Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[finnfur]

I wasn't trying to be negative just pointing out the journey. I hope its a successful one.

When Kathy passed on this line she indicated it was still a unfinished process .
There was a long list waiting for these and very few got them. We just need to
"keep kicking the can down the road" [RIP Bob ]

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Out at Neals with pics of some of the birds
that
I counted the birds in the various groupings and it looks like we only have 2 pullets of any quality and 1 cockerel that shows promise of any type. The remaining birds (4 cockerels and 2 youngsters too early to tell yet) all show way too much barring or in the case of 1 have a leg defect. So including my pullet thats a total of 9 birds we were able to hatch this year.

We started late and the Delawares are beginning to lay again it looks like so we might be able to do a late hatch this year.

For sure you're going to have to get things sorted so you can hatch more than 9 chicks spread out over the year, of uncertain parentage, and with defects.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

If someone wants to do it just to do it, then they should do it. There is nothing wrong with that.

I remarked because that is not where the work is. It is easy to start.

There are some lines of Delaware out there that I could "fix up" using a pair of exhibition Barred Rocks. I would not need to "recreate" anything.

You could cross the NH and BR and use a pair of the F1s with your culls and Neal's birds. No need to go all of the way through. Everything that you need is in that simple cross and what you have.

I could take those culls and get it with what is available out there.

No matter what is done, the work is over the long haul.

It seems there are now some people posting on the Delaware breed club FB page who are actually interesting in line breeding. Very cool and refreshing. I do think once that work starts, then we can share our experiences to help each other out.

I was at a show yesterday as just a spectator and got some free advice about what to cross into my Delawares to make them better. Mind you, I didn't have birds there, so their faults weren't exactly begging for input.

It does crack me up a bit ... I've got so little experience with breeding or chicken genetics I could so easily be swayed by confident paternal advice.

I wonder if that's the norm in breeding show birds, just toss anything that looks "close" into the mix and hope for a one-off winner.

@gjensen ... I've been picking brains about a specific issue in my line, and I'd love your input. I'll ask over at the Breeding Delawares to the SOP thread, and tag you.

 

[caychris]

For sure you're going to have to get things sorted so you can hatch more than 9 chicks spread out over the year, of uncertain parentage, and with defects.

A large part of my frustration is due to the lack of eggs to actually hatch. We are raising out some breeds that are known for broodiness as well so we can hopefully rely less on incubation.

 

[gjensen]

It seems there are now some people posting on the Delaware breed club FB page who are actually interesting in line breeding. Very cool and refreshing. I do think once that work starts, then we can share our experiences to help each other out.

I was at a show yesterday as just a spectator and got some free advice about what to cross into my Delawares to make them better. Mind you, I didn't have birds there, so their faults weren't exactly begging for input.

It does crack me up a bit ... I've got so little experience with breeding or chicken genetics I could so easily be swayed by confident paternal advice.

I wonder if that's the norm in breeding show birds, just toss anything that looks "close" into the mix and hope for a one-off winner.

@gjensen ... I've been picking brains about a specific issue in my line, and I'd love your input. I'll ask over at the Breeding Delawares to the SOP thread, and tag you.

In the show world it is if it looks like a duck it is a duck. For some of us, it needs to quack like a duck to. In the show world it is that it should look as it should. For some of us it should look as it should, and do as it should.

On the other hand, they are the sum of their parts. They are a complete compilation of traits and characteristics. Good breeding identifies and sees those traits, and what would be necessary to improve them, and where to get that trait or traits from.

We should breathe some fresh air before we jump though. There is a tendency to make some progress, become full of ourselves, and become too zealous. All of it is like medicine. Yes there are a number of possibilities to fix a problem, but every fix is also a new problem. The fixes are also less than compatible with the other fixes or the one being fixed.

I believe that we have discussed all of the necessary breeds for this interest.

 

[clickdb]

Facinating discussion in this thread, love hearing what people are doing with the breed.

I posted a picture of my Del cockerel in early July, he sure has come a long way since then. And he is still king of the coop for sure. Here's an updated pic, now 30 weeks old.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

He's filling out! What's up with his comb?

 

[clickdb]

His comb has always been a bit wonky. It started growing the little side spurs pretty early on, and as he grew the main comb just never sharpened up.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

It's interesting the things that pop up.

 

[lindalouly]