Light Brahma Chickens – all you need to know.

The Light Brahma chicken is one of the varieties of the Brahma Chicken that is recognized by the American Poultry associations Standards of Perfection and the British Standards of Perfection. 

The light Brahma is fully feathered, with feathers at the feet, and is classified as Asiatic, due to its origin from Asia. 

The heavy feathers, in conjunction with the pea comb and huge body size, make the light Brahma cold hardy.  

Light Brahma is a medium egg layer, laying up to 150 brown eggs per year. They lay throughout the year, are good brooders, and mothers to light Brahma chickens. 

When light Brahma eggs hatch, you will get light Brahma chicks with smokey gray down feathers and some yellow down feathers on their heads.

Physical attributes

The light Brahma stands out not only because of the large size that is common in all Brahma chickens but also the combination of silver white and black feathers, well placed on the neck hackle, sandals, wings, and tail. 

Light Brahma Colors

The light Brahma is has a mixture of well-arranged white and black feathers. The head has silver-white feathers, followed by a mosaic of silver-white feathers, interrupted by a black stripe at the middle of each feather. 

The saddle of the light Brahma has white feathers, however white with black stripes is accepted in the standards of perfection. 

The difference in the color of light Brahma Males and Females is that the females have silver-white, striped with black feathers on the neck hackle, with the black area of the feathers having a white border. 

Color of light Brahma Chicks. 

The color of light Brahma Chicks varies. They might have completely white or light yellow color on their bodies, with black colored areas on their heads. Some chicks have smokey gray color on their bodies with yellow feathers on their heads. As their feathers grow and they shade their chick down feathers, the distinctive black and white light Brahma color pattern develops. Within the first few weeks, you will notice feathers with black edges growing on the wings. 

How to tell a light Brahma rooster from a hen

Unlike Dark Brahmas, Light Brahmas are hard to differentiate between make and female when they ate chicks. However, at about 4 to 7 weeks, light Brahma chickens start to develop differences in their feather pattern, making it the ideal time to tell the difference between light Brahma pullets and light Brahma cockerels.  

It is easy to tell a light Brahma rooster from a hen, based on their body size and plumage. Light Brahma roosters are bigger in size than light Brahma hens. Light Brahma hens have silver-white hackles feathers with black stripes with the black center of each feather having a black border.  while light Brahma Roosters have silver-white feathers on the neck hackles, with a black stripe at the center of each feather. 

Height of Light Brahma Chickens

Light Brahma chickens grow to be to 30 inches tall, with most averaging at 26 inches. 

Size of Light Brahma Chickens

In addition to the average height of 26 inches, light Brahma weighs 8 to 9.5 pounds for female light Brahma and up to 12 pounds for male light Brahmas. This combination of height and weight makes the light Brahma a big bird.  

Light Brahma Comb

The light Brahma has a small, pea comb that fits tightly on the head. This is one of the qualities that make the light Brahma a great winter bird as its small pea comb is not prone to frostbite. 

Light Brahma Temperament

Light Brahma chickens are friendly and can easily be handled and carried. They will do well in confinement, but they thrive well in open spaces. Being calm and docile, they make a good breed to have in your homestead and backyard. They are quiet and will not make unnecessary noise. 

Light Brahma roosters are not mean. They will not attack people and children but will protect other chickens in the event of an attack by a predator. 

Light Brahma Meat

Light Brahma produces good quality meat, with yellow skin. They can be butchered at between 8-10 weeks, but it is ideal to butcher them at 10 months. At the age of 10 months, you will get a good meat yield. 

The meat of light Brahmas will be firmer than store-bought broiler meat. It will be darker and will taste great. They will yield big breast meat, but not as big as Cornish Cross’s breasts. This is because most dual-purpose chickens were bred to have single breasts, while meat chickens like the Cornish Cross are double-breasted. 

Light Brahma Eggs

Light Brahma are good layers for a dual-purpose bird, laying about 150 eggs per year. Their eggs are brown in color. The size of light Brahma eggs is medium to large. 

Light Brahma will start laying eggs at about 6 months.  They will lay continuously, even throughout winter, until their first molt, where egg production drops. The onset of laying eggs in light Brahma chickens might take up to 12 months. This is the case if the chickens reach sexual maturity during the winter months. 

Housing Light Brahma Chickens

Light Brahma chickens, being heavy birds require more space in their coops and runs than normal-sized chickens. The doors for the coops should be larger in order to accommodate their body sizes. The pop doors for a light Brahma coop should be placed a bit lower than normal standards because the light Brahma chicken cannot fly high.  This makes it easier for them when get in and out of the coop. 

Light Brahma chickens do not roost much, it is recommended to provide roosts that a strong enough to bear their heavy body weights. 

The house for light Brahmas should be kept clean and dry. This is because the feathers on their feet tend to drag dirt around. 

Though they are cold hardy birds, light Brahma housing should be kept free from drafts during winter. Their coops should be winterized in order to give them the much-needed protection in winter. 

The cost of light brahma chickens

The cost of light Brahma chickens varies with age, gender. The cost of light Brahma chicks depends on whether they are straight run, female or male. Female light Brahma chicks will cost more than male ones. Straight run light Brahma chicks sell at a lower price, in between the cost of female and male chicks.