I purchased 10 Delawares from Ideal Poultry in July 2013. I gave one away to a friend and one turned out to be a rooster. So I have 8 hens and 1 rooster in a pen with one Orloff hen the same age.
They started laying in early January at about 24-25 weeks.
From the 9 hens we get 8 eggs a day. The size has increased to good size today. Some of the eggs are the rose colored eggs others have mentioned. I am impressed by the laying as this is winter, the nights are in the low 20's and our pen has no artificial light or heat.
To compare we have red stars (4), welsummers (2), black copper marans (6), and welsummer x marans (5) and a few ameraucana / olive eggers in another cage. I can truly say that the Delawares are a different disposition. More assertive. More curious. The hens approach us much more and peck at our boots. They rush the door. Although the hens are this way, the rooster appears fairly laid back, does not crow much and never behaves in an aggressive manner towards my kids.
I think they are my favorites and I am keeping the rooster to potentially breed more.
They started laying in early January at about 24-25 weeks.
From the 9 hens we get 8 eggs a day. The size has increased to good size today. Some of the eggs are the rose colored eggs others have mentioned. I am impressed by the laying as this is winter, the nights are in the low 20's and our pen has no artificial light or heat.
To compare we have red stars (4), welsummers (2), black copper marans (6), and welsummer x marans (5) and a few ameraucana / olive eggers in another cage. I can truly say that the Delawares are a different disposition. More assertive. More curious. The hens approach us much more and peck at our boots. They rush the door. Although the hens are this way, the rooster appears fairly laid back, does not crow much and never behaves in an aggressive manner towards my kids.
I think they are my favorites and I am keeping the rooster to potentially breed more.