Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY* - Page 1188

Looks like rushlanepoultry.com (BYC: rebel rooster) is selling off his Delawares (according to his website)

will be hatching some dels next month. none of these will be for sale but will be raised to adult here. after culling should end up with a couple breeder  hens for next spring.
 

You have Whitmore (?) birds don't you? Seems like I saw a pic or 2 of your birds and they were very nice looking. You should hatch some extras to share!! ......stan

I wonder if it is the small pen and being isolated that is making him worse. I bought a "chicken condo" from a former poultry shower/breeder who got out of the hobby. It is a series of 4'X4' pens. I didn't plan space for extra cockerels when I built my chicken house, so I thought this would be a nice addition. It has 16 4'X4' X 7' high pens. I thought those would be perfect for individual cockerels. But they are all by themselves in each unit with nothing to do. I feel kinda bad about that, but if you want to breed chickens, what can you do? I can't free range, too many predators. And if you are a serious breeder, you need to keep some extra males and they usually don't get along. I had two of my Spangled Russian Orloffs, just a year old, in one of those pens together. They got along great and sat side by side up on the perch. Well the one was a splash, very very beautiful bird, but I knew I wasn't going to use him for breeding and a fellow offered me $30----so I sold him. I have noticed the remaining cockerel seems a bit more, on edge? since his buddy left. And I don't see him up on the perch anymore. It is a very high perch, the guy who built this unit raised Old English Game, they could fly straight up. But I knew these Orloffs could, too, since they were always up there together, but now the single one stays on the ground. I just wonder ifif being by themselves is taking a toll, psychologically. Maybe there is another thread on BYC, does anybody have a link, where this sort of thing is discussed. How to maintain extra cockerels that is. Anyway, I am not sure I should keep this Delaware. He is the only male I kept, but look at his comb. Is this a stupid comb? Surely this must be a disqualifying fault. Someone who knows, please tell me. I will look it up in my SOP and see if I can find pics that look like this. Is this like a carnation comb, only in the front instead of the back? I have been thinking about getting a different bloodline, but can't even fathom raising new birds until this fall when we are out of the heat here. But if someone has a NICE Delaware cockerel with a GOOD attitude that you want to part with, PM me! Here is the culprit who tried to bite me: Ignore the bad points, that was from a Marans cockerel who decided he didn't want to be the Delaware's buddy anymore.