Being a confirmed fan of the Brahma chicken breed, I got me a few more Brahma chicks this summer, and one turned out to be a magnificent roo that I call Penrod.
Penrod is now going on seven months, and he is almost as large as the wild turkeys I have running all over my place. His legs are like tree trunks, his feet like battleships, and his bulk has given him a severe case of inadequacy when it comes to any demand for agility, hopping, flying, or leaping.
When Penrod began to whimper and whine when it came time to hopping into the coop at night, a doorway that was all of 20 inches off the ground, I saw that we had a problem. He would stand there and flex his knees, trying to gather up courage to attempt the jump for a full minute, only to attempt it and fail, hitting his neck on the stoop, bruising his pride mortally.
So I built him a special hanging stair, which he mastered on the very first try.
He's never been able to navigate a roosting perch that was higher off the floor than 18 inches without my putting him up there, so when I finished the new rooster coop, I built Penrod his very own personal perch that is 10 inches off the floor. I didn't even have to show him to it. He knew from the very start that it was for him. Occasionally, his side-kick and former brooder mate Darrel, a Black Cochin roo, will share the barely-deserves-to-be-called-a-perch with Penrod, but Darrel's pride normally dictates he use the regular perch that's 30 inches off the floor. Penrod has never shown any inclination whatsoever to roost anywhere but on his own personal perch close to the floor.
Penrod is my first Brahma roo. I know he's not done growing. I know they grow to be very large and heavy. Is this typical behavior of Brahma roos? Do they all balk at getting very far off the ground? In all fairness, my older Brahma hens are fairly reluctant to attempt roosting at higher elevations, too.
Penrod is now going on seven months, and he is almost as large as the wild turkeys I have running all over my place. His legs are like tree trunks, his feet like battleships, and his bulk has given him a severe case of inadequacy when it comes to any demand for agility, hopping, flying, or leaping.
When Penrod began to whimper and whine when it came time to hopping into the coop at night, a doorway that was all of 20 inches off the ground, I saw that we had a problem. He would stand there and flex his knees, trying to gather up courage to attempt the jump for a full minute, only to attempt it and fail, hitting his neck on the stoop, bruising his pride mortally.
So I built him a special hanging stair, which he mastered on the very first try.
He's never been able to navigate a roosting perch that was higher off the floor than 18 inches without my putting him up there, so when I finished the new rooster coop, I built Penrod his very own personal perch that is 10 inches off the floor. I didn't even have to show him to it. He knew from the very start that it was for him. Occasionally, his side-kick and former brooder mate Darrel, a Black Cochin roo, will share the barely-deserves-to-be-called-a-perch with Penrod, but Darrel's pride normally dictates he use the regular perch that's 30 inches off the floor. Penrod has never shown any inclination whatsoever to roost anywhere but on his own personal perch close to the floor.
Penrod is my first Brahma roo. I know he's not done growing. I know they grow to be very large and heavy. Is this typical behavior of Brahma roos? Do they all balk at getting very far off the ground? In all fairness, my older Brahma hens are fairly reluctant to attempt roosting at higher elevations, too.