Won't you please rate my Delaware rooster?

What should I do with this rooster?

  • Keep to show in Feb 2011

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • It's too soon to tell, ask again later

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Re-home through BYC or Craigslist

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Send them both to freezer camp

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
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alicefelldown

alicefelldown

Looking for a broody
11 Years
Aug 18, 2008
1,433
10
171
Let me first start off by saying that I'm not very familiar with this breed - I hatched some non-hatchery Delawares for a friend in April 2010 and I kept the roosters for freezer camp/rehoming.

I have two, the first one is (at least to my untrained eye) a decent looking young rooster (~4 months old now) and I'm thinking about holding onto him long enough to show at the next opportunity (Feb 2011, so he'll be about 10 months). Is this a good idea? Is he worth the entry fee? If there are other pictures I should take of his tail barring or wings, please let me know.
14631_delaware-a1.jpg
14631_delaware-a2.jpg


Please let me know if it's worth it, otherwise he'll join his brother in the 'to-be-rehomed-pen':
 
Even though the second one (in thumbnails) has such a smaller comb? Do you think he will grow into it?
hmm.png
 
Hello! Another Dellie person! YAY!!! The first one: He is still on the young side -it is a little early to tell. Honestly, these birds change SO much and he has a few months to go before you will know what he will really look like. He still has a lot of smut on his back, but that could molt out soon. His comb looks decent, and his legs are yellow, his hackle color is pretty crisp-all good points. His tail is not at the best angle- it should be at 40 degrees and flow smoothly out of his back, not squirrel up, but again, he is young. He needs more depth to his chest, a little fuller on the bottom so his profile is more bowl like underneath -the wing set looks wrong ,it is supposed to be horizontal- but dang- it's hard to get this breed to hold still, isn't it?
If he were mine, I would hold on to him for at LEAST two to three more months- I think he has some potential!
Second one- his tail looks squinchy, but his wing set is excellent. Again he is too young to tell much. The smut needs to molt out- his hackles look like they have good color, etc. Same as I said for the first one- hang on to him for a couple more months and post more pictures. They will BOTH change dramatically in that time period.
 
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Thanks for the input! Much appreciated!
Quote:
Ain't that the truth. Those four pictures were from a good half hour of trying to trick them to get close and hold still in profile, while keeping the hens away from my lap.
he.gif


Let me see if I can get better pictures of the first boy's wings and tail after work.
 
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I don't know if this will help you or not .... but I had some feedback from some experienced people tell me that this is a good example of "shape" .... see the kinda bowl shape to the body. Also, the wing set is not good in this picture, as it was hot and he had his wings out and down. The wings should be up tighter. Should not be any smut on the back. The back should be white. The tail should also "flow" off the back better, to a 40* angle. Does this help at all?

31282_8-19-10_dels_008.jpg
 
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Kathylmo, SUPURB rooster! and a great example to show, correct colors at a glance and nice shape .nice mature bird. Dont have my glasses on so need to get a nice close look at him.

I think as americans we cant afford to drop the ball on this breed, we need to get this right because if we cant no one can . this breed was all american..we need to keep correct colors type ect...

Those are nice young roosters. I think the colors basically are correct, watch how they mature and you can work with the colors a bit with your hens..Important breed . I especially like the dark grey barring on the tail, nice pattern. I think these are good starting birds , look forward to a great time showing in the future. select your hens maybe a little lighter bodies. Cant wait to see how you progress over the next couple years with these..In America we like everything instant, ....instant coffee....instant soup....drive throu windows , we are always in a hurry..Breeding animals doesnt work that way...everything is a plan for the following year.
 
I look for large robust roosters for my breeding flock, your best bet is to wait until they start crowing(6 months) and then go from there. The coloration should grow out a bit so you may be OK with them. One thing that I look for is early development of the tail feathers. In my personal opinion, if a rooster's tail is developing curls at a young age, I might consider it to be better than one that almost looks similar to a hens tail.

Things to look for:

1.) Large robust bird. Is the rooster developing much more rapidly than the hens or is he a slow growing bird? I personally choose the rapid growth because it adds better robust offspring when breeding comes around.

2.) Development of tail. Like I said before, is the birds tail curling at a young age?

3.)Development of coloration. is the color vivid or dull? You may have to wait until the roosters get older to tell this.
 
Thanks for the input everyone!! It's given me a bit to think about.

You have such a lovely boy Kathy! He's so handsome! I bet his ladies are very content
wink.png


Thank you for the breeding suggestions Aveca, but I will not be starting any projects with these boys - it's quite an accident that I still have them at this point. But since I do have them, I think it would be a good experience to try showing them, if they would be worth the entry fee at any of the upcoming poultry shows - and then hopefully sell them to someone who would put them to better use.

Am I safe in assuming that the second boy's comb will not improve to the breed standard and it's safe to rehome him? I'd hate to 'throw away a gem'. He definitely has been much slower to develop compared to his brother (who is already attempting to mate!)
 
You referred to them as non-hatchery Delawares but they sure look like hatchery stock to me. They would not do well in an open show if there were any well bred Delawares competing.
 

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