Delawares from kathyinmo

[finnfur]

Zanna said it was okay that I post that I got a trio of Kathy's Delawares from her.

Today we got an egg! I'm almost positive it is our first egg from these birds. I'll see about getting some decent photos of the birds posted soon.

Welcome - and looking forward to Pics - We Love Pics

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Just a tease photo ... the first Delaware Egg here at the farm ...

It's dirty because we found it on the ground. We have the Delaware trio set up in what has previously been the turkey coop (11 x 20 with a private pasture, so lots of room for three chickens), and we don't have nesting boxes in there and it is not the season we will be building any, either. I put a couple of large cardboard boxes in there with lots of hay, but of course she chose a different spot.

This egg weighs a respectable 50 grams (including the dirt) ... that's 1.76 ounces. It is darker than I expected it to be.

I'd like the birds to have a bit more "snuggle" this winter, so was thinking of putting a few of my green/blue laying Easter Eggers in there ... that way I can tell the eggs apart. I don't think any of my white egg layers would go for a housing shuffle ... they pretty much go wherever they please as soon as the coop doors are open in the morning.

NOW ... presuming I should get more of these in the near future ... how long do I have to wait before I enlist the services of a broody hen and start hatching some?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

As promised, some photos (as "seen" by my iPhone, so sucktastic):

This is the hen I don't think is laying. Her face is too pale.




Here is the hen I think gave me the egg, and the rooster. I'd bribed them off their roosts with treats at sunset ...




Here is a top down photo showing their widths ...


... you can see the hen in the middle is also narrower than the more red-faced one on the left.

Here is the rooster ...


... I think he is straining upright a bit to look at me, but you can see he isn't as U shaped as the SOP outline ... and he is a bit more up above his legs than that SOP outline. I expect he might keep filling out "down below." He has just pigged out on scrambled egg treat, so his crop is quite full and bulging.

Here he is trying to explain to the hens where to put the eggs. Someone else had set up the temporary nesting boxes along one of the side walls, and I know this is where the hen has been fussing, so I moved them here ...


I think this hen approves.


Here the one that's laying is telling the other one how nice the boxes are.








The rooster is a camera hog. He was being very cute showing the hens how to eat treats. And making sure he was between me and them as much as possible.

 

[newmanmichael]

As promised, some photos (as "seen" by my iPhone, so sucktastic):

This is the hen I don't think is laying. Her face is too pale.




Here is the hen I think gave me the egg, and the rooster. I'd bribed them off their roosts with treats at sunset ...




Here is a top down photo showing their widths ...


... you can see the hen in the middle is also narrower than the more red-faced one on the left.

Here is the rooster ...


... I think he is straining upright a bit to look at me, but you can see he isn't as U shaped as the SOP outline ... and he is a bit more up above his legs than that SOP outline. I expect he might keep filling out "down below." He has just pigged out on scrambled egg treat, so his crop is quite full and bulging.

Here he is trying to explain to the hens where to put the eggs. Someone else had set up the temporary nesting boxes along one of the side walls, and I know this is where the hen has been fussing, so I moved them here ...


I think this hen approves.


Here the one that's laying is telling the other one how nice the boxes are.








The rooster is a camera hog. He was being very cute showing the hens how to eat treats. And making sure he was between me and them as much as possible.

Very lovely birds! I'm excited to see these project birds turn into such outstanding looking Delawares. I'd love to get some of these at some point!

 

[capayvalleychick]

As promised, some photos

I like how the width on your male goes all the way to his tail. Good luck with them!

I use boxes like that and milk crates for nest boxes. They seem to like them better than the built in nest boxes. The cardboard ones can be disposed of and replaced when they get dirty, which is handy.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I like how the width on your male goes all the way to his tail. Good luck with them!

I use boxes like that and milk crates for nest boxes. They seem to like them better than the built in nest boxes. The cardboard ones can be disposed of and replaced when they get dirty, which is handy.

I think Zanna was pretty generous with me ... he seems like a pretty nice bird and I think now that the trio is getting settled into this space they will all fill out and continue to mature a bit better. Zanna's setup is awesome ... good light, lots of pasture, lots of woods, barns, compost, etc. Mine is more limited, but we're doing a big pasture renovation this winter.

At first I had this trio in the isolation cages, which are in a very protected spot on the back side of the coop under a big redwood tree. Their cage lacked the awesome sunrise of this coop, and the run was great for scratching but more "dirty" than I like ... it was the the lovely mulchy stuff under an evergreen, which is always their favorite place to scratch and dust bathe, but I like them to have green stuff and lots of sunshine, too.

I was pretty sure I wouldn't get eggs until I moved them into this sunnier coop ... they get many more hours of direct daylight here -- on one side the coop is exposed to sunrise, and on the other to sunset. But we had the massive turkeys in there ...

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to arrange this coop yet, so am not quite sure where to put "permanent" nesting boxes. Right now I just have one trio of breeding birds ... I gather that will change if I'm going to be "serious" about improving this breed. In a pinch I could divide this coop up into as many as 16 different breeding pens ...

I think they'll do fine with the "Costco Box" nesting space for now. It was funny how they ignored the boxes when they were in the other spot, but made all kinds of approving noises when I put them where they wanted them. I'm going to rebuild the flight of something like 12 double nesting boxes in the main coop, make one continuous line of boxes, so I'll have some double boxes to work with.

 

[finnfur]

I think it has been said that hatching should wait until hens are close to a year . More room in full size egg for a full size chick.
Mine have been laying a few weeks and think Zannas are a couple weeks older . My plan is hatch in Feb or March . Maybe a hatch of Delawaggers from my #2 Cock and the two Americaunas I have earlier than that to practice.
Got breed pens to work on first.
The hatching part is all new to me so someone else can give you better guidance .
Pretty Birds - I like the hen on left [ third picture down] the best.

 

[wekiva bird]

finnfur: Inubator warehouse is a good place to start. They have kits to make your on bator.

 

[finnfur]

finnfur: Inubator warehouse is a good place to start. They have kits to make your on bator.

Yes - I am keeping eye out for a small upright freezer to convert - haven't found it yet.
When I lived in the city everytime I went to the trash place there would be some - In country they must throw them in woods because I can't locate one.
It will show up.

 

[fowlman01]

I like this guy....... I can tell you I have seen drastic changes in the 3 I have kept this last month. With the green in the tail I remember Bob Blosl early on saying we still need to work on type with this line and not colour at this point. In the first pic. he looks a little crouched down and that may be making his outline look not as correct but you see him in person. Culling of any of the 3 breeds I am working on is excruciatingly difficult for me, always second guessing myself, seeking out the best advice available to me and when finally making the cuts trying not to look back! I think these boys will continue to mature for several more months, it is just so hard............. Can you post pics of the others? Comparisons are helpfull. Sometimes I just decide how many I am willing to keep and do my best to choose the nicest at the time. Practicality gets me in trouble all the time though

Sorry for the delay Kim......been busy.

I would not cull that bird. That is one of the better males I have seen so far.....maybe this is why you have had problems culling him.

Walt