Brahma size vs Orpington

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

I have a Dark Brahma (4wks) and I got her from the Country Store in CDA Idaho; how many lbs do you think she will be? I can send pics if you guys want. She is also very docile and totally ok with being picked up and held, is that normal for this breed?

Edit: I should mention that I also have a Lavender Orp and my Brahma is definitely bigger than her. As far as I know, they are the same age (both pullets).

 

[Amer]

I have a Dark Brahma (4wks) and I got her from the Country Store in CDA Idaho; how big do you think she will get? I can send pics if you guys want. She is also very docile and totally ok with being picked up and held, is that normal for this breed?

Edit: I should mention that I also have a Lavender Orp and my Brahma is definitely bigger than her. As far as I know, they are the same age (both pullets).

Hatchery Brahmas don't tend to get very big, especially not the Darks. But they do get bigger than most hatchery breeds. I'd say she might be around 7 lbs as an adult.

 

[Amer]

A docile personality is typical for the breed.

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

Hatchery Brahmas don't tend to get very big, especially not the Darks. But they do get bigger than most hatchery breeds. I'd say she might be around 7 lbs as an adult.

Isn't the breed standard 8-10 lbs? You think she wont be that big? How big do you think my Orpington will be?

 

[MGG]

Isn't the breed standard 8-10 lbs? You think she wont be that big? How big do you think my Orpington will be?

Hatcheries don't breed to standard. They're just trying to produce as many chicks as possible. It does vary by hatchery, some are better, but many hatchery birds have wrong skin/shank color, wrong comb type, poor patterning, etc. I had a hatchery SLW that didn't even have much lacing and only weighed a few pounds. They'll never be as big as birds bred by a quality breeder.

 

[Amer]

Isn't the breed standard 8-10 lbs? You think she wont be that big? How big do you think my Orpington will be?

It is 8-12. I think pullets would be 8 and hens 10 so you are right there. Again, I don't know, hatchery Orpingtons don't tend to be as large as the Standard, especially not the lavenders. I'd expect she'd be more like 5 lbs.

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

Hatcheries don't breed to standard. They're just trying to produce as many chicks as possible. It does vary by hatchery, some are better, but many hatchery birds have wrong skin/shank color, wrong comb type, poor patterning, etc. I had a hatchery SLW that didn't even have much lacing and only weighed a few pounds. They'll never be as big as birds bred by a quality breeder.

Can I send a picture of my Brahma to see if her feathers, comb, etc. is to the standard? Would you be able to tell me if she is the standard Dark Brahma?

 

[Amer]

You can't judge a bird that's 4 weeks old, anyway, I can guarantee that any feed store Brahma is not because breeders aren't letting their good birds get away cheap.

 

[Amer]

Quality birds are very difficult to mass-produce

 

[Pukkits]

I can't offer input on hatchery vs home bred Brahma size. I can tell you when we've had Brahmas from the feed store, it took them several *months* longer to mature than all the other laying breeds we had. When mature, they were definitely bigger. I'd give it a lot of time before deciding yours are Brahma bantams or small birds.