Delawares from kathyinmo

[Beekissed]

Welcome back, Kathy! Glad you are feeling better!

Broody? I guess so!!!!

My chicks took their first steps into the wild yesterday(2 1/2 wks of age)...were integrated with the flock and let out to free range. They took many, many little steps yesterday and were some tired little peeps last night. I'll take pics today if I get the chance. They are out on the green grass as I now type and under the watchful eye of Toby, Jake and even the cat, Slinky BC. It was around the low 50s here yesterday and dipped into the 30s last night. Today it is in the low 40s and will get into the 30s again tonight. They have a heat lamp on in the coop night and day right now, but the lamp gets turned off when the daytime temps get in the 60s.

I lost 2 chicks after the first week..big and healthy, active and no signs of problems..then just died. Could be the heavy exposure to my flock's pathogens in the bedding..not sure. The rest are incredibly tough and voraciously hungry, eating and getting big on FF, drinking from the water nipples and will duck and freeze when I give the "alarm" call. Flighty and hard to catch, hardy and active, bold and adventurous...everything I like in a free range bird.

As promised....some pics taken today:








The chicks above are eating in the danger zones...got pecked a couple of times but they still kept coming back to the big feeder instead of staying with their own group. Tough little birds, I tell ya!










These little birds are pretty fearless and don't mind trying to take on the big birds and taking the opportunity to hop inside the big feeder when the big birds go outside the coop to continue foraging. They are little hogs...have foraged all day, ate breakfast and supper and are still hungry. Thinking Kathy crossed some CX in there somewhere as a joke....

ETA: No green legs in this group.

 

[galanie]

Welcome back, Kathy!  Glad you are feeling better!    Broody?  I guess so!!!! 

My chicks took their first steps into the wild yesterday(2 1/2 wks of age)...were integrated with the flock and let out to free range.  They took many, many little steps yesterday and were some tired little peeps last night.  I'll take pics today if I get the chance.  They are out on the green grass as I now type and under the watchful eye of Toby, Jake and even the cat, Slinky BC.  It was around the low 50s here yesterday and dipped into the 30s last night.  Today it is in the low 40s and will get into the 30s again tonight.  They have a heat lamp on in the coop night and day right now, but the lamp gets turned off when the daytime temps get in the 60s. 

I lost 2 chicks after the first week..big and healthy, active and no signs of problems..then just died.  Could be the heavy exposure to my flock's pathogens in the bedding..not sure.  The rest are incredibly tough and voraciously hungry, eating and getting big on FF, drinking from the water nipples and will duck and freeze when I give the "alarm" call.  Flighty and hard to catch, hardy and active, bold and adventurous...everything I like in a free range bird. 

 

So glad to hear they're doing well!! I'm following these even though I have none of them. I love Delawares and some day will get some. But not for a good while, I'm moving soon and will need to build coops, etc.

Anyway, so far as being tough. Our good breeders like Kathy are of course raising these things in optimal conditions. But I'm treating a couple of my chicks from Dragon Lady's trio like they were teh hardiest kids on the planet. And so far, they're pretty tough! The first two I hatched are being coddled but the last two are not. They are tough birds really. I guess my point is, that probably many of these better lines are tougher than people think. Hope I'm not wrong.

 

[DuckBoy]

Do you have Kathys link for her del project from the start

 

[capayvalleychick]

Lovely photos Bee! Yep, I'm noticing that these chicks seem to have more junk in the trunk than I'm used to seeing.

Hopefully Kathy will clarify, but I think these are the F4s. Duckboy, I don't think there is a separate thread for Kathy's Delaware project. She has posted about it randomly.

 

[Barred Rocker]

Glad you're feeling better Kathy! I'd love to get a few of those delawares when you get back in the groove.

 

[DuckBoy]

Thanks I am also doing a del project and I have a couple months to go before I breed My F1's together.

 

[wekiva bird]

Glad you are feeling better Kathy.

 

[finnfur]

Thanks I am also doing a del project and I have a couple months to go before I breed My F1's together.

Mind sharing the lines you started with to recreate yours. It would be awesome to have a couple pure lines going.
Good Luck

 

[Beekissed]

Chicks are 3 wks old now, spent their first night last night without a heat source. All are free ranging with the flock and sharing meals, scrapping for survival and doing great. Quite a nuisance when I have to do anything in the coop because they get underfoot quite a bit, but I'll bear up under the strain of it all.

 

[crazyhen]

My chicks also spent last night without heat in the coop. They are not in with the big hens. They can see them through the fence. Its neat though at night after I put the chicks in the hens would make sweet little sounds to the chicks at night, esp if one peeped loudly. As if to say " its ok little ones we are here" The little one would quieten right down.
I opened the outside door so they could go out on their ramp but they just looked out. No one had the courage yet to go out. Jacob came close. yet. Yes, I have a male GNH male that is very evident.