Delawares from kathyinmo

[caychris]

We strung fishing line above part of the breeding coop run ... now a grow-out coop & run for about 1/3 of our chicks ... to dissuade the hawks. It doesn't photograph well, fingers crossed it works. And there is still a big part of the run left to do.

Meanwhile, I heard a commotion in the free-range flock and saw dark flapping wings in a wooded area. I ran out there, down to the fence line, and found one of my good Delaware hens on the wrong side of the fence surrounded by a mess of her own feathers. I think a hawk had picked her up but couldn't manage to carry her very far. Not dead, no blood. Just scared quiet like they get.

Hawks are NASTY this year.

The fishing line (unless fly line) probably wont deter the hawk from making the attempt but will get them right tangled when they do.

Ive read people use colored yarn or string so the hawks think they cant get in.

Clear fishing line will probably get you chickens too if they try to take off over the fence

 

[finnfur]

We strung fishing line above part of the breeding coop run ... now a grow-out coop & run for about 1/3 of our chicks ... to dissuade the hawks. It doesn't photograph well, fingers crossed it works. And there is still a big part of the run left to do.

Meanwhile, I heard a commotion in the free-range flock and saw dark flapping wings in a wooded area. I ran out there, down to the fence line, and found one of my good Delaware hens on the wrong side of the fence surrounded by a mess of her own feathers. I think a hawk had picked her up but couldn't manage to carry her very far. Not dead, no blood. Just scared quiet like they get.

Hawks are NASTY this year.

They usually can't fly of with a full grown Delaware - at least not our RedTail hawks - but they will ride them down till they exhaust and usually pick the eyes first which makes them defenseless = i know not a pretty sight but thats nature.

 

[finnfur]

The fishing line (unless fly line) probably wont deter the hawk from making the attempt but will get them right tangled when they do.

Ive read people use colored yarn or string so the hawks think they cant get in.

Clear fishing line will probably get you chickens too if they try to take off over the fence

Disgusting that a Hawk would get caught up in line I strung to keep my chickens in - Harde har har !

You know you can't shoot a Hawk . But if its on my chicken I can shoot the chicken - collateral damage Huh

PS- DHS I am only kidding

 

[finnfur]

Close enough!

The gorgeous Black Copper Marans cockerel that hatched a day before my first Delaware clutch, and was sneaked into that clutch hours after hatching ... he weighed 4 lbs 15 oz the day I weighed all the Mr. Fatty cockerels.

He feathered faster, and is flirting with sexual maturity now ... as evidenced by one of our free-ranging hatchery cocks, Shade, giving him attention through the fence the past couple of days.

!. The line has most likely been bred for those qualities for years and generations - This line is only 4 years old from the cross but if you breed for it you can do it,
thats the assignment Grasshopper.





Found this interesting research recently-ish done in Canada, raising three historically significant breeds of chicken (1957, 1978, 2005) all the same way and comparing growth rates, efficiency, and anatomical features. The study does NOT look at Delawares, but rather "The current experiment included 2 University of Alberta Meat Control strains unselected since 1957 and 1978 (AMC-1957 and AMC-1978, respectively) and a 2005 commercial Ross 308 broiler (Aviagen North America Inc., Huntsville, AL). The AMC-1957 and AMC-1978 strains have been maintained unselected at the University of Alberta Poultry Research Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, since 1989. Source parent flocks were all 46 wk of age. The AMC-1957 strain was developed from 3 commercially available meat-type chickens and an experimental strain in 1957 at the Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for research purposes by Ed Merritt, Robb Gowe, and Allan Grunder (Merritt and Gowe, 1962). This strain was the progenitor of the AthensCanadian Randombred (ACRB) control strain maintained at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia (Hess, 1962). More than 100 peer-reviewed papers have been published using the Athens-Canadian strain as a representative of meat chickens of the 1950s. Nine broiler breeder companies contributed sire and dam strain chicks to develop 2 AMC-1978 lines (strain 20 = sire, strain 30 = dam; Chambers et al., 1984). The present study used the dam line."



http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/09/26/ps.2014-04291.abstract

And the full text HTML version ...

http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/09/26/ps.2014-04291.full.pdf+html

and the full page PDF version ...

http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/09/26/ps.2014-04291.full.pdf

Take a look at the photos on pages 4 & 5 ... !

I'm don't think my Delawares feather as fast as the 1957 birds used in this study. But their body shape is more like the 1978 birds. Not sure about their actual size/weights, as I didn't weigh them so young.

ANYWAY ... I'm always interested in better understanding the modern "meat bird" potential of the Delaware compared to other options. People rightly point out that the Delaware was the industry standard in the early 1950s, and a fair percentage of people working with Delawares now are breeding for meat. So I am always struggling to put that in perspective.

Especially since the Kathy's Line Delawares don't seem to grow super fast.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

The fishing line (unless fly line) probably wont deter the hawk from making the attempt but will get them right tangled when they do.

Ive read people use colored yarn or string so the hawks think they cant get in.

Clear fishing line will probably get you chickens too if they try to take off over the fence

Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

!. The line has most likely been bred for those qualities for years and generations - This line is only 4 years old from the cross but if you breed for it you can do it,
thats the assignment Grasshopper.

She's been breeding them for size and they are SO COOL! They get around very well for massive feather-footed birds. I understand it's a tricky breed. They've got color to worry about. Type. Egg color. And I don't think they're in the SOP yet ... so all kinds of things to make them interesting for a breeder.

As chicks they're black with white diaper bums and bibs and feathers on their feet. SO CUTE.

 

[caychris]

Quick pick of my near 16 week old Del pullet. She is pretty camera shy so catching her among the group isnt the easiest.

 

[finnfur]

She's been breeding them for size and they are SO COOL! They get around very well for massive feather-footed birds. I understand it's a tricky breed. They've got color to worry about. Type. Egg color. And I don't think they're in the SOP yet ... so all kinds of things to make them interesting for a breeder.

I think the Delaware is enough challenge for me

But the BCM sounds like a interesting breed.

 

[finnfur]

Our Guardian animal just returned


You might laugh but when he is around I get NO pictures of Coyote or Fox - must be doing his job OK ?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Our Guardian animal just returned


You might laugh but when he is around I get NO pictures of Coyote or Fox - must be doing his job OK ?

Nonononononononono!!!

Who would LAUGH at that!

I got to visit @Zanna yesterday. We teased some of her birds out of their shady spots. It's been HOT here, so they were hiding by the time I arrived.

She has some nice sized chicks! I'm sure some of her older cockerels are half-again the size of mine. And she has some with very promising feather color. And some with nice yellow legs. And I'm super curious to know which of her breedings produced the best overall results.

We discussed culling priorities. She has a lot more experience watching Delawares grow, so I wanted to see how she evaluates younger birds. She says "I wouldn't breed him," with an impressive confidence. I need a lot more experience.

We did some comparing of leg color within her flock. We want to make sure we don't lose the yellow legs. You'd think that would be simple as yellow is dominant. But of course it's not that simple. In my flock, the birds with the best pigment in their legs have too much pigment everywhere else.

I'm going to have to make sure none of my birds show up with brown feathers again (last year some of my pullets grew brown feathers a bit before they reached POL). That makes a long wait.

Zanna has a lot of awesome distractions at here place. Like, she has the most adorable fuzzy faced blue pullets & cockerels running around.

And friendly sheep that want cuddles. And a big "pet" buck. And the turkeys. And mushrooms.