Breeding Delawares to the Standard of Perfection

[kaiwan]

Some pics of my 2014 keeper cockerel over his development. I'm fairly pleased with him. Not as full in the chest as I would like, but definitely progress over his parent stock. All three pics are the same K as he grows out. He's now 6.5 months old, weighs 7 lbs., and seems to have lost some arch in his tail.

 

[finnfur]

Some pics of my 2014 keeper cockerel over his development. I'm fairly pleased with him. Not as full in the chest as I would like, but definitely progress over his parent stock. All three pics are the same K as he grows out. He's now 6.5 months old, weighs 7 lbs., and seems to have lost some arch in his tail.

Pics don't always tell the true story and I am a novice - I agree chest a little shallow and may be needs width in back to increase the swoop
arc of back-[ see post 7 page 1] appears to have some brassiness but may be the pic . amazing how the tail angle changed- good color on legs - may have extra comb points - Nice healthy looking bird

 

[capayvalleychick]

Some pics of my 2014 keeper cockerel over his development. I'm fairly pleased with him. Not as full in the chest as I would like, but definitely progress over his parent stock. All three pics are the same K as he grows out. He's now 6.5 months old, weighs 7 lbs., and seems to have lost some arch in his tail.

I agree with what Tom said. Does he have a yellow hue or is it the photo? If he's brassy, you shouldn't use him. Otherwise, use hens that will improve his weak points.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I think it is really great to see how much a Delaware cockerel changes. I've been freaking out about low tail carriage in mine, so the changes in his top line are fascinating to me.

I think in my line, the females got the fuller breasts before the males ... I mean in generations, not in months of maturation (though the females fill out faster, too).

 

[gjensen]

Quote:
He is brassy, and I could nick pick him, but he is better than most Delaware that I see. I would use him myself, but I would use him with a plan to deal with a couple things. A big plus that he has is that he actually look like a Delaware. Not many do.

 

[kaiwan]

Thanks for the feedback. One issue I have now is that I believe he's better built than any of the females I have. Continuing to use the hens I have would cause me to digress.

 

[Zanna]

Thanks for the feedback. One issue I have now is that I believe he's better built than any of the females I have. Continuing to use the hens I have would cause me to digress.

I love the type of your cockeral! Using him over your females may not cause digression, it just depends what genes are there. If they are all you have I would definitely give it a try, just keep good records so you know which chicks come from which hen.

Do you have some pics of the hens?

 

[kaiwan]

I love the type of your cockeral! Using him over your females may not cause digression, it just depends what genes are there. If they are all you have I would definitely give it a try, just keep good records so you know which chicks come from which hen.

Do you have some pics of the hens?

I'll try to get some pics of the hens tomorrow or Saturday. Being so late in the season, they're kind of spent looking, pale legs, etc!

 

[gjensen]

Quote:
Some lines do produce better females than males, or males than females. Your results will depend on the amount of variability that you have within the flock. You can encourage some variability to select from by hatching a lot. You will find enough variability with some traits to make improvements, and you may get stuck on others. You may not be happy with your hens, but if there is some decent hens in their recent history, you may grow out some pullets that are better in some ways than their mothers. It has been my experience that it takes a few years to know what you have. The third generation will tell you what you have and what you need. An example could be if all of your cockerels grew up to get brassy, you might decide to do something about it. I suspect that with the type your cockerel has, you will tease out a couple decent pullets. If you hatch enough. Then it will be up to you to emphasize these hypothetical pullets. It may be that you decide only to use the two best hens(?) that you have now. Good luck.

 

[finnfur]

DELAWARE CLUB
What happened to it again - link at bottom is no longer valid .
Micheal Newman you know whats up ?
Anybody ?