In the mid-19th century , tall , majestic sailing ships , nicknamed clippers , facilitated intercontinental swap . These clipper stood primal to the economies of the time . In 1866 , British paper thirstily follow three of these vessels as they at the same time place sail from Beijing , China , with payload of tea leaf bound for London , England .
Through the thrilling 99 - day journey , the crews of“The capital Tea Race”(as the paper competently titled it ) expertly navigated the Atlantic thoroughfare . compete to dock clenched fist of all the vessels in London , each captain eagerly coveted a premium price - per - pound on the cute caffeinated consignment .
path were varied and the voyages main . Nonetheless , theTaeping , ArielandSericaall docked within a mere two time of day of each other , despite the more than 14,000 - mile journeying . This race brightly exemplify the high percentage point in the clipper trade .
More honest steam ships would soon replace the imperial clippers . However , one more piece of treasured cargo that the clippers carried across the sea during their sea reign was a beautiful Asian poulet , the ancestor of the mod - twenty-four hours Brahma .
Brahma Beginnings
What enterprising person resolve fowl should travel onboard a clipper for a three - month journey across the sea ? I picture a lovely female face with wide - brimmed drinking straw lid tie mildly under her Kuki . She carefully pass on a wooden crateful of prized bird to a roustabout , who takes it , smiling , and carries it out of pile below deck .
The gentle ocean breeze waft a isolated fibril of jet - black hair across her face . She plow back to the waiting jinrikisha .
The origins of the Brahma chicken have become becloud by meter , as historian bring their anthology to more apt and worldly concern - shattering themes than those of a practicalbarnyard fowl .
Jacey Dean
Piecing together remnant of fact and folklore , the chronicle lead that the Brahma wasnamed after the Brahmaputra River in India .
Per the American Brahma Club ’s website , Malays and Cochins were crossed in India . The resultant crossbreed was at some period transported to Shanghai , China .
Either before or after their arrival in China , the breed was further cross with Gray Chittagongs . Hence mark the establishment of the Brahma ’s machine characteristic chase brow and diminutive pea comb .
Jacey Dean
Read more : twofold - purpose chickens convey flexibility to the coop .
Earning Respect
After our enterprising fancied woman senther prized domestic fowl abroad to England , Brahmasbecame well enough get laid to earn a place in the first European script of poultry print in 1856 . Sometime in that century , a constituent of these bird also made it to the Americas .
Then , from the 1850s through the 1890s , Americans continued refine the breed . This American civilisation is credited with the calibration of the light and darkBrahma chicken colors . Both were admitted to the American Poultry Association’sStandard of Perfectionin 1874 . ( The buff coloring material radiation pattern was n’t admitted until 1924 . )
A cursory search may let on extra color variation and patterns . But the easy , dark and buff Brahmas are still the only varieties name in the APA’sStandard of Perfectionat the time of this writing .
Perhaps extra patterns will earn the purebred standards ’ note in the near future . Jacey Dean
Breed Characteristics
Each of the three current approved semblance patterns is lovely in its own right hand , with unclouded distinction between cocks and hens amongst the dingy and light assortment . ( The buff breed follows the same color pattern for tool and hen . )
They have :
Heavily feathered down to their shanks and toe , Brahmas are n’t as bothered by extremely moth-eaten winter day as their slighter , more thinly feathered counterparts . Here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin where I survive , it ’s common for caustic temps of negative 30 grade Fahrenheit to hit for a week or two each wintertime .
Raising animals that can thrive despite wintry temporary is a ceaseless end here at Otterridge Creek . My poor whitened - cap black Polish rooster shivered and nearly gave up the ghostwriter during one such bitter cold snap . But the Brahmas hardly batted their mallet - browed eyes .
Read more : Get the testicle colouring you want with these breed !
Big or Bantam
Brahman are useable in two size : standard and bantam . The American Poultry AssociationStandardcalls for 12 - Irish pound cocks and 9 1/2 - pound hens .
I currently have all three of the color patterns as stock - sized varieties in my flock . Because I ’m fond to buff chickens , buff Brahmas are my favorite . A close runner - up would be the blue Brahmas with exquisitely pencil hen feather and showy dark cock saddles .
But the swooning Brahma wimp still medals in third place with predominately ashen feather accented by black halo around the cervix and keister .
Brahma are a big , gentle razzing . They be given to mind their own stage business and enjoy the good thing in life . Despite the Brahma ’s large sizing , in my experience , they mix well with other poultry .
Characteristics
I ’ve not yet experienced any aggression from Brahmas toward human , chickens or other stock . With our multispecies barn menagerie , any animal that does n’t coexist well with others must be take out or replaced . Thankfully , the Brahmas have passed with fly colors ( no pun intend ! ) .
Brahmas dwell a beautiful brown egg , and some of the hens are likely to set . We’ve successfully crossed Brahmas with Wyandottes and Ameraucanas . Thisresults in some endearing circumstance hens with light leg feathering and adependable unripened egg .
The Brahma’slarge size make any extra cockerelsan first-class source of meat . So thisbreed is a good choice for duple - purpose pursuit sight .
The next time you see a tall mast sporting a furled sail at harbor , recall those ships long ago with crab crates of Gallus gallus stowed in the keep . When you next flip through a poultrycatalog ( or browse a hatchery ’s website ) , appreciate the proportional ease with which you may buy such beautiful bird .
And as you watch your Brahmas blinking underneath their mallet eyebrow in the barnyard , take a bit to acknowledge what past tense generations have done to propagate and preserve this regal domestic fowl for the enjoyment of descendants .
This article originally look in the September / October 2021 issue ofChickensmagazine .
