WEBVTT
00:00:00.029 --> 00:00:03.750
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Poultry Keepers Podcast.
00:00:04.190 --> 00:00:10.630
In this episode Blake Bell will be sharing with Rip Stallvee and Carey Blackmon about Brahmas and his passion for the breed.
00:00:11.169 --> 00:00:13.289
So let's get this conversation going.
00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:28.100
Blake is going to talk with us tonight about brahmas.
00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:41.479
And Blake I'm going to assume now, and I probably shouldn't do that, but I would assume based on the number of photos and comments and posts you make about brahmas, they're probably one of your favorite breeds.
00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:42.670
Yes, sir.
00:00:43.469 --> 00:00:46.939
Brahmas and then Black Minorcas are second.
00:00:47.740 --> 00:00:50.689
And you're working on Minorca bantams, is that right?
00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:51.600
Yes, sir.
00:00:52.369 --> 00:00:52.740
Cool.
00:00:53.539 --> 00:00:54.909
Single comb and rose comb.
00:00:55.710 --> 00:00:59.789
I don't know that I have ever seen any more Minorca bantams.
00:01:00.590 --> 00:01:06.079
We're hoping to show a display of those at Shawnee, Oklahoma, this year at the APA National, oh, cool.
00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:06.609
That ought to
00:01:06.609 --> 00:01:07.590
gather some attention.
00:01:08.390 --> 00:01:12.180
Okay, I got us on the Minorcas here and let's get back to Brahmas.
00:01:12.969 --> 00:01:15.670
Tell us where the breed is from originally.
00:01:16.469 --> 00:01:23.349
Originally they they were came, they came from China, but that was the ancestor of all of our Asiatic breeds.
00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:32.950
And then The Cochins, Langshans are all cousins, and they were really developed here in America once they got here into what we know as a Brahma today.
00:01:33.129 --> 00:01:34.709
They didn't look anything like they do now.
00:01:35.165 --> 00:01:37.734
When they got here, they were actually more of the dark variety.
00:01:38.534 --> 00:01:43.435
And then the sports came and they popped out and they went with it and they ran with it.
00:01:43.435 --> 00:01:44.795
And now we have Brahmas.
00:01:45.594 --> 00:01:49.265
What originally attracted you to Brahmas?
00:01:49.284 --> 00:01:50.905
What about them just lit your fire?
00:01:51.454 --> 00:01:56.825
The bold beetle eyebrow that just the eagle look on their face.
00:01:56.894 --> 00:02:03.385
It's very striking and The head and the head and the skull aren't very many points on the scale of points when you're judging them.
00:02:03.875 --> 00:02:07.775
But first impressions are everything and we always start with the head and skull and we're judging.
00:02:07.775 --> 00:02:15.504
And on the Bram it's the only breed where the head and skull are of a very distinct indicator of that breed.
00:02:15.504 --> 00:02:15.534
E
00:02:15.745 --> 00:02:18.865
explain what you're talking about when you say beetle brow.
00:02:18.895 --> 00:02:21.455
Some of our viewers might not understand that.
00:02:21.895 --> 00:02:23.965
So the beetle brow is when their skull.
00:02:24.514 --> 00:02:28.365
Their eyebrows, basically, their skull protrudes over the eyes.
00:02:28.764 --> 00:02:34.955
It gives them a really bold look it puts a shadow on their eye just because it's protruding so far over their eye.
00:02:35.754 --> 00:02:40.965
And I agree with you, what you were saying about the head just catches your eye first.
00:02:41.764 --> 00:02:45.764
As a judge, it always did me, and I know it's not supposed to, but that's a fact.
00:02:45.824 --> 00:02:46.974
That's what you see first.
00:02:47.775 --> 00:02:51.014
What color varieties do we have approved here in the United States?
00:02:51.534 --> 00:03:00.715
In largefowl, we have buff, dark, and light, which buff is not solid buff, it is buff columbian.
00:03:01.514 --> 00:03:07.455
And then, in the bantams, in the APA, we have the same, dark, light, and buff.
00:03:07.805 --> 00:03:12.219
But in the ABA, There is also white and black approved.
00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:16.789
And I know there's some other colors that are being worked on out there as well.
00:03:17.530 --> 00:03:28.469
Yeah, there's partridge and blue partridge silver dark so basically just the black on a dark is blue, or blue dark misspoke there.
00:03:28.909 --> 00:03:29.449
That's all right.
00:03:29.930 --> 00:03:31.870
And there's quite a few other varieties.
00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:34.379
I know there's a lady in Missouri working on mottleds.
00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:36.240
And they're beautiful chickens.
00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:39.199
They're not in our standard, but they're still beautiful American type Brahmas.
00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:40.560
That's cool.
00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:51.370
What about, I know some of our folks are probably thinking they're great big birds and they might have a little concern about temperament.
00:03:51.449 --> 00:03:54.090
Is that something folks need to be worried about?
00:03:54.889 --> 00:03:58.460
The Brahma is probably the most docile chicken in the book.
00:03:58.849 --> 00:04:06.520
They, the biggest thing to worry about is tripping over them because they're going to be at your feet like a bunch of dogs or a bunch of sheep.
00:04:06.715 --> 00:04:09.425
I laugh because my Rhode Island Reds are the same way.
00:04:09.425 --> 00:04:11.175
I call them my tripping fall hazards.
00:04:11.844 --> 00:04:12.074
Yeah.
00:04:12.574 --> 00:04:24.125
And I was sitting, as you were talking, I was sitting here trying to think, I've judged a lot of Brahmas over the years, and I can't think I've ever judged one that even remotely acted like it wanted to be aggressive.
00:04:24.925 --> 00:04:27.834
Yeah, I've never had an aggressive one ever, actually.
00:04:28.334 --> 00:04:31.894
I, and the males are pretty docile to, to the females.
00:04:31.944 --> 00:04:34.694
I don't like separate anything before a show.
00:04:34.694 --> 00:04:38.355
I go to, I just go straight out to the breed pen and I pull them out and take them to a show.
00:04:38.774 --> 00:04:41.985
So they don't, they, the males don't rough the feathers up on the females.
00:04:42.045 --> 00:04:43.675
They're just an overall gentle breed.
00:04:44.475 --> 00:04:48.004
And that's how you, that's how you know, you got a solid breeding program.
00:04:48.555 --> 00:04:54.615
When you're planning to go to the show, it's to just walk outside and grab a few of them, put them in a car and take off.
00:04:55.415 --> 00:04:56.095
Yes, sir.
00:04:56.404 --> 00:04:57.105
That's awesome.
00:04:57.904 --> 00:05:00.074
Makes all the difference in the world, man.
00:05:00.235 --> 00:05:00.834
I'll tell you.
00:05:00.995 --> 00:05:08.365
Do they have any special need, health concerns that folks need to be aware of?
00:05:09.165 --> 00:05:15.925
On on the light Brahmas specifically, they're actually built a little bit different than the darks.
00:05:16.175 --> 00:05:20.214
And I say that just because there's not a lot of buff Columbian to even compare them to.
00:05:20.685 --> 00:05:22.314
So we're gonna, it's lights and darks.
00:05:22.774 --> 00:05:25.074
The darks are very good foragers.
00:05:25.125 --> 00:05:27.985
They run, they do all normal chicken stuff.
00:05:28.194 --> 00:05:29.764
They'll go find bugs and everything.
00:05:30.324 --> 00:05:42.185
The lights if they're on full feed I find they usually, they will sit by their feed bowl and they will just eat and eat and get fat and eat and they really won't do a whole lot of roaming.
00:05:42.915 --> 00:05:52.634
And even if I raise them with my darks, they still do the same thing and it's just, it's almost like they're a whole different, just a whole different ballgame on the lights and the
00:05:53.185 --> 00:05:53.615
darks.
00:05:54.225 --> 00:06:03.185
The darks are an overall they're my favorite just because they're a lot easier to take care of than the lights, in my experience.
00:06:03.545 --> 00:06:10.165
The lights are a little more finicky with a little A few more health conditions, just because they are a little bit bigger.
00:06:10.735 --> 00:06:17.675
And if they're not bred with some leg length to them, they get too squatty and then they end up just going out in their legs.
00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:19.420
And they can't do a whole lot of moving.
00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:30.120
I can remember years ago, I would see more darks, dark brahmas at a show than I would lights and especially buffs.
00:06:30.149 --> 00:06:32.339
There were hardly ever any buffs at a show.
00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:37.529
But I don't see as many dark brahmas, at least down our way.
00:06:38.329 --> 00:06:41.430
Dark brahmas faded out a little bit there for a little while.
00:06:41.709 --> 00:06:43.910
There's a lot of big breeders now that are really, big.
00:06:44.370 --> 00:06:45.490
Put them back on the map.
00:06:45.990 --> 00:06:48.230
We have Robert Anderson in Oregon.
00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:50.339
He ships them all over the country.
00:06:50.730 --> 00:06:51.959
He has great birds.
00:06:52.259 --> 00:06:59.689
I just this spring, I shipped over 70 dozen hatching eggs and we had 85 percent hatch rate out of those hatching eggs.
00:07:00.209 --> 00:07:02.610
So we're really getting those darks back on the map.
00:07:02.689 --> 00:07:09.420
I'm glad to see that because really As far as patterned birds go, that dark color is one of my favorites.
00:07:10.220 --> 00:07:11.629
It's very striking.
00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:16.269
It's really pretty when it's right, and it's not so pretty when it's not.
00:07:17.069 --> 00:07:18.160
Yeah, there is that.
00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:26.480
If somebody wanted to get started raising brahmas would you suggest they get started with hatching eggs or baby chicks?
00:07:27.110 --> 00:07:30.240
Started adults or adults?
00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:41.610
Personally I ship hatching eggs, and from a breeder's standpoint, I am giving the buyer the potential to get my best bird I've ever raised.
00:07:42.139 --> 00:07:46.329
And, there's nothing I can do about it, because they're getting them out of the same breed pens I breed from.
00:07:46.769 --> 00:07:52.300
For say, 125 for a dozen eggs, you're getting 12 shots of getting my best bird.
00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:55.709
And then, you get two birds and you can make your own.
00:07:56.204 --> 00:08:03.855
Where if I sell chicks or started adults or adults, I can always pick out my best birds to keep for myself as the breeder.
00:08:04.475 --> 00:08:08.175
And then my secondhand birds, which are still really good breeder birds.
00:08:08.824 --> 00:08:10.285
Then those are the ones that we sell.
00:08:10.334 --> 00:08:12.464
So I recommend hatching eggs.
00:08:12.464 --> 00:08:15.454
If it is available most breeders won't sell hatching eggs.
00:08:15.485 --> 00:08:15.805
It's just.
00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:20.050
Risky and they have their own way of doing things.
00:08:20.129 --> 00:08:26.250
So I sell hatching eggs and then like Robert Anderson, he ships out started chicks at three weeks old, I believe.
00:08:26.834 --> 00:08:28.024
There's a lot of different options.
00:08:28.074 --> 00:08:32.394
It really depends on the setup and kind of what you're trying to get out of the project.
00:08:33.195 --> 00:08:35.794
I'm sorry, I was just going through some of the comments here.
00:08:36.445 --> 00:08:38.495
Caitlin says, I love my Brahmas.
00:08:39.294 --> 00:08:40.254
And the Breedpen too.
00:08:40.345 --> 00:08:41.485
They're something, aren't they, Caitlin?
00:08:42.284 --> 00:08:44.384
And she is a fan of the Buffs.
00:08:44.384 --> 00:08:49.855
And, I gotta agree, when Buffs are right, they're gorgeous.
00:08:50.355 --> 00:08:57.004
Tried buff birds down here and man, the sunshine just burns that color up down here.
00:08:57.054 --> 00:08:58.054
It looks terrible.
00:08:58.054 --> 00:09:02.085
It winds up looking splotchy and just does not look good.
00:09:02.884 --> 00:09:06.495
But if you got the place for them, they are some nice looking birds.
00:09:06.495 --> 00:09:09.335
We are working on buffs here too.
00:09:09.644 --> 00:09:18.044
It's a slow process, but I'm using my buff bantams and my large fowl lights to make my own buffs.
00:09:18.544 --> 00:09:20.835
We've got some pictures you sent us.
00:09:20.835 --> 00:09:22.715
If you want to when do you want to use those?
00:09:23.514 --> 00:09:24.705
Whatever you want to do.
00:09:24.845 --> 00:09:26.595
We can go through those and talk about them or,
00:09:26.684 --> 00:09:27.664
okay, let's do that.
00:09:28.465 --> 00:09:31.774
These are some photos that Blake sent me today.
00:09:32.575 --> 00:09:33.855
We'll start with these two.
00:09:34.654 --> 00:09:36.184
Okay, man, that's a nice looking light.
00:09:36.184 --> 00:09:37.774
Female Oh my goodness.
00:09:38.524 --> 00:09:40.174
That is a yearling female.
00:09:40.174 --> 00:09:41.404
She's last year's hatch.
00:09:41.904 --> 00:09:46.164
She turned a year old in May or June yeah she's really nice.
00:09:46.674 --> 00:09:49.009
I wish she had a little more length to her on that back.
00:09:49.809 --> 00:09:54.850
I'm supposed to have a short tail, but you can always lengthen them out, make them fill up a whole double coop.
00:09:55.649 --> 00:09:58.700
And then on the buff she just needs to be a shade darker buff.
00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:01.850
But I keep her around for her type.
00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:09.710
She's got that massive Brahma skull, three ridges on her pea comb, which in my opinion, if it doesn't have three ridges, it's not a pea comb.
00:10:10.490 --> 00:10:10.950
I agree.
00:10:11.070 --> 00:10:17.450
Nice dewlap those drastic, extreme ear lobes that Brahma should have, that really gives them that Brahma look.
00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:22.429
I always think of Brahma cattle, they have all those wrinkles and stuff, that's how that Brahma head should look.
00:10:23.230 --> 00:10:25.190
She's got the head going on, that's for sure.
00:10:25.990 --> 00:10:27.190
Alrighty, two lights.
00:10:27.850 --> 00:10:31.759
On the lights, the struggle is getting a little bit of leg underneath them.
00:10:32.360 --> 00:10:34.409
Like I said, it's on the large trail and the bantams.
00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:36.860
They all end up being a little too short legged.
00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:38.500
The male's better than the female here.
00:10:39.299 --> 00:10:43.110
But, other than that, they're pretty good examples.
00:10:43.110 --> 00:10:44.970
There's definitely things I would fix about them.
00:10:45.769 --> 00:10:48.990
But, a lot of people think the lights are prettier than all the other varieties.
00:10:49.789 --> 00:10:51.769
I still fall for the darks every time.
00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:53.120
I'm with you, buddy.
00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:54.340
I'm with you.
00:10:55.139 --> 00:11:07.149
And then you can't see the size difference because the bantam is ahead of the largefowl, so she looks bigger in this picture, but this is a bantam in the front and then the largefowl pullet in the back.
00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:15.029
They're both the same age, just to show that the bantams do mature a little faster, and, if you want something that you just want to show.
00:11:15.404 --> 00:11:17.855
You want to hatch it in January and show it by June?
00:11:18.294 --> 00:11:18.975
Get bantams.
00:11:19.565 --> 00:11:24.004
If you don't want to show something for 18 months or 24 months, then get largefowl.
00:11:24.804 --> 00:11:28.044
Yeah, there's just a tad difference in the way they mature and grow out.
00:11:28.835 --> 00:11:28.985
Yeah,
00:11:29.784 --> 00:11:30.914
that's definitely the truth.
00:11:31.414 --> 00:11:34.965
That's, so this is two of the best largefowl darks.
00:11:35.424 --> 00:11:37.095
females I've ever raised.
00:11:37.644 --> 00:11:41.534
These go back to Frank Rees Jr's line, these two females.
00:11:41.534 --> 00:11:43.315
These are pure Frank Rees Jr.
00:11:43.315 --> 00:11:43.745
birds.
00:11:44.544 --> 00:11:48.105
It's we want three or more pencilings on each feather.
00:11:48.904 --> 00:11:52.215
So when we go through and cull, we're looking for that.
00:11:52.235 --> 00:11:59.995
We want the penciling to go all the way down to the feet and the foot feathers to have penciling, the fluff to have penciling all the way down.
00:12:00.544 --> 00:12:01.235
It's very hard.
00:12:02.034 --> 00:12:03.625
But it's very rewarding when you get it.
00:12:04.174 --> 00:12:11.794
A common thing I see in pencil varieties in the females is the penciling gets blurry.
00:12:12.595 --> 00:12:13.414
How do you correct that?
00:12:14.215 --> 00:12:19.134
You have to have a male that has too much color on him.
00:12:19.414 --> 00:12:33.325
He has to have white within his breast, so a show type Dark Brahma should have a solid black breast, solid black thighs, and and then just that silver on top with the primaries having that silver streak on it.
00:12:34.125 --> 00:12:41.669
But a breeder type male to get this caliber of penciling, you have to have a male that has way too much color that you can never show.
00:12:42.470 --> 00:12:45.360
And you have, it's basically a male and female line.
00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:49.639
And those males every time will throw color just like this.
00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:56.759
Man, I know when I had partridge wine dots, that penciling gave me a fit on those females.
00:12:57.259 --> 00:13:00.000
It's been a long road, but it's very rewarding in the end.
00:13:00.309 --> 00:13:00.950
Yes, it is.
00:13:01.750 --> 00:13:02.600
Yes, it is.
00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:06.879
And folks, this is what a dark Brahma male looks like.
00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:12.889
And I chose this picture in particular just to show that size difference.
00:13:13.649 --> 00:13:19.080
That's a pretty that's a big water pan, not tall, but big, with a cull duck.
00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:24.330
So that you can see that, just his skull is half the size of a cull duck.
00:13:25.129 --> 00:13:25.649
It is.
00:13:25.669 --> 00:13:30.490
It's when you draw attention to it like that, I hadn't really noticed that before, but it's impressive.
00:13:31.289 --> 00:13:34.759
They are one of the largest birds in the standard.
00:13:35.309 --> 00:14:00.629
I chose this picture to demonstrate the buff Colombian pattern and then the three ridges on the rose comb, or the pea comb, and to have width, which Angela Han in her Crevacore video mentioned a picture with width and this was, I, it's just so important in every breed that we have birds that looking from the front, they stand on very square legs.
00:14:01.174 --> 00:14:04.404
And have a width all the way through the, through to the tail.
00:14:04.884 --> 00:14:09.034
Because the width, it just helps with so many things, egg production.
00:14:09.514 --> 00:14:13.855
It shows that they have good meat over their back and they're not all bone.
00:14:14.095 --> 00:14:15.164
They're not all feathers either.
00:14:15.174 --> 00:14:16.195
Cause they can't eat feathers.
00:14:16.995 --> 00:14:19.615
And that means the females are going to lay lots of eggs.
00:14:19.644 --> 00:14:21.924
They have enough room in their internal.
00:14:22.549 --> 00:14:28.279
Internal, for their internal organs to be proper, to be large enough to to compensate for that large bird.
00:14:28.610 --> 00:14:36.399
Because if you have a small frame bird or yeah, a small place for a heart, the heart's not going to get big enough.
00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.009
And that bird is just not going to live very long.
00:14:38.009 --> 00:14:38.690
It's like a dog.
00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:41.620
The great Danes, they're the largest breed.
00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:42.620
They don't live very long.
00:14:43.149 --> 00:14:46.769
If we breed into a pedigree, they're going to live a little longer.
00:14:47.570 --> 00:14:49.370
Makes all the difference in the world.
00:14:49.740 --> 00:14:50.919
All the difference in the world.
00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:54.149
Okay, I think that's all of the slides we got there.
00:14:54.889 --> 00:14:58.860
But I tell you what, I could get excited about those Dark females.
00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:00.799
They look really spectacular, bud.
00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:01.879
Thank you.
00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:06.480
Let's talk about managing Brahmas for a minute.
00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:09.019
What about weather hardiness?
00:15:09.570 --> 00:15:11.429
They are very cold hardy.
00:15:11.990 --> 00:15:15.039
My coops they're, some of my coops are behind me.
00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:16.149
I just use hoop coops.
00:15:16.450 --> 00:15:18.159
So I use two cattle panels.
00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:22.379
Four 2x4s, and then chicken wire around it with a tarp.
00:15:23.179 --> 00:15:25.429
And open ended on both sides.
00:15:25.590 --> 00:15:27.889
It gets down to negative 15 here.
00:15:28.690 --> 00:15:29.870
Sometimes negative 20.
00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:33.000
No special treatment as long as they have fresh water and feed.
00:15:33.629 --> 00:15:35.190
They'll survive all the winters.
00:15:35.250 --> 00:15:36.220
No frostbite.
00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:42.120
The heat they need fresh water twice a day at least, once it gets above 100 degrees.
00:15:42.690 --> 00:15:46.919
They're good to 100 degrees, but anything over 100 degrees you'll have some fatalities.
00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:48.450
Makes sense.
00:15:49.250 --> 00:15:50.320
What about hatching?
00:15:50.379 --> 00:15:53.000
Anything special folks need to know about hatching Brahmas?
00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:58.740
So as far as Brahmas go, I usually run five females with a male.
00:15:59.539 --> 00:16:01.169
You can run a few more than that.
00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:04.149
I find best fertility is with five females.
00:16:04.500 --> 00:16:08.230
Sometimes he gets picky and he'll only pick four or five.
00:16:08.629 --> 00:16:12.769
And anything above that he won't mess with just because they are so big.
00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:15.029
Takes quite a bit more work for them to breed.