

[GrannyHeeney]

Been obsessing over the blues but dang those reds are pretty, too. Starting to think Partridge, big time.

 

[speckledhen]

Pictures of the 8 and 9 week old Brahma chicks, plus daddy Bash and his daughter, Cora.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They aren't babies anymore. How many are left?

 

[speckledhen]

They aren't babies anymore. How many are left?

15 total, and 13 are boys. The customer said she's had folks contacting her to get boys since she took them to TSC to show off their sweet nature but she's only hatched one male. I got all her boys, apparently, LOL. One boy stands up to me when I take Maddie and Jane out of their pen-I've been taking them over to "play" for a few hours so they can hang out with them outside in the covered pen. He thinks the girls belong to him and he's not even 11 weeks old yet. He's going to pull a Hector, I bet, and have to be taught to behave. I've never see any of the Brahma males do that, but though temperament is heritable, nothing is 100% guaranteed with an animal.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hopefully you can move a few more. A couple a month at least, otherwise you will have an interesting winter with them all.

 

[speckledhen]

Hopefully you can move a few more. A couple a month at least, otherwise you will have an interesting winter with them all.

My former customer is supposed to be coming next weekend to get all that haven't sold. She told me which ones to definitely keep aside- the two pullets, plus the two splash males and the two darkest blue partridge males, but one of the partridge boys has such a gorgeous black-as-coal chest, I'd almost be tempted to keep him myself....almost.

Lately, I've felt I might want to begin downsizing to the point that I can put my entire flock, other than the crippled ladies, in an 8x8 coop again. The only quandry would be do I keep only hens and take reproducing my girls off the plate or do I keep only one group with a rooster so I could give broodies eggs and sell off all I don't want, which would be most of them. I could then make the entire back half of the steel barn storage and remove the original coop, which needs paint and is now falling apart with disuse.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Oh that's great new, all of them. That will both sad and relief at the same time. I keep saying I will downsize too, but than I get bored and I miss chicks. I have decided not to add to my goats, rabbits or turkeys anymore, but chickens will go on for a few years yet.

Are your original coops still set up for birds?