# Dark brahma coloring...



## GenFoe

I bought 4 dark brahmas and one of them us very very dark. Almost black I was wondering if this could be a sign of gender or do color variations tend to happen? They are about 19 days old in this picture. The darkest is on the bottom surrounded by barred rocks (almost blends in with them!) the other two brahmas in the pic are to the left and right. The color difference is so striking! Plus they are bold little brats! They peck and bite every chance they get. None of my other birds are nippy. Just these guys! Is it something with the breed? I try to tap them on the head with my finger to show I won't be bullied... Not sure if that even works! If I hold them they will cuddle and settle right in. Just if my fingers are near them they will bite me!

I had asked these questions in another thread a few days ago but there hadn't been any response...









Might help if I add the photo!


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## GenFoe

No answers huh. I can't find anything on google either. Guess ill just have to wait!


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## Bird_slave

Yes, the darks are the only color of brahmas commonly available in the US (lights, darks and buffs) where the males feather out differently from the females. 
I'm surprised by their behavior though. My brahmas are sweet, gentle giants.


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## Bird_slave

Also, I don't think your cockerel/roo is the one surrounded by the BRs. It's the one to the left in the pic, the one with the white on his wings and less feathering. Another possible roo is the one hiding under the board, but I can't see that one well enough to be sure.


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## GenFoe

Haha oh my goodness. They hit the sun and just collapsed! I've read about it happening but it's so funny to see in person. These are my 4 dark brahmas. One super dark brown, one is very light! Strange. One isn't feathering out at all. He/she has bald spots on its wings and its belly is completely bald!


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## GenFoe

Another one.


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## Bird_slave

Okay Gen, I see one definite rooster. In the last pic he's the one at the bottom, with all the white in his feathering. Also in the _next_ to the last pic, the one to the right of him, the one with the least feathering, is a strong possibility for being a roo. Your dark colored one is a hen.


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## GenFoe

Yay! At least one hen! I was hoping as much. Pity too though, the lightest one is so pretty!


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## GenFoe

The one with almost no feathers has white coming in on the few he does have too. I wasn't sure if it was a gender thing with the coloring but the contrast was so significant!! I hope two are hens so I can have a pair but I'm happy with at least one. Brahmas were the breed I really really wanted!


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## Bird_slave

GenFoe said:


> Yay! At least one hen! I was hoping as much. Pity too though, the lightest one is so pretty!


He will grow up to be one absolutely handsome fella. The only one I'm going back and forth on is the one closest to the wood in the pic of them on the rocks. Feathering looks hen-ish, but comb and coloring says rooster.


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## GenFoe

Ill take som updated pics in a week or two  they are the prettiest birds we have!!


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## Bird_slave

Okay, still studying that pic. I _believe_ two hens, two roos. 
By the way, the biting and pecking at fingers thing? I assume you are feeding them treats by hand? They simply want to be the first to get the treats and see your fingers as something juicy, like a worm. 
They'll grow out of it. I have had many, many brahmas over the years. I currently have my 4 old gals (they are 5 years old) and 7 one year olds. There's not a one of them that I can't pick up and cuddle any time I want. The only exception being my rooster. He keeps his distance as I have trained him to do. He sees me as the head rooster and instinct tells him to steer clear of the alpha roo.


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## GenFoe

Yes I do give them worms, mealworms and raisins. They have always been the first ones to come up to me. Even the first days home they would climb up into my hand and cuddle in. I will be so excited to have a 50/50 ratio on them. I've done really well so far with my hen to rooster ratio. Now it's just waiting to see what the silkies are!


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## Bird_slave

This is my late, great dark brahma rooster Thor. He was the absolute best rooster I've ever had. Unfortunately he developed a debilitating leg problem when he was a few years old. When his quality of life suffered we put him down.


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## GenFoe

Wow he's huge! Beautiful too!


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## Bird_slave

GenFoe said:


> Yes I do give them worms, mealworms and raisins. They have always been the first ones to come up to me. Even the first days home they would climb up into my hand and cuddle in. I will be so excited to have a 50/50 ratio on them. I've done really well so far with my hen to rooster ratio. Now it's just waiting to see what the silkies are!


 Silkies take awhile to tell. I know several great silkie breeders that still get stumped from time to time. 
The best advice I can give you there is that the hens will develop a nice round crest. In the roosters it will be more spiky, with stray streamers sticking out of their crests. Unless one crows before then, six months old is the earliest I've ever been able to sex a silkie.


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## GenFoe

Do you know why just one wouldn't be feathering? I was holding him today and he is still bald! No feathers at all around his bum, stomach and back if his wings. He eats great and runs around well with them. Will he catch up? Or is this something that happens when they aren't healthy?


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## Bird_slave

GenFoe said:


> Do you know why just one wouldn't be feathering? I was holding him today and he is still bald! No feathers at all around his bum, stomach and back if his wings. He eats great and runs around well with them. Will he catch up? Or is this something that happens when they aren't healthy?


Gen, is the little bald brahma in the pic we are talking about?


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## GenFoe

Yeah! I gave him a good look over yesterday and only his wings and neck have new feathers coming in. The rest is fluff or baldness!


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## Bird_slave

GenFoe said:


> Yeah! I gave him a good look over yesterday and only his wings and neck have new feathers coming in. The rest is fluff or baldness!


 He is probably just a little slower about it than the others. If he gets to 8 to 10 weeks old and still isn't feathering in I'd start looking for other issues, but right now just chalk it up to him being an individual.

What I have noticed with every one of my roosters, when there is more than one in the flock, is that the alpha roo is the first to develop and get the "roo look" to him. 
Lower ranking roosters can take awhile to develop those characteristics that make a rooster stand out. It's self preservation on their part. They try, with Mother Nature's help, to blend in so as not to draw the attention of the alpha. 
Take Thor for example. He didn't start as the alpha roo in the flock and for the longest time he didn't have any of the flashy looks of a rooster - the large, bright red comb, the handsome saddle and hackle feathers. There was no doubt he _was_ a rooster, he just didn't look the part. The day after I re-homed his predecessor Thor seemed to blossom into a rooster overnight.


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## GenFoe

That makes sense! I got them 4 weeks ago today so they are still very young!


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