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

[catdaddyfro]

Cool pics

Hey the one in the front is that going to be a Blue-barred, maybe?

Jeff

 

[speckledhen]

He looks black to me, only lighter and more silvery, but that would be swell to have a blue barred one, Jeff. I had a blue barred male hatch that came from one of the blue Rocks, but she was a first timer and crushed the zipped chick in its shell. I got to it just seconds too late to save it. The black pullet was the other egg under her and was pipped at the time and I stole it and put it under my trustworthy D'Anver hen, who had eggs due the same day. Couldn't risk another to a newbie broody.]


Adding pics of Indy's brother, affectionately dubbed The DelaRex, lol. He flogged his own daddy several times in the face and pecked him in the eye when he was dancing for little Rex's broody mama and offering her treats. He is a fiesty little guy.

 

[speckledhen]

Especially for Jeff, progress pictures of Indy, Rex, Ira and the two youngest DelaRock brothers with their broody mama. Indy is 6 weeks, Rex over 4 weeks, Ira just turning 4 weeks and the two littlest critters are almost 2 weeks old now. Interesting how Indy's barring is so much more crisp than the others, though it is a tad early to judge the youngest ones yet.


Indy:



Rex:




Ira:




The two youngest boys. Note the feathering and color differences between the two of them, hatched the same day.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Big smiles here

seems to be a trend here or is it just me, Is this combo producing just male only offspring? the(one) hen laying male eggs? happens sometimes. I very seldom ever get 50/50 from one single hen(broody on her own eggs) they either tend to be more male or even rare as it may happen female dominant too.

Jeff

 

[speckledhen]

Surprised me, really, that Ida would produce mostly males, though she is such a big, robust looking hen, almost male looking herself in some ways, not that that has anything to do with it. She has a muscular neck like some bull, I swear! One of the chicks belongs to Druscilla, daughter of Dottie and the late great Rex that little Rex is named for, but the other four are Ida's. The batch that Ida herself came from consisted of four females and only one male so I hoped that the hens would also be pullet producers like their mothers, but alas, no dice.

Hens do determine the sex of the chicks, as you know. I've had some hens who produce all to almost all pullets and some I can say will always produce males and some seem to go 50/50, generally. These are the first chicks out of these hens, other than Dru whose mother is Dottie, so I had no idea what to expect from Ida. Now, I sure do, lol.

 

[Cetawin]

Do not slight my boy's barring...my little Delarex is perfect. Just keep giving him his nomnoms daily and reminding him the Right of Ascension has begun and he must continue to strive for the top slot. *smirk*

Jeff that boy Rex is a mess....he really wanted to come home to Kentucky with me so he could receive his daily nomnoms but his mama was not ready to let him go yet, nothing worse than a red headed broody mama not wanting to give up her only chick so alas I had to leave without my little Delarex. At about 2 weeks old I began scooping him up, feet dangling and kissing him all over his back and neck....he loved it and would sit in my hand and wait for me to give him his nomnoms.

Cyn, Indy is growing like a ragweed!

 

[speckledhen]

Oh, yeah, Rex is rotten. Indy's broody EE mama is laying again and he guards that pretty blue play toy when we go to get it. He has a calm demeanor as do all of these DelaRock male chicks.

Jeff, considering that Indy looks like a pure BR in spite of being 1/2 Delaware, and supposing that when his hackles and saddles come in that he still looks like a pure BR, breeding him with the Stukel BR hens with their exemplary barring and body size should produce birds that will also appear to be pure BR, right? In fact, the progeny would be closer to pure than Indy himself, being at that point 3/4 rather than just 1/2 as he himself is. As long as they keep looking like pure BRs, at some point, we'd be back to what really would in effect be one.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Oh, yeah, Rex is rotten. Indy's broody EE mama is laying again and he guards that pretty blue play toy when we go to get it. He has a calm demeanor as do all of these DelaRock male chicks.

Jeff, considering that Indy looks like a pure BR in spite of being 1/2 Delaware, and supposing that when his hackles and saddles come in that he still looks like a pure BR, breeding him with the Stukel BR hens with their exemplary barring and body size should produce birds that will also appear to be pure BR, right? In fact, the progeny would be closer to pure than Indy himself, being at that point 3/4 rather than just 1/2 as he himself is. As long as they keep looking like pure BRs, at some point, we'd be back to what really would in effect be one.

Good ques. and I don't know really see he will not be the light silver barred as the BB(pure) males show to be, so you got me on that one. Looks like another experiment will be underway in the future,LOL

Jeff

 

[wekiva bird]

watching them grow!

 

[speckledhen]

well, keep watching for more updates, Robin, because Indy and Rex are now coop mates. Indy's mama rejected him, but she had a fit when we removed the D'Anver chicks from her so we had to find someone to be with Indy. Rex, being two weeks younger, seemed the perfect choice and they've drawn a truce, as you can see. This dustbath gives us the opportunity to compare size and coloring of the two full brothers. I'm amazed at Indy's barring, him being 1/2 Delaware. And he seems to be headed toward becoming a larger bird than Rex.









July 11, adding pics of Dottie's little guys, who are about to turn 3 weeks old. Jeff, this first one is the one you at first thought might be blue barred. He feathered in slower and of course, seems to have better barring than the other one.