Breeding Delawares to the Standard of Perfection

[LindaB220]

I have seen a couple hatchery Delawares that were decent enough to work with, but that's an exception rather than the norm. If you have one with a wide, tepee tail, hang onto her.

All five of my Delawares had pinched tails. So I sold them

 

[Strader]

here's a couple roosters that are the same age and I'm deciding which one to keep. one has very dark arched tail feathers that are tightly grouped and the other has tail feathers that are not grouped and more light in color.
they are very close in size. haven't counted point on there combs yet. one on right has bigger comb and wattles.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

here's a couple roosters that are the same age and I'm deciding which one to keep. one has very dark arched tail feathers that are tightly grouped and the other has tail feathers that are not grouped and more light in color.
they are very close in size. haven't counted point on there combs yet. one on right has bigger comb and wattles.

Thanks for sharing photos! This always helps me train my eye.

Am I correct in guessing the one on the left has the more correct swooping top line and tail set compared to the SOP photos? Also, the fewer points on his comb might be more correct? While the one on the right has closer to the correct coloring?

 

[speckledhen]

The one with darker tail may throw better colored pullets, as long as those feathers are barred and not solid colored; that's what you don't want. He has a more proper comb (should be 5 points) than the other with the lighter tail barring, but that is not paramount. My own Isaac has one of those darker barred tails. You want to avoid the squirrel tail, though, so I'd choose the one with less high swoop on the tail set, personally. If he has a deeper, broader chest, all the better.

I personally would pick the darker tail guy with the better comb because it appears he has decent bulk, good wing carriage and a better tail angle, at least in that second photo. I like his hackle color better as well. The second photo was the clincher for me. But, that's just me. He just looks like the better bird. Love the thick neck on him, too.

This chick is 7 weeks old and has more smut on him that any I've had out of Georgie and Isaac. The streaky hackles are not making me happy, but that happens with some of Georgie's sons. He's the last of this line here, I'd guess.





Love that quizzical look on his face here. The pullet is not Delaware, though you'd think she was.



For those who remember him, his dad, Ike. Every big molt, he gets more white in his tail, like any old man would on his head. He'll be 6 yrs old in Feb:


See the partially white tail feathers? Old guy getting gray.

 

[finnfur]

Ol IKE has the comb of perfection - Are IKE and ISAAC from the same hatch ?

 

[speckledhen]

Ol IKE has the comb of perfection - Are IKE and ISAAC from the same hatch ?

Ike is just Isaac's nickname. Same guy. Isaac had a pesky 6th half point in his comb, and his picking hens divested him of his sharpest points, bad things, but someone did tell me, maybe it was Walt Leonard, that he had a near perfect head on him. To add a breeding point, he does have slightly too long earlobes.

His son, Gabriel, with my mixed breed red hen had a 5 pointer and other than some stray red feathers and streaks, he was a really great looking Delaware. No one would have known he was a cross other than the few red streaks.
I rehomed Gabriel, no place for him, but if I was still breeding and had more Delaware hens, he might have been put in the breeding pool to see if the red streaks passed on. In Gabriel's son he sired before he left with a Rock hen, who looked like a Columbian Rock, the red did NOT pass on, so it might have worked.

 

[finnfur]

Ike is just Isaac's nickname. Same guy. Isaac had a pesky 6th half point in his comb, and his picking hens divested him of his sharpest points, bad things, but someone did tell me, maybe it was Walt Leonard, that he had a near perfect head on him. To add a breeding point, he does have slightly too long earlobes.

His son, Gabriel, with my mixed breed red hen had a 5 pointer and other than some stray red feathers and streaks, he was a really great looking Delaware. No one would have known he was a cross other than the few red streaks.
I rehomed Gabriel, no place for him, but if I was still breeding and had more Delaware hens, he might have been put in the breeding pool to see if the red streaks passed on. In Gabriel's son he sired before he left with a Rock hen, who looked like a Columbian Rock, the red did NOT pass on, so it might have worked.

Well that clears up my confusion - You reckon the girls were trying to get him to " SOP" or he just got hen pecked ? LOL

I have wondered what we would get crossing your line with Kathys

 

[speckledhen]

Well that clears up my confusion - You reckon the girls were trying to get him to " SOP" or he just got hen pecked ? LOL

I have wondered what we would get crossing your line with Kathys

Breeding decisions are entirely up to the breeder and some purists would say not to do it, some say "why not?". I have none of Kathy's and haven't tried it, but I know some folks have-heard it through the grapevine. There are good points to both, certainly. The leg color on my line is spectacular, generally. They don't tend to yellow, though I have a good bit of shade here, but they don't have pen covers and when they're outside, they're out in the sun, however much gets to them. The temperament is fabulous, and to me, that's part of the breed trait.

I say "my line", but I can't take credit for the creation of that. Janet Holtman is the one who gets the credit for Isaac, Georgie, Ellie, Maxie, etc. They have their faults and their great points, as does Kathy's.

 

[speckledhen]

I tried to take more photos today of this chick, who will be 8 weeks old Tuesday. It's hard with a squirming chick and a bad camera, sort of like snapping a picture of a zizagging red dot on a laser pointer, but the hackles seem just too dark to me. Yes, he has a very broad shape, nice head and carriage, but this guy has more smut on him than any I remember in the past, even out of Georgie. If you had to make a call NOW, would you keep or cull Asa here in an SOP Delaware breeding program? Yes, I know it's early, but so far, he has no barring in the hackles. Tail feathers are coming in, wispy, but barred.

*** he does not have any brown on him, that is Georgia clay from a dustbath, LOL.

 

[Zanna]

I tried to take more photos today of this chick, who will be 8 weeks old Tuesday. It's hard with a squirming chick and a bad camera, sort of like snapping a picture of a zizagging red dot on a laser pointer, but the hackles seem just too dark to me. Yes, he has a very broad shape, nice head and carriage, but this guy has more smut on him than any I remember in the past, even out of Georgie. If you had to make a call NOW, would you keep or cull Asa here in an SOP Delaware breeding program? Yes, I know it's early, but so far, he has no barring in the hackles. Tail feathers are coming in, wispy, but barred.

*** he does not have any brown on him, that is Georgia clay from a dustbath, LOL.

I would keep him and see how he looked after Juvie molt then reasess. Have culled myself into a corner too many times for no good reason other than that I am a perfectionist and haven't wanted to justify feed and space. Always learning and I have made too many culling mistakes. Delawares are not easy. JMO