New Brahma Group: Blue Partridge x Partridge, Plus Dark

[speckledhen]

Howdy! Your birds are beautiful! Always nice to find more Brahma addicts, heehee!

Hello there! Glad to see you on Bash's thread.

 

[GrannyHeeney]

I <3 Bash

 

[speckledhen]

I <3 Bash

Thanks, so do we! Such a big dollbaby.

 

[Brahmalot]

Those special cases of lurking genes is how I got Tiny the Terrorist Attack Hen, LOL.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...become-a-suicide-flogger.552816/#post-7102527

Hahaha that sounds like one of my Cream Legbar hens. She was the sweetest little chick but once her crest started to obscure her vision she attacked whatever was in her path.

Flew at my face because I startled her one morning but luckily I was on the other side of the hardware cloth. She tried it on Terry his first day in the mixed coop and you could see the inner gamebird come out of him. Normally he’s very passive and really could care less but she challenged him so his inner KungFu fighter came out and he kicked her completely across the run.

Since then she’s settled down a lot. I’m sure a kick from Bigfoot will do that do a girl. Lol

 

[speckledhen]

I’m sure a kick from Bigfoot will do that do a girl. Lol

 

[speckledhen]

Not much to tell lately. They're in various stages of molt, a couple of them looking pretty ratty, even Bash. Today, we had an adventure, though. I let them out to free range, but some had come back. I saw two hens, Bonnie and Cora, run around the back side of the big compost pile and I was calling them. Suddenly, Bonnie shot out from back there running with Cora taking chase, what appeared to be a young snake hanging from Bonnie's beak. Cora was doing her level best to take it from her, but Bonnie was a tough competitor. Then, I realized it was still alive....it was curling around Bonnie's beak, ack!

That's when I began to chase Bonnie...who was running toward, you guessed it, the barn. She shot into the barn with her prize, ran into the Brahma pen, Cora and me right behind her. Then, she zoomed into the bottom nest box, with me yelling "Give me that snake!". Suddenly, I realize she is looking around in the box...she has lost the live snake in the nest box.

So, I grabbed the poop rake, rake all the nest material out of that large bottom nest box, trying to pull it out, with the little critter all the while trying to duck into the shavings and being pretty darn successful at avoiding me. So, I start yelling at the birds and DH hears me over the baby monitor, comes running to see what's wrong. I tell him and he gets this horrified look on his face, grabs the rake and we both start sifting through the shavings with the snake making fools of both of us. It took about 10 minutes, but eventually, we managed to scoop the critter into a 5 gallon bucket and transport it to perimeter fence where it flew through the air and into a less dangerous place for a baby snake. I still have no idea if it was poisonous, which is the main reason I tried so desperately to find it; that and the fact that I could just see it living and growing larger in the barn...and larger...and larger.......

 

[CCUK]

Not much to tell lately. They're in various stages of molt, a couple of them looking pretty ratty, even Bash. Today, we had an adventure, though. I let them out to free range, but some had come back. I saw two hens, Bonnie and Cora, run around the back side of the big compost pile and I was calling them. Suddenly, Bonnie shot out from back there running with Cora taking chase, what appeared to be a young snake hanging from Bonnie's beak. Cora was doing her level best to take it from her, but Bonnie was a tough competitor. Then, I realized it was still alive....it was curling around Bonnie's beak, ack!

That's when I began to chase Bonnie...who was running toward, you guessed it, the barn. She shot into the barn with her prize, ran into the Brahma pen, Cora and me right behind her. Then, she zoomed into the bottom nest box, with me yelling "Give me that snake!". Suddenly, I realize she is looking around in the box...she has lost the live snake in the nest box.

So, I grabbed the poop rake, rake all the nest material out of that large bottom nest box, trying to pull it out, with the little critter all the while trying to duck into the shavings and being pretty darn successful at avoiding me. So, I start yelling at the birds and DH hears me over the baby monitor, comes running to see what's wrong. I tell him and he gets this horrified look on his face, grabs the rake and we both start sifting through the shavings with the snake making fools of both of us. It took about 10 minutes, but eventually, we managed to scoop the critter into a 5 gallon bucket and transport it to perimeter fence where it flew through the air and into a less dangerous place for a baby snake. I still have no idea if it was poisonous, which is the main reason I tried so desperately to find it; that and the fact that I could just see it living and growing larger in the barn...and larger...and larger.......

I'm glad we don't really get snakes so much here, just adders but they're normally only in the woodland. My Brahma are molting at the moment too. One is just mooching around looking in a really sorry state with no tail, a naked bum and hardly any feathers on her neck! Bless her!

 

[speckledhen]

Yeah, poor Cora lost her entire back end as far as feathers go. And a couple of them are so super thin, it's awful to pick them up. I keep giving them special food and probiotics, but they'll slowly recover, I'm sure.

 

[CCUK]

Yeah, poor Cora lost her entire back end as far as feathers go. And a couple of them are so super thin, it's awful to pick them up. I keep giving them special food and probiotics, but they'll slowly recover, I'm sure.

I always wonder why they molt when the weather's turns bad. I suppose it must be so they have a nice new feather coat ready for the real cold bad weather. Poor things, it really takes it out of them. I give mine grower pellets and poultry tonic to help them. But just when you think there about done someone else starts molting!

 

[speckledhen]

But just when you think there about done someone else starts molting!

Ain't it the truth!