Delawares from kathyinmo

[LeslieDJoyce]

 I got more confused when I first got mine - takes a while to get your mind wrapped around it . Read it this weekend we having a test Monday. LOL

I'm sure I'll be even more confused by Monday. That's one reason I held of getting the SOP for so long.

I promised myself I wouldn't start with the illustrations, but of course I did. Now I want about 3 dozen new kinds of birds.

The B&W illustrations are not printed very well ... it's like looking at a photocopy of a fax of a photocopy. A couple I can't tell what part of the bird it's supposed to be. I keep rubbing my eyes.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Here is a grow out pen that we made with wire panels. We've added on to it. Now there are two 16x8 cull pens and a 16x16 grow out pen. At this point, the males are all starting to fight, so I need multiple small pens. I'm trying to think of an easy way to make dividers for this. The second photo shows how I set up exhibition cages on plywood & sawhorses. I use those for evaluating them side by side. Hard to see in that photo.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Here is a grow out pen that we made with wire panels. We've added on to it. Now there are two 16x8 cull pens and a 16x16 grow out pen. At this point, the males are all starting to fight, so I need multiple small pens. I'm trying to think of an easy way to make dividers for this. The second photo shows how I set up exhibition cages on plywood & sawhorses. I use those for evaluating them side by side. Hard to see in that photo.

Very cool! Nice pens!

I'm trying to figure out a place/way to do the long row of little cages for evaluating birds myself. Well lit. Out of the weather. Without, you know, having to buy a ton of little cages. Cuz I'm too cheap.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I got frustrated looking at dirty cockerels so I added a dust bath to the cockerel run. Our birds seem to really enjoy a peat moss and sand mixture. We added a little sulfur powder for good measure. Birds are looking a little cleaner.

I'm not sure we are moving in the right direction with these combs ... :/

The bird in the middle has a lot of presence and a huge white chest. He is still looking a little dingy in places so I worry he is brassy. He has one of the funky combs, and his back/tail is flat.

 

[finnfur]

Here is a grow out pen that we made with wire panels. We've added on to it. Now there are two 16x8 cull pens and a 16x16 grow out pen. At this point, the males are all starting to fight, so I need multiple small pens. I'm trying to think of an easy way to make dividers for this. The second photo shows how I set up exhibition cages on plywood & sawhorses. I use those for evaluating them side by side. Hard to see in that photo.

I droll over you other peoples setup. Are those cattle panels and are the spacings small enough to be predator proof ?
Looks good.
And yes I noticed yesterday some bloody combs so the are all going real soon. Nothing male from this year is being kept for breeding.
All have at least two faults - Brassy, Rex wings, bad size/type , to much black and multiple comb points.
Going to switch to #2 Cock this spring even though he is a little brassy and see what I get- using the whitest nicest type hens/pullets.
Its a crap shoot at Poker Hill LOL

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Pullets today.

Is this enough barring to work with?




This photo shows a couple interesting things going on with the females.



The top center of the photo is one of the trio I started with. She is in the process of molting. Notice the "texture" of her feathers? In person it looks like beige & white ... so I'm suspecting it is buff barring. Is this even possible? She's about 18 months old, and did not show this coloration before the molt.

Note the brown on the two birds across the center of the photo ... brown on the "white" tail area of both, and brown on the shoulders of the one on the right. We've got a few pullets showing brown. I've been watching this, and it is getting stronger, so it isn't just dirt.

The one in the center bottom? If only this is how a Delaware pullet is supposed to look I'd be in FINE shape. I have plenty of those to choose from.

The second original hen ... in rather heavy molt, and surrounded by pullets. She is pouting in this photo. Earlier she was out foraging with the rest, so I think mostly feels better than she looks, but I'm keeping my eye on her. She has either dropped a lot of weight, or she was all feathers to begin with. She was always smaller than the other, but had a really nice shape during breeding season and somewhat better coloring than the other.



And just for fun, a terrible photo of a DelaMutt pullet ... I got 2 black chicks in the last hatch, which is why I stopped hatching. I couldn't tell the foster broody eggs from the Delaware eggs. Being from the last hatch, so younger than the rest and clearly different looking, the two black chicks have to be clever and have figured out they like to be spoon fed, so we've bonded. The last week or so they both started developing the light streaks in their hackles. One is a cockerel and will be going into the cull cage soon. This one will be moved to the laying coop. The other DelaMutts are white cockerels, which we'll be putting in the Cull Cage tonight. They've got some filling out to do before they will be tasty enough to bother with, but they can do it somewhere besides the breeding coop.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

This one is still pretty young so not as big as some of the others. Her coloring is closest to correct that I've got. The neck barring has distinct white. The hackles look like the SOP illustration, though the description seems to call for more delicate neck color. Of course the tail coloring is all wrong.

Looking down on her from above she has decent width.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Are those cattle panels and are the spacings small enough to be predator proof ?

They are sold at Tractor Supply, higher than cattle panels with 2x4 inch openings. Similar to horse no climb fence, only sturdy. I don't have weasels (knock on wood) so they are predator proof, here.

Sorry about your situation with your males. I was worried that was going to happen here, with the way the wings look.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Is this enough barring to work with?




This photo shows a couple interesting things going on with the females.



The top center of the photo is one of the trio I started with. She is in the process of molting. Notice the "texture" of her feathers? In person it looks like beige & white ... so I'm suspecting it is buff barring. Is this even possible? She's about 18 months old, and did not show this coloration before the molt.

Note the brown on the two birds across the center of the photo ... brown on the "white" tail area of both, and brown on the shoulders of the one on the right. We've got a few pullets showing brown. I've been watching this, and it is getting stronger, so it isn't just dirt.

The one in the center bottom? If only this is how a Delaware pullet is supposed to look I'd be in FINE shape. I have plenty of those to choose from.

The second original hen ... in rather heavy molt, and surrounded by pullets. She is pouting in this photo. Earlier she was out foraging with the rest, so I think mostly feels better than she looks, but I'm keeping my eye on her. She has either dropped a lot of weight, or she was all feathers to begin with. She was always smaller than the other, but had a really nice shape during breeding season and somewhat better coloring than the other.

I'd say yes on your question about the barring in the first photo. I even got some with barred hackles from my hen with solid black hackles. I hatched over 20 chicks from each hen and got a range of color/markings. They don't produce a carbon copy. You have to hatch a lot to increase the chance of getting something worth keeping, though.

As for the beige feathers, I'm seeing that also in my F4s that just molted. I was hoping it was dirt, but I just gave them all a bath and it's obvious that the new feathers are not pure white. Some or part of the new feathers have faint cream to very pale reddish brown markings.
I wouldn't use any pullets showing red or brown color.

Regarding the hen that looked larger and was all feathers ... that's why it's important to weigh them. If you can't weigh them, go in the coop in the dark and pick each one up for a feel. Then take note of which birds felt the best. Taking away the visual input can give you some surprises.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I'll for sure be weighing the ones I hatched here. For sure. And feeling them all over, too. A lot can go on under the feathers. And I need the practice evaluating birds. I try not to handle birds more than necessary, but evaluating this year's birds for next year's breeders is necessary.

Last year I started with just a trio. I had nothing to do but feed them and hatch their eggs, which was a great & easy way to ease into things. No choices. I could see pluses and minuses in each of the two pullets I got in the trio. The smaller pullet (now hen) has nicer feathers (color & quality), the larger one is more solid and matured faster. We handled the larger one a fair amount as she had an injury, so I know she was heavy during breeding season. The one that's molting harder now has always been the smaller bird.

So ... if the the two original females both continue to mature into "worse" birds than they were last year, then is breeding them back to one of their sons foolish? What are the pros and cons?

That begs the question what to do with this year's cockerels, presuming any of them turn out "better" than their father? It looks like it is possible I will have at least one that is an improvement.