Dark Brahma Chickens | All Information About Breeder To Baby Chicks Hatchery

With their fascinating look, giant size, and gentle posture, Dark Brahma Chickens, also widely known as the “The King of Chicken Poultry,” are the perfect choice for poultry enthusiasts worldwide. In this blog, we will explore the capitative world of Dark Brahma Chickens, discussing their origin, physical appearance, characteristics, care requirements, and much more.

These chickens are excellent pets and easy to look after because of their calm and gentle temperament. They can adjust in hot and cold regions and easily adjust to various climates. When we talk about their feeding habits, they eat like a horse but are not very picky and can thrive on different types of food.

They are excellent layers, producing large-sized brown eggs regularly. However, you must give them a balanced diet and nutrients to keep them healthy and increase their productivity.

Advantages of Raising Dark Brahma Chickens

Dark Brahma, an American chicken, will be a great addition to your backyard. It is a dual-purpose chicken, not only for egg purposes but also for fulfilling our meat requirements. Regarding breeding, Dark Brahmas are famous for their broody nature.

They are known to be good mothers and look after their chicks after successfully hatching. There are so many advantages to keeping and Raising them.

Dark Brahma’s are a dual-purpose breed of chicken. It means they are bred to be excellent in egg and meat production. They are Farmer’s and breeders’ first choice to keep a multi-purpose breed that gives their business a steady egg supply and good quality meat options. They mature slowly and start laying in 8 to 9 months.

They are famous for their huge size and beautiful coverage with feathers. They have a broader chest and deeper body structure. Their V-shaped bodies make them attractive compared to other chicken breeds, making them a good match for meat production. On average, this bird produces 200 plus eggs over twelve months, which is a good rate for giant-sized birds. It means 4-5 eggs per week. Overall, they are a perfect choice for those looking to raise chickens for both purposes, Egg and Meat.

Dark Brahma Chicken Egg

In terms of egg production, Dark Brahma are considered good brown egg layers, especially in winters when other breeds stop laying eggs because they are cold-hardy chickens due to their feathers. They can lay around 200-220 large brown eggs annually, a good number for a dual-purpose breed.

However, they are slow to mature compared to other small breeds. They started laying eggs around 8 to 9 months old, whereas other small breeds started laying at 6 to 7 months. Their egg production is lower than some pure hybrid breeds, famous as egg machine breeds.

Appearance and Feather Patterns

Brahmas are enormous. Their black feathers with white lacing patterns give them a unique and appealing appearance.

Extra Large Size

Dark Brahma Chickens Gentle Giants. Brahmas are big; due to their large size, people think they are challenging to keep and raise, but they have strong attributes in both areas, like brown egg and meat production, and are famous for having a calm, gentle, and docile nature, making them easy to handle and manage.

Dark Brahma Chicken growth pattern differs from others; they look huge at just 7 months of age, and heavy feathering makes them more gentle giants with feathered legs. They are 70% bigger than other standard-breed chickens.

Dark Brahma Chicken Colors

Dark Brahma Chickens consists of only 2 colors, white and black. Their hackle and saddle white feathers laced with fine black outline markings and red pea comb make this color combination awesome and make them more attractive.

You can select three basic color patterns of Brahma for your backyard chicken. Original colors are formal and consist of Light Brahma, Buff Brahma, and Dark Brahma; after that, many colors are also made with particular breeding schemes of color combinations such as Lavender Brahma, Gold Patridge Brahma, Black Brahma, White Brahma, and so on.

American Poultry Association has set some American Standards of Perfection for these birds to check the quality of breeder from different aspects like plumes on their toes and shanks, feathers covering their feet and shanks, and beautiful pea combs. A dark variety of colors with thick feathering is smooth and consists of thick down all over the body.

Extra Color Variations

• Partridge Brahma
• Lavender Brahma
• Gold partridge Brahma
• Silver Laced Brahma
• Golden Laced Brahma
• Black Brahma
• Blue Columbian Brahma

Eyes

Their eyes are aggressive and impressive, covered with feathered eyebrows called Beetle Brows. They also have a wide, broad head with a skull that sits out over the eyes.

Dark Brahma Rooster vs Hen

The hens and roosters have distinct features that make them recognize easily. The sale plumes have black lacing stripes in roosters of this breed, unlike the hen, which has dark grey colors with beautiful silver-penciled markings on shouldered wings and main plumes that are edged with white lacing contrast.

Understanding the Key Characteristics

Dark Brahmas chickens are known as big chickens and ornamental value, with feather-footed chickens famous for their appealing appearance and gentle character.

Health Issues

Regularly Check the feet of Dark Brahma and remove any hard balls if you find them because mud balls are not only unhygienic but also very dangerous and prompt to pointers of toes and damage of nails.

Dark Brahma Chicks

These chicks look different from other chicken breeds, and feathered legs make them distinctive. They are dark golden brown when they hatch. Providing ample space allows them to grow vigorously. Their size makes them unique from chicks of other breeds.

Prices may depend on many factors, like availability, pure bloodline, breeder, and age of chicks. You can find it from Meyer Hatchery, McMurray Hatchery, Hoovers Hatchery, Cackle Hatchery, Mt Healthy Chase Hatchery, etc. Day-old dark Brahma chick price ranges from 5$ to 20$.

Chicken Coops

Brahma chickens are king. They need a secure and spacious coop. Before keeping them, you must know what they need. First of all, big-sized coops, at least 4 – 5 square feet of floor space per breeder, where they run, play freely, and stretch their body easily. The coop must be designed so that each fulfills its requirements and coop design.

Hens are popular for steady egg production in all seasons, so nesting boxes for hens should be 15x15x15. They require a stress-free and healthy environment to grow vigorously. They have a sporty nature, so they need ample space for exercise. They need shade and water all the time.

Shady Area In Coop

They have thick feathers on their body that can easily influence heat stress during summer. Providing ample shady areas in a Brahma chicken coop is crucial for several reasons, like protecting against extreme heat and keeping them restful in warm temperatures. Shade is vital in maintaining their shiny appearance and protecting their plumage.

Their Feathers play the main role, enhancing their beauty; small cages can cause damage to the body and feathered feet of chickens.

Fresh Water

Water is essential for all living beings for hydration and well-being. Ensure they always have clean and fresh water in a clean water container or pot in their coop. You can add some multivitamins and electrolytes as per recommendation. Like all other chickens, Brahma needs a constant water source that can be easily accessible in their cage and ensure that chickens never go thirsty.

Muddy or unclean water can lead to stomach-related health issues for chickens. Wash the water container with soap and sanitize it to prevent the growth of harmful viruses and bacteria. This practice solves many issues before creating.

Dark Brahma Chicken Broody

The hens tend to go broody in early summer and will sit on and hatch eggs, but the hatching needs to be supervised to ensure they don’t get crushed because of the size of the hen. They are broody in nature and attentive mothers, which make good mothers. That’s why they are good mothers and raise their chicks carefully, which adds a great element to your chicken-keeping and raising experience. Hens sometimes go broody.

Dark Brahma Rooster

Dark Brahma Rooster looks entirely different from the hen. Roosters are normally black with striking silver, while hens are beautiful silver-penciled grey. They fertilize the egg for the successful hatching of eggs. The weights of Dark Brahma Rooster are around 12 to 16 lbs, and Cockerel 10 to 12 pounds.

Roosters are extraordinarily quiet, beautiful, and friendly. Meat production is the primary purpose of the rooster. They are famous for their large size and meat production. They look after your flock from prey to predator.

History of Dark Brahma Chickens

The Dark Brahma breed probably came to the United States of America from China and India in 1840. Their development process, from large birds with heavily feathered legs, occurred in the United States from 1850 to 1890. The bird is named after the Brahmaputra river in India.

Light Brahma vs Dark Brahma

FAQs