Delaware x Barred Rock Chicks--Indy, Rex and Ira's Progress Thread

[speckledhen]

Snapped some pictures of the boys today. You can tell how much larger Indy is than Rex or Ira. Ira is on the end of the bar next to their half sister, Raven. Indy is about 2 weeks older than Rex and Ira is a few days younger than Rex.
Rex, Raven and Ira's backside, to start.

Indy's a tall drink of water, isn't he? Look at those legs!

 

[wekiva bird]

Wow he is much bigger.

 

[speckledhen]

Both Rex and Indy have filled out a great deal. I love Indy's huge size, but Rex's shape is very pleasing to me. Indy may be actually too large for many of my smaller birds. He's fine for the Stukel Rocks, of course, and the Delawares, but the EEs types are just too small bodied and they run screaming from him. And the molting hens are having issues with him right now, with his teenage raging hormones. A couple of the hens get up in their faces, like Rita who raised Rex, and Emily the black Rock who is a bigger hen than her blue and splash sisters.

Actually, I'm loving Deacon quite a bit, too. He is very lean, very sweet (after a little object lesson about not biting that he learned quite well), and has a wonderful comb and tail set. He is so small, he won't be hard on the hens and he has a decent crow.

 

[speckledhen]

Pics of Rexie-poo. I love his shape and face, his silvery hackles and chest lacing. He's getting to be a pain, wants to bite my shoes, so we are in the middle of some lesson time. Hope he learns his lesson or he can't stay. Hasn't flogged, but he bit my pants and ran, like a bratty kid, one night.















.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Rex needs to realize that with Indy around? He's expendable.

 

[speckledhen]

Yeah, no kidding. That night when he bit my pants and ran and got quite a little object lesson, Indy quietly made his way up the roost, one eye looking back on the scene. He got almost to the top and sat down very slowly, like he was trying not to be noticed, sort of like, "I had nothing to do with that, I don't know what got into him, but just remember, I was good."

They'd better watch it. I have too many roosters around to keep one that is a problem child. Deacon bit DH one night when we were trying to get his sister to calm down and eat, guarding her at the feeder, because she had been picked on in the coop. She was hollering and Deacon reached over and took a chunk of of DH's hand, but DH is fast as lightning with his reaction time and he had Deacon around the throat immediately, literally almost choked him. Poor Deke ran into the nestbox, gasping and choking and hasn't bitten anyone since. He avoided DH for about a week, but he's fine now, apparently intelligent enough to learn that big lesson. He is very sweet, lets me pet him and rub his throat on the roost every night. Neither Indy nor Rex will allow that without protest. Now, if I was wanting Barred Leghorns, skinny slat-sided Deacon would be my guy. And geez, maybe he will stay here anyway. There's always room here for a sweet rooster.

 

[rancher hicks]

Are these Del over BR's or the other way around? Are these first generation ? They're very nice.

 

[speckledhen]

Thank you, Tim. They are Delaware (Isaac) over the Stukel Barred Rock hens; well, I think Ida is the mother of all three, Indy, Rex and Ira.

 

[rancher hicks]

Well they look real nice and since I've no BR roo I suppose I could put the hens with George. They look a nice size.

 

[speckledhen]

Indy is gargantuan! His back is about as tall as my knees and when he stands up, he reaches my hip. I raised the feeders up high the other night so they wouldn't chow down all night (there was a red reptile bulb in one spot for a very bare molting Ida, his mother, which kept it lighter in there). He walked over, looked at his feeder hanging 3 ft in the air and just started eating. He is probably the only one in the flock who could reach it; I think even Isaac would have had trouble. So, he has a huge frame and is still filling it in at 23 weeks old. And his head is humongous.

Rex is not as tall, but has a great round shape and bulk to him. Ira was raised in with the bantams with a broody D'Anver, so he was penned for the first part of his life. The others free ranged and got more sun and exercise so I think that is why Ira is a tad smaller than Rex, though he is only a few days younger. Other than that, they look almost identical.

This cross has great size. I'm still shaking my head every time Indy walks past me.