Delaware chicks with eyeliner

[Goose and Fig]

I think what they're telling you is: the "delawares" that you saw are a work in progress. They were made by crossing different breeds- and too much of the columbian rock is showing up.

 

[luvncountrylivn]

Hello, I thought I would resurrect this thread as I just bought 6 Delaware chicks and one of mine has the black eyeliner. I saw the parents and they were definitely Delawares? I thought too that maybe that meant that one was a rooster. I'll try to post pics shortly.

 

[jeremy]

I think the difference between the chicks pictured is that the ones showing the "eyeliner" markings are from hatchery stock. Meaning that their bloodlines could have (and probably were) diluted with birds similar in appearance to Delawares. A lot of hatcheries have done this to increase biodiversity because good Delaware bloodlines are hard to come by, however little do they know that by doing so they are essentially nullifying the decent bloodlines that there are.

The pictures speckledhen submitted are obviously birds that are from specific breeders, these birds would be pure bred Delawares and their appearance is what the chicks should look like.

IMO.

 

[luvncountrylivn]

I got mine from a breeder not a hatchery.

 

[popcornpuppy]

I guess the question now is where did the breeder get the parent stock? It is posible that the parent stock or even a few generations back could have come from a hatchery. Every one has to start their flock some where. Some folks start with hatchery chicks and some go through breeders.
Pause, re-direct
where did the parent stock BLOODLINES originate, should be the question. Any one can breed chickens, but it is many years of work to create a bloodline. True Delawares have traceable bloodlines. Hatchery Dels are often mixed with other breeds to get a Delaware look-alike, but not really a true Del. I have done alot of research since I started this thread and the only black markings that any Del chick should have is an occasional spot on the top of the head (not gender related) that fades quickly with age.

 

[HBuehler]

Agreed.Just because they came from a breeder doesn't mean they didn't use hatchery stock.Hatchery stock look like Delaware's and depending on how much they culled their flock they may have some better hatchery stock but there is a cross in there still coming out in the chicks...Heritage Delaware's don't wear eyeliner or have stripes lines etc...We raise them here.If it were as easy to sex them as so many have told me they are..dot on head etc it would make it nice but not so.

 

[kstaven]

Quote:
Old thread but the spot on the head comment did bring something to mind. Although it is often stated as not being sex linked it was mildly noticeable on some chicks which turned out to be cock birds and not on the hens. New unrelated big boy added to the mix this year and a couple dozen eggs incubating right now so I will be watching to see if this appears again.

 

[speckledhen]

I have seen a couple in each batch with eyeliner, but it's definitely not predominate in the ones I've hatched from my own birds. The head spot would be great if you could use it for sexing, but most of the time, I'll have three or four with it and have many more males than that, but I haven't specifically followed one all the way through to see. Breeders tell me that it has no meaning other than perhaps showing ones that may be better marked later on, so let us know how your experiment turns out, Kurtis.

 

[X2Farm]

Quote:
Interesting.. so there could be something to the head spot....

Hatching Delawares now, I notice I get some head spots and some not. I hadn't thought that meant much, but if I'm reading and understanding correctly, serious bill mentioned earlier in the thread it could be linked to having the correct gene for the dark chocolate cake?

Ugh, I seriously need leg bands to keep track of these chicks better!!!

 

[kstaven]

I have bandettes on them all. Separating my hatching eggs so I know which hen they came from and track them all individually. I can see a new filing cabinet in my future.