Delaware

I have a couple old Delaware hens that I got from a friend, and they are nice, good size birds, and extremely docile. I have read that they are annoying and noisy, but that has not been my experience at all.
Delaware roosters are excellent meat birds.

Okay so this big, white Satan-bird roars like a full-blown velociraptor for 10 minutes every time she even thinks she sees people. She's my perimeter alarm, she's great at that--I can hear her from inside the house when anybody approaches. She scared the tar out of a meter-guy from the power company because he touched the gate and she came screaming out of the nesting box to greet him. And I know it's raining in the morning because I can hear her complaining through three walls.

She's supremely frustrating because she likes to nag me when I'm cleaning or when I'm distributing the food-stuffs. She also refuses to go to bed until I go inside for the night. I lock them in a covered 20x10 pen when I'm not out with them (most of the winter) that have automatic low-lights that kick on from 4PM to 9PM. There are times that I look outside at 11PM and guess who is still out and standing guard in the shadows? That's right, devil-bird.

Perfect bird, if you forgot to put your hearing aids in this morning. Loves baths (hates being wet otherwise), being blow dried, and otherwise pampered. She likes to hop up in your lap and to be petted. Very sweet and friendly to everyone otherwise. Very stubborn.

I love her to death but she aggravates me!

they r a very good breed,they lay big brown eggs,they can be meat birds, and they can be fighting birds. but they are a bit mean.but i still LOVE them! if i were u i would get 1.

My Delaware hens have grown on me. They are good birds, they just tend to make a little more noise that the rest of my flock, especially as young pullets. Maybe not the best choice if you need quiet birds. Harvey Ussery writes about how this breed has been degraded from its original greatness though, so if you got a bird of better breeding, not hatchery chicks like I did, maybe things would be different.

I started my chicken adventure this year with Delaware's and I couldn't be happier. They are friendly good in a mixed flock and I am easily getting 20-25 eggs a week from 4 pullets.

When the water or food runs low they will tell you about it though. One of mine seems to be the voice for the flock and will tell you about it anytime you are near. Most hens get a bit noisy with egg song but one of mine is especially vocal even when its not her egg. She is super sweet though.

I am hoping to get some more this year.

I added 2 Buff Orpingtons 1 Cream Legbar and a Pita Pinta to the flock over the year and the only squabbles were small and short. The age and size differences when initially brought together were the main causes of any issues. As everyone got to laying age they came together quite well. I'm dissappointed in my Buffs as they do not lay very well at all. The Pita Pinta became fast buddies with 2 of the Delawares and they sleep together all the time now.

Saw some minor aggression from a couple of them during molting but its my understanding they just don't feel well during that time and anyone can get a bit peevish when they are not feeling good.

If you want great layers of good sized eggs and want to interact with your birds Delawares are a great choice.

I was worried when my Delaware was a chick, but once she started laying, she became very sweet and hunkers down to be picked up and snuggled. She is a bit bossy and I have seen her drive other hens away from the food dishes when she wants to eat, but multiple food dishes solve that problem.

They are big birds and lay consistently.

My girl has her not so intelligent moments, usually after a change to the coop. I had combined the two coops to give the girls more room and she was the last one to find the new door. She ran all around the outside of the coop, trying to figure out how to get in.

The flightiness may just be these birds of mine in particular. I have two girls of an unknown age. I rescued them from a pretty horrible situation where the guy had a couple girls in with at least ten roosters, in filthy, crammed coops with no way to get outside. Cerilde is missing all her back and tail feathers, and has gashes and sores. She is very very afraid of everything but one Wyandotte she came with. The Wyandotte shares a little coop and run with her that has access to the big run and free ranging in the yard. They prefer to stay in the little run most of the day, away from all the other chickens. Cerinthe is not as flighty and adjusted to the other chickens pretty well. They are both very pretty and curious. They understand when things are dangerous and what should be avoided. They fly well, but Cerinthe has brittle legs. Delawares are nice for people who want pretty, smart birds. They lay well, but I would not care if they did not.

We got our start of Delaware from Welp Hatchery fall 2013. We ordered 10 Delaware , 10 Speckled Sussex and 10 Buckeye . We had been lulled by several mild winters and were quite enjoying the effects of global warming if that is not crude to say. Well Last winter was our coldest winter here in Northwest Montana in a while and we struggled to keep our brooders warm in the subzero temps and blowing snow storms. There were several power outages and that caused us to lose some of our new clutch of 30 and several suffered severe frostbite on their feet and combs . The Buckeye surprisingly suffered the worst , followed by the Sussex but the Delaware did great. No frostbite , No death from exposure and no apparent retardation of growth. We were impressed !
Spring finally came with all the soggy , cold weather we have here and the Delaware took it all in stride with no losses while continueing to grow. By May the Delaware pullets began to lay and LAY they did. ALL SUMMER with only a 2-3 week break when they molted this fall and they went right back to their 5-6 large , light brown eggs a week.
We hatched a few this summer and just had a broody Delaware hen come off the nest with 4 we let her set and another 4 we gave her from the incubator a couple days before they were due. All are doing great and the summer chicks are growing at almost twice the rate of the Buckeye we hatched at the same time.
To make a short story long ... We love our Delaware ! The hens are efficient at converting whole grain and whatever they find in the fields to large light brown eggs and their rooster watches over them and points out any overlooked morsels while they do it. I would highly recommend this breed to anyone who wants a friendly bird that can get the job done without breaking the bank. They are beautiful on field or in the coop and happy either way. Good luck to all and thank you Welp !

My baby Sunshine's always cracking me up! She's the loudest of them all LOL! She's talking from when she wakes up to when she goes to bed . She's good when I hold her and so sweet! Love her!

If you live in an urban area, DO NOT GET THESE BIRDS. Sweetest most beautiful things, but they are LOUD!!! Just a warning, good thing I don't have neighbors close by!
UPDATE: These are lap chickens! HALLELUJAH.
They peck my clothes and moles a lot! their pecks are not as gentle as my other breeds.

My hen, Magnolia, is just a super duper hen. She is more like a dog than a hen because she comes running when I get home, hangs out with me all the time when I am outside, eats from my hand, and in general is a great chicken.

Sweet chicken, but she developed a feather picking habit. We are trying pin-less peepers to see if they will solve our problem. She had been picking the feathers off my other layers on the roost at night. She does not seem to be aggressive in our flock and is in the middle/lower pecking order. We overall enjoy this breed, but I would probably not get another. There are other breeds that I have enjoyed more.

Our first flock was three delawares and we loved them. We kept them inside in a large action-packer initially until they were big enough to go into the back yard. We handled them a lot when they were little so that they would be friendly and they turned out to be sweet and affectionate hens that loved to come sit in your lap. For a while we were afraid of them being eaten by a cat, but then I watched one day through the window as our largest hen charged a huge feral cat head on. The cat was too stunned by its prey's audacity to move at first and consequently suffered a sound clawing to the face by said chicken before taking off. I went out to check the hen, Martie, and found her huffing and puffing around the yard with bloody claws like a bull that had gored a matador. I was impressed. Martie, Natalie, and Emily (we named them after the Dixie Chicks) were never bothered by cats as long as we had them because they would just run them off whenever they showed up. Before we had chickens we had a horrible ant and fly problem, but the chickens nearly eliminated them once they were put out. If I found an ant hill I would just call them over (yes they knew and answered to their names) and they would destroy the whole colony in an hour and then dust bathe in the hole where the colony had been. They were also GREAT layers, giving us an egg a day, sometimes two, and only stopping for a few days when the weather changed drastically. They only things we didn't like was that they were a bit noisy, and that they could have an attitude sometimes. As far as chickens go they were hard core, they didn't take crap off of anybody. If a kid came over to visit my sisters and messed with them, their nest area, or their food/water they would bite their fingers and legs until the kid ran inside. But if the kids were well behaved they would gladly allow them to pet them and hold them. I used to clip their wing feathers so they couldn't fly over the fence, they'd let me do it without struggle but once I put them down they would bite me on the leg, hard, before going off to sulk for a while. Needless to say, they were an interesting bunch.

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.

My Delawares are great birds some lay every day in the winter! Some eggs are so large they won't fit in the carton. These are over all great birds.

I absolutely LOVE my little Delaware hen. She's the lone survivor of a horrendous attack by the neighbors' dogs. She's been psychologically scarred since that, and does get nervous and hides sometimes. But once you talk to her she calms down and comes right up to beg for food. She's my sweet little LottieBug.

I have 18 hens and 1 rooster, I have 3 girls that want to go broody and i will let them about mid January. the girls can be strong willed and will behave when they know who is in charge. they watch every thing in their yard and around it , they have a pare tree in their yard and keep the squirls out of it(first year we got to harvest pares)

Delawares are GREAT BIRDS!!!!! They are an amazing deal!!! My Delawares lay 7 eggs in 7 days!!! They are pretty tolerant in harsh winter conditions. A few of my delaware's feathers curl up, making them look totally fancy. There only flaw is they are terrible when it comes to pecking eggs!!!! Other than that I highly recommend this bird!!!!!!

My Delawares are realyl hardy - so super friendly - follow me around like lil dogs. Foraging machines - excellent layers ...

Weighing my review first by stating that mine are only 4 weeks old, and they are my first chickens. That being said, they were purchased with 2 Light Brahmas and 2 Easter Eggers (2 Delawares). Of the six birds, they are the middle of the line personality wise. So far they are more shy than my Brahmas but still easily handled, eat out of my hand and are generally friendly. They are terrified of my two small boys though (2 and 4) but then so am I sometimes. They were adorable little yellow fluff balls when they first came home at 2 days old - and are quickly maturing into well feathered white birds. I have to say though - they aren't overly impressive in the looks department. They are just kinda plain jane. Your basic plain, white chicken with just a touch of black. I did manage to get two who look pretty different from each other (one is all white with a hint of black coming in at the tip of her wing feathers) and the other looks like she was passing by as someone jumped in a puddle of black ink and she got splattered. These two are a little quirky, but pretty easily picked on by my EE's. One of the two is more outgoing than the other and will occasionally initiate a chest bumping session with one of my Brahmas, but then immediately backs down. I can easily see these two at the bottom of the pecking order. They will let you hold them, but even with handling them every day, and sitting in their coop with them for extended periods of the day letting them pick at my feet I still have to work at catching and holding them. They are easily startled, but not skittish. Cautious, but not exactly timid. They tend to stand back and examine something from a distance long before approaching it. They do eat out of my hand though, and generally don't take too long to investigate things. Definitely not the brightest bulbs in the brooder either. They seem to always be the last to figure things out.

All said and done I can see myself raising more of these guys, but not my favorite breed to date. They are a good starter breed, and someone may have better luck if they don't have small toddler/preschool children around to terrorize the poor things. (Ever read or watch "Of Mice and Men"? They just want to squeeze them and hold them and love them...)