Breeding Delawares to the Standard of Perfection

[finnfur]

Hi all! So glad I found this group to join! My husband and I got our first chicks at the end of this March - 105 straight run of Delawares from a Sustainable Poultry Network breeder in North Carolina. We are part of a network that is committed to bring Heritage birds back to the SOP. We are very happy with our birds are have culled to only keep the best. We now have a flock of 34 hens and 4 roosters, who are are breeding stock. Every hatch will continue to be a culling process to get the Delaware breed back to what it was in the 1950's and 60's. Everyone keep up the great work!

Welcome aboard - Great to have more Del promoters.
Kim - Capayvalleychic is out your way in California
You might also enjoy the thread " Delawares from Kathyinmo" https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/777172/delawares-from-kathyinmo/1750
There is also a lot of information in it on breeding and sop even though its more specific to one line
Its a tough breed to get to and keep at SOP levels - Good Luck

 

[Patuxet]

Hi all! So glad I found this group to join! My husband and I got our first chicks at the end of this March - 105 straight run of Delawares from a Sustainable Poultry Network breeder in North Carolina. We are part of a network that is committed to bring Heritage birds back to the SOP. We are very happy with our birds are have culled to only keep the best. We now have a flock of 34 hens and 4 roosters, who are are breeding stock. Every hatch will continue to be a culling process to get the Delaware breed back to what it was in the 1950's and 60's. Everyone keep up the great work!

I applaud your admirable aim "to bring Heritage birds back to the SOP". Good luck with your project.

Would you mind identifying the source of your stock? Bountiful Harvest in Polton? Aaron Morse in Pinnacle? Meredith Duke in Lenoir?

Thanks!

 

[kayakfish]

I need a young Delaware,cockerel I am getting chicks this Spring but they are all going to be pullets, and I will need a Roo, I am doing a Heritage breeding Program so our local 4-Hers can have some of the endangered breeds to use for their Poultry Projects, and show. I have some Buckeyes started, Mottled Javas, Welsummers, and now waiting on the Delaware's.

my contact info: [email protected]

I am in Cumberland VA

 

[finnfur]

I need a young Delaware,cockerel I am getting chicks this Spring but they are all going to be pullets, and I will need a Roo, I am doing a Heritage breeding Program so our local 4-Hers can have some of the endangered breeds to use for their Poultry Projects, and show. I have some Buckeyes started, Mottled Javas, Welsummers, and now waiting on the Delaware's.

my contact info: [email protected]

Just a suggestion - put estimate location in your avatar and maybe someone close will step forward - good luck [ I only have two Cocks - both Breeders]

 

[kayakfish]

I don't know how to do that, to old I guess.

 

[finnfur]

I don't know how to do that, to old I guess.

Never to old- I refuse to get old I just mellow !
Go in profile there will be a link only you can go to to edit

 

[kayakfish]

Got it, thank you so much, got any Delaware's you want to, help me out with the 4-H project? Or hatching eggs I can put in the incubator come Feb? Want to help with a 4-H Seminar on the importance of the Heritage breeds?
I think our younger folks need to learn where we came from and why it is so important to bring back the original farming Heritage breeds, so I am willing to take a Hobby, and turn it into a project of select breeds of Heritage Chickens. I have a awesome flock of Dan Powell Gold Lace Brahmas I was going to raise but the children take precedence over that and I will be selling them to have their coop for the Delaware's.

 

[finnfur]

Got it, thank you so much, got any Delaware's you want to, help me out with the 4-H project? Or hatching eggs I can put in the incubator come Feb? Want to help with a 4-H Seminar on the importance of the Heritage breeds?
I think our younger folks need to learn where we came from and why it is so important to bring back the original farming Heritage breeds, so I am willing to take a Hobby, and turn it into a project of select breeds of Heritage Chickens. I have a awesome flock of Dan Powell Gold Lace Brahmas I was going to raise but the children take precedence over that and I will be selling them to have their coop for the Delaware's.

Well I will donate a dozen eggs for a 4H project - was a 4H'r in the late 50s myself - Good years -
Don't know where Cumberland is but you can pick em up - let me know - I am in South Central VA close to South Hill / South Boston area
These are Dels from this line
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/777172/delawares-from-kathyinmo/1750
Already processed all the none breeding stock this year

 

[kayakfish]

Why Thank you, I can purchase them if you need me to though. This is my labor of love for our youth, I too was a 4-Her in the 60's, and actually started the first Horse Program in my little county when I moved from Henrico to Cumberland. I was a All Star 4-Her for the efforts put forward as a teen to build the 4-H Club for Horsemanship here, didn't get to go to the awards ceremony as our family didn't have the funds to send me. Another girl went for me and accepted my awards and then moved away with them before I ever got to see them. What class!
Well I am hoping to make this a major Project that can be used by all our counties, and hopefully get our youth using and raising the Heritage endangered breeds, instead of using the usual White Leghorn, Rhode Island Reds, or bantams.
Teaching them how and why to raise these birds is my goal, as a multi purpose breed.

Thank you so much, and I sent you a PM.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Anyone have matings figured out for next year's breeding yet? If so, would you care to share photos and tell us how/why you've made your choices?

How about breeding goals for next season?

Has anyone actually started setting eggs yet? With the growth rate of my Delawares, I'd think you'd have to start super early if you wanted to try to show them next year. (Not that I think mine are show-quality yet).

I'm waiting for my pullets to start laying before I move the culls into the laying flock, which will leave me with just the breeding females in the breeding coop (there won't be many). I don't think I'm to the point yet of making individual pairings, so I'm going to do two (possibly three) flock matings, each with a different male.

Keeping in mind my flock is part of a restoration project, and last year we hatched F5s, so we're still in the "Build The Barn" stage ...

Here is one of the two cockerels I'm currently considering using (I'm comfortable with both the cockerels I've marked, and still really like the sire, but also have some younger cockerels coming along). He has a little more depth than his sire and is comparably wide (sire is very wide). He has better wing carriage than his sire (that was one of last year's goals). His tail color is better than his sire and the structure of it is a little more organized (also a consideration from last year's breeding ... sire has better tail angle). This cockerel doesn't seem to have any brassiness (sire is somewhat whiter in the fluffy parts, but showed a faint lime green tinge in hackles and saddle ... not super sure what's up with that), but this cockerel has more gray/black in the wrong places than his sire showed at the same age (this cockerel is still getting a little lighter bit by bit). This cockerel might end up being a smidge heavier than his sire, but I'm hoping still within the standard description. I could use a little extra size at this point as my females are a tad light.




And here is one of the pullets we've tagged so far. I should have intelligent things to say about the pullets, but they are confusing me at this point. We chose this pullet because she didn't have too much excess black and is nice and wide. They all seem to have nice lower lines, but it's mostly feathers at this point. Tails seem a little low. Some have more color issues than the others, so once they start laying I'll move those into the laying flock and get a better idea of what's left to choose from for potential breeding. In general the females need to get bigger and whiter. Eggs would also be useful for breeding purposes.

Of course I'm thinking about color ... it would be great to get a female next year with better neck barring and still presenting a white-edged black tail. I seem to have either/or this year. We shall see!