Breeding Delawares to the Standard of Perfection

[DuckBoy]

I'm far from an expert, but on the first page of this thread someone posted this ...

any one want to judge this one for me.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

any one want to judge this one for me.

The pose isn't telling me much, so I'll ask you a few questions. How old is the bird? What can you tell us about it? When you compare it to the Standard Of Protection photo above, what do you see that we can't see in this photo?

I've got a lot to learn when evaluating birds, so I think it would be great if we could "judge" our birds like this here in this thread, especially if people with good experience looking at birds would chime in. I'd love to see active discussion when people share their Delaware photos.

 

[DuckBoy]

...

The pose isn't telling me much, so I'll ask you a few questions. How old is the bird? What can you tell us about it? When you compare it to the Standard Of Protection photo above, what do you see that we can't see in this photo? 

I've got a lot to learn when evaluating birds, so I think it would be great if we could "judge" our birds like this here in this thread, especially if people with good experience looking at birds would chime in. I'd love to see active discussion when people share their Delaware photos. 
[/quote. It is three months old and is the second generation in a recreation project. Its got a good black tail and good bar stripping on neck and a pure white body.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Quote:
Yeah ... the coloring looks pretty good and might even lighten up a bit beyond that. I think it is too early to tell about body shape. And the pose also makes a big difference with that.

 

[finnfur]

any one want to judge this one for me.

The kathy F5s develop slow so its hard to tell at this stage if these are comparable - pics are sometimes hard to judge

 

[caychris]

I heard that Dels were supposed to be quick developing for meat. It doesn't seem so from what I have seen they are hard to sex till late in development and do not seem to get to a good processing weight very quickly (At least my hens would not have). They do seem to reach POL pretty quick though.

 

[DuckBoy]

The kathy F5s develop slow so its hard to tell at this stage if these are comparable - pics are sometimes hard to judge

this is my f2 from my Del project

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I heard that Dels were supposed to be quick developing for meat. It doesn't seem so from what I have seen they are hard to sex till late in development and do not seem to get to a good processing weight very quickly (At least my hens would not have). They do seem to reach POL pretty quick though.

I'm hoping some of the performance details of the birds will improve with careful breeding. The restoration line of Delawares I'm working with was pretty slow to reach POL compared to what I'm used to with hatchery birds. They were hatched in April, I got my trio in October. I got my first egg in December. As for the male, I've noticed he has really filled out since then, and also his markings have changed a bit for the better. Those were the F4s.

As far as reaching maturity of my F5s? The oldest are only about 3.5 months old and are getting big but not very mature, I dont' think. I can see differences between the males and the females if I examine them in groups (body shape, comb size, attitude), and have been able to easily see those things starting at about 2 months. Some of the male mutts that hatched here at the same time as my oldest Delaware chicks are doing things like crowing and mating. I think some of the female mutts are getting red cheeks and I expect the pullets to begin to lay on "hatchery" schedule, meaning at about 4 months ... though some of the birds I think are females might be later developing males. I expect the Delaware pullets will be way behind that ... I hatched late this year, so will probably do well to see eggs before 2015. We shall see.

Here is a photo of one of my youngest Delaware chicks getting a foot bath this weekend. Yep. I'm behind!

 

[caychris]

Yeah Hatchery Dels I have do get to POL pretty quick.
3 of the 4 are all laying at 23 weeks. one has been laying for 2 weeks already the others spotty since last week.

I have a bird from @fortyfivefarm that is her own project I havent been able to get specifics on the lines but I know they are not Kathy's

May be able to lock up some breeding space soon so I will be looking to get some better stock.

 

[finnfur]

Yeah Hatchery Dels I have do get to POL pretty quick.
3 of the 4 are all laying at 23 weeks. one has been laying for 2 weeks already the others spotty since last week.

I have a bird from @fortyfivefarm that is her own project I havent been able to get specifics on the lines but I know they are not Kathy's

May be able to lock up some breeding space soon so I will be looking to get some better stock.

our KATHY F4s first egg was 27 weeks - we will see if F5s improve

I don't know what quick development for meat means unless you are comparing to cornishX cross . I have never found info on the kill age for the original Del .
Maybe some one knows that info.