New Brahma Group: Blue Partridge x Partridge, Plus Dark

[Sjisty]

I'm so sorry! She looks like she was well loved, both by you and her subjects.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm so sorry! She looks like she was well loved, both by you and her subjects.

Thank you, she was. Two of the Barred Rock hens in that group are just two months younger than she was and one of those is showing signs that her time is near also. The oldsters are beginning to leave us. But Caroline was my last Brahma hen. Now, I have the young ones coming along and I hope they are as wonderful as she was but it's going to take a long time for them to have the status that Caroline did.

 

[Sjisty]

It appears 10 years is THE age. I lost three 10-year-olds this year, two Brahmas and a Jersey Giant. My other JG, Blackie, is now the oldest chicken I have at 10 years, also. She actually still lays an occasional egg!

 

[speckledhen]

It appears 10 years is THE age. I lost three 10-year-olds this year, two Brahmas and a Jersey Giant. My other JG, Blackie, is now the oldest chicken I have at 10 years, also. She actually still lays an occasional egg!

Yes, it does seem to be a common expiration date, at least for non-hatchery stock, though Caroline, strangely enough, was a hatchery gal. My crippled Amanda, who will be 10 in March, if she makes it, still lays eggs several times each year, and she'll even try to drag herself into a nest to do it. Good old gal, that one. Her sister, Becca, who I mentioned is showing signs of going soon, hasn't laid in years and neither had Caroline. My Black Ameraucana, Gypsy, will be 9 next month and she is like Amanda, laying in infrequent spurts. They are amazing hens, especially to folks who think chickens don't lay past two years old, or even think they can't live past two or three years old.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, Houston, we have a problem. Or we may. This afternoon, I was trying to get the various groups back in their respective pens in the barn. I had a jar of scratch and was in front of the Brahmas' pen when Bruno and three of the girls came running into the barn toward me. I was about to remove the lid and toss some in the tray under their feeder for them when Bruno lunged at me and bit me hard on the side of my leg. Unfortunately, I had just changed from jeans into shorts because it got fairly warm this afternoon and he scraped some skin off and will probably have given me a pretty good bruise there. Needless to say, that group got no scratch and I am now wondering if I can even keep Bruno. I will NOT do any aversion therapy other than grab him and pop him on the back of the head if I can catch him when he bites, but if this is leading up to flogging, I won't tolerate it, period. I have zero patience for that, especially from a male who is becoming as large as he is now.

What was interesting was my 22 week old BR cockerel, Hector, apparently heard the ruckus (when Bruno did it, I grabbed for him and got his tail and he was hollering to beat the band for me to let go so he could get away) and came tearing into the barn ready to do battle with the offender as any good rooster should have done. I wonder what would have happened if he'd seen Bruno attack me. Hector is really shaping up to be an excellent flock leader, though he had a few minor issues as a youngster, developing physically very early, before his brain caught up. Bruno, well, I was so hoping great things for him, but we shall see how it goes.

 

[junebuggena]

Start walking through him. Always go out of your way to make him get out of yours. At the moment, he is all testosterone and no brain.
And don't bring treats with you everytime you go to see them. Treats equal excitement. Excitement can lead to aggression. You want calm and relaxed, not amped up and excited.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Oh that's not good news at all with Bruno. He looks so beautiful and I'm sure would be even better looking as an adult. Has he ever done anything like this to your husband? And that's a really good step forward for Hector if he was coming in to protect you.

 

[speckledhen]

Start walking through him. Always go out of your way to make him get out of yours. At the moment, he is all testosterone and no brain.
And don't bring treats with you everytime you go to see them. Treats equal excitement. Excitement can lead to aggression. You want calm and relaxed, not amped up and excited.

I've already started that, was doing it before this. He bit me a couple times when I reached for him and didn't have anything in my hand so I quit hand feeding him anything at all a couple of weeks ago. And I do push him out of the way, have been doing that for some time. So, we'll see if he can get "fixed" by just ignoring him and treating him like furniture. The scratch jar is the "come back home" call, but no, I don't hand feed him anymore. Bash, on the other hand, has done nothing remotely like this. He doesn't even crow so he's intimidated by Bruno.

Oh that's not good news at all with Bruno. He looks so beautiful and I'm sure would be even better looking as an adult. Has he ever done anything like this to your husband? And that's a really good step forward for Hector if he was coming in to protect you.

Actually, yes, he bit Tom the other day for the first time.

 

[1muttsfan]

That is too bad. But he is still young, and maybe trying to sort things out.

 

[speckledhen]

Considering that this breed matures very slowly, I'm assuming Bruno is where Hector was two months ago, a big stupid baby. So, we'll see how it plays out.