Culling Delawares

[kryptoniteqhs]

This is Jack

This is Moses

Moses is a good bit younger & when he was maturing (Ive had him since a chick) he looked like he was going to be the better one & then for a while he seemed like he was, now, Im second guess my observation. He seems a lot narrower. He also has this awkward long neck & seems to lean foward too much. Moses' tail is actually much prettier than it looks in these pictures. Its wet in the pictures is all. He actually has nice barring, its smaller barring than Jacks, though. I wont get rid of Jack no matter what, but Moses seems more like excess baggage right now lol...What do you think? What do you think about their combs?

The bottom two pictures are Jack & then Moses. These are what I would call both of them exagerated at their worst points, their bad angle sort of speak --- but it is there & I want it to be criticised as well. Im trying to keep it as real as possible.

This first one is Jack

And this one is Moses

And the last question I have is: When culling hens, what is the biggest thing to cull for? Is it combs?

 

[speckledhen]

Body type is paramount. Must be deep bodied with good carriage. That knocks Moses out. No question in my mind that Jack is the better of the two in body type and comb set and balance. Still, they both have too many comb points and could use a bit more hackle color. The wing carriage on Jack is droopier than Moses (should be horizontal), but to me, there's no real contest between the two. Jack is the better one based mainly on body type and more pleasing comb. Of course, this is my interpretation and others should chime in soon.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have never raised Delawares, but I would think that Jack has the better stand. I would study the standards real hard and see which comes closer to perfection, because in all likelyhood, I am missing something serious.
As to the hens, I wouldn't exactly cull, because you still have eggs, but I would perhaps learn who lays what shape egg and who uses which nesting box, because you would want to look at their bodies also and incubate or set eggs from the most perfect hens.

 

[toejam]

Same here, I have never raised delewares but Jack looks better than Moses.

 

[speckledhen]

I didn't comment on their tails because they are at that ragged stage where the feathers look a bit frayed. They seem a bit on the light side, however, that may just be the condition of the feathers themselves. In these pictures, Jack's tail barring looks more distinct than Moses', though. Yep, Jack is the one. How old are they both now?

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

yay!! thats what i was hoping. Jack is the best standard rooster I have ever had. He is very protective of me & wont let other roosters near me & if I go to pick up another rooster & that roo throws a temper tantrum Jack will come running & hold his head down so he quits squirming & kicking so I can get a good hold. He doesnt do it gently either haha He killed a hawk too (that or he really whipped his but & won the fight).
Anyways, so biggest things in order of importance that I need to work on are: Bigger bodies (always number one), Comb (5 pointers instead of 6 pointers), Wing carriage (want it horizontal), Hackle color (darker). Please correct me if Im wrong. Ok well that will help me decide what hens to keep & get rid of. I have one hen with real dark hackles & I was actually thinking of getting rid of her, but I guess Ill keep her since shell help correct my males. And then after that Ill keep all the hens with 5point combs unless theyre small bodied (but we dont have to worry about that, none are small--at least none any smaller than the others). Then if I have enough left, Ill toss the ones with crappy wing carriage. I know of one hen in particular that is big bodied & has awesome wing carriage, so I'll keep her no matter what! I put a picture of her when she was younger down at the bottom (shes the one in the middle). The picture is her at 4 mos old.
OK do I have this straight? Feel free to add to this please.
Thanks for everyones input, I greatly appreciate it!

Oh and I have an up & coming cockerel that I think I may use to replace Moses. I'll take a picture of him next to his sibling. Hes HUGE! They are the exact same age & you wouldnt know it. And thank GOD he happens to be the one with the nicer comb.

I dont recall how many points it is. Its 5 or 6 I know that haha. But either way I can use him till I get something better. Now if I can just get Jack to accept him......

Oh and one more thing haha....I still need to check, but on the off chance that I cant find many hens with 5 pointers....I know this is a long shot, but say I found like a 3 or 4 pointer, would that bred to a 6 pointer maker 5 pointers? Im sure it would just really really mess up my combs, but I had to ask. Dont worry I dont even have any hens like that, they would have been culled a long time ago, if they looked like that lol

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

Quote:
Jack is either two or two & a half
Moses should be a year next month

Moses has distinct barring too, but you cant tell in the pictures, I have no idea how he got so wet. I guess the girls must have dug to a muddy spot in the coop & he rolled it it? Jacks was the same that day too. Idk

I was wondering if they should be darker, Ive noticed that in some of the pictures that Ive seen you & seriousbill post. I have a nice roo coming with a solid black tail. Im using him to correct the tails in my hens. Some of my hens probably have 60% white in their tail & it was driving me crazy on how to fix it, Im hoping this new roo is my answer. Anyways, maybe that will help darken up the tails in my roosters in a couple generation. Because chances are it will ruin my roo tails for the first couple generations -- Ill have to keep putting them back to barred. Idk....maybe itll work. But my plan is, so far, to have a male pen (jack) & female pen (new roo), then later down the line mix them & see what happens. I think I'll just play it by ear till I see what I get out of the first crop with the new roo. whew....im rambling

 

[speckledhen]

It's like a chess game, really, trying to make the most strategic move or combination of moves. In the hen picture, the one in the middle is very chunky and the one on the right has excellent tail black. I think you have some nice birds that will serve you well, and you just have to tweak those traits where they are lacking.

Isaac isn't perfect, but he's pretty darn great (not to my credit, seriousbill is the breeder and together we selected Ike from two hatches containing about 15 cockerels). His tail color is extra dark, but not solid. That will help with his daughters' tail black. Gracie is my first one from Isaac. Actually, her mama is the hen with the worst comb, but Ike's influence made Gracie come out with a really great comb, so it always takes two in the equation to produce a chick -what one parent lacks, the other may make up for.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

thanks, yea im getting closer with the tails, the problem is they have absolutely PERFECT tails when theyre young, but as they get older they fade into this wierd ugly blobby mix of white/black....


See this is probably one of the ones that had a nice tail, n then look what happened......errr

The tails on the hens are whats buggin me more than anything. And Im a little worried because this solid black tailed rooster Im gonna get to improve females has a 7 point comb & low wing carriage. Other than that he is ok from what I can tell, but those are big things. Im hoping it doesnt further set me back. I guess Ill try it & see what happens & if its a total disaster I havent lost anything but a little time and money. Ill always have Jack to put them to.

This is my manly hen -- her hackles (i guess ud call it) is a lot darker n person n she seems to have more of it. She was actually put into the cockbox by mistake by my ex boyfriend haha

 

[speckledhen]

Do you mean the rooster has actually solid black tail feathers? I wouldn't use him, if so. That would mean he has lots of Columbian Rock in him, IMO. That combined with a 7 pt comb and bad wing carriage would put him in the "NO" category, I'd say.