I would have to agree here even though I have birds from several lines. Early on behavior and stance can be an indicator but because of the inquisitive nature of the Dels females can often exhibit early male behaviors. I have had the same experience about the feathering so far on the 33 chicks...
Babies got some dirt time today
Seems to me the males have lots of excess color at this stage.
Most of these are almost 5 weeks the wellies and one of the Dels are 10 days older. 12 in all and Im pretty sure 6 Del boys.
Here are my babies this season so far
My one lone del hatch and the 3 feed store Wellie friends (2 weeks)
Friend hatched 8 of the 15 eggs I gave her . Hatched over the weekend.
That may be true but I was speaking more to the perception that might result in less popularity. I agree dels are big for most hawks. All in all I think in general you will lose birds to hawks if they are breeds who lose their instincts. Dels seem to be very observant birds. Roosters in the...
One of the dark secrets of Dels is that they are chow hounds, I think this is in part why they get a rep for being egg eaters too. They are not for every situation. They are one of the better on pasture birds in my opinion but white birds are seen as targets for hawks owls and predators in...
Id say they lay at 20- 24 weeks but if they are coming into that time at winter however you might get an egg or two but then they will hold off till around february or so its really not all that easy to tell. How winter is going to effect them. Extra light in the coop could cause them to lay on...
18.5 weeks Hatchery pullets from Privet (I think)
The boy was supposed to be a pullet along with the rest thinking about keeping him
Some of my birds with Bonham heritage (Got the one in the back, and the butt of the other from @capayvalleychick )
The one in the foreground was hatched...
Wouldnt give up on pullet yet How barred is the tail may be larger but thats dels in general. My dels are larger than my hamps same hatch date. Typically the boys have thicker and longer leg shanks. Tails are not a certain but lots of barring is typically male light barring or black is...
Dels can fool you for a time but if you can get a more level profile picture things would probably be easier. The best indicator Ive seen for males vs females is the legs. Males tend to have longer shanks and thicker legs. Beyond that its tails if you see distinct barring in the tail it is most...
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.
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...
Im not so worried about saving time. I'm fairly young. (Neal is almost 30 years my senior.) And I expect to be doing this for some time to come. I have 4 breeds I plan on working with for years to come (Delaware, Pita Pinta, Barred Holland, Cream Legbar) Im just starting out and taking my time...
The culls came from @capayvalleychick and her breeding program from Kathy's birds (Kim is very protective of her best birds)
Here are some pics of the 2 I got from Kim along with my hatchery Dels (Neal also has 2 hens and 1 cockerel from Kims birds) we combined my 2 birds with his) before I...
The last is the reason I want to do it. I love the breed. I want to be able to contribute to the knowledge base on these birds. This isnt a hap hazard effort. I want to understand the parent stock from chick to breeding pair. I want data on the parent birds that you don't really get by searching...