Culling Delawares

[kryptoniteqhs]

Quote:
thats a good point. Now are you wanting a darker tail in your rooster specifically to help with the tails in your hens or is it also a desired trait to have in your roosters? Ive seen pictures of Isaac, do you have any of Gracie?
Your right, Ive got enough hens right now (& working on more), that I should be able to find a few with good enough combs to help the rooster. Now with that said, I'll walk outside right now & wont find any haha.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

What do you think of these? I found them on egg bid & theyre local & she wants $35 for four. I thought that was a good deal, but I dont normally like to buy birds, Id rather do eggs. But, if theyre nice enough, it may give me a jump start to have a few extra birds n then I can put them to my new roo with out having to move my current hens. They dont seem any worse than mine.

 

[speckledhen]

Hard to tell much in those pics due to the lighting and angles, but they seem like they have good body size. Here is a link to some pics of Gracie. Her hackles are very light, but she has more color than her mother. She has a five point comb (front ones count, blade doesn't). https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3446351#p3446351

Here's one of Gracie for you, too. Would this thread be better under breeds? I think so, so moving it now. We have a huge Delaware thread going over there.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

Quote:
thanks for moving it, i had that thought as soon as i posted it

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

Quote:
heres a picture of him, id be getting him from a fellow bycer:

 

[TimG]

Isn't it possible that one rooster has better traits to pass on to female offspring and another has better traits to pass on to male offspring? Just considering the tails, you want no solids in the males, no barring in the females. It sounds like you want to keep a male with a darker than desirable tail (for a male) so he will produce good tails in his female offspring. So, if you're really serious about Delaware breeding, you should keep one line for producing females and another for producing males.

 

[speckledhen]

Tim, you are correct about a male line and a female line. I don't have the room nor the desire to do that, but it is the best way.

 

[joletabey]

I am jumping in late, and have no where NEAR the knowledge you all have, but I wanted to say, the minute I saw Jack and Moses, I was rooting for Jack. AND, honestly? I don't know about the tail black in the roo helping your females, but maybe there are TOO many things there to correct- you said the comb and the wing carriage were not what you wanted either. His hackles also look more striped than barred in that picture. Maybe you just need to look farther for the right roo? Boy- TWO lines. One for the females and one for the males. Uh, glad I have acreage.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

Are you guys saying maybe i should keep a line with a darker tail, as in keep moses also or get the new roo? I dont think Jack or Moses have a very dark tail at all, neither is darker than the other, maybe just a little different. i have an up n coming cockerel who seems to have a bit of a darker tail. He is huge too!! At least next to his brother who is the same age & hes always been the bigger chick, even from the time he hatched. I'll snap some pictures today if I can. Also just to make things clear, I do plan on doing a male and female pen. I was gonna have Jack in my male pen & the new black tailed roo in my female pen. Please keep giving me blunt opinions on that. thanks!

 

[joletabey]

I just hear warning bells go off in my head - the roo with the black tail feathers, wrong wing carriage, penciled hackles and too many points may have too many problems for where you are at in your program. Is it worth gambling taking all those steps backward to see if you get darker tail feathering? I am not telling you not to do it, it is just something that would make me think long and hard. That roo could be a big step upward for someone else, just maybe not for you.
I hope that made sense.