Delawares from kathyinmo

[Beekissed]

I love a dark brown egg...for some reason it makes me think of my grandma and it makes me smile. BAs always lay that deep brown egg and some will even have a darker brown speckle to them. The WRs are pretty much a buff egg and the NH..she lays an Easter egg just about every time. It's buff with lighter bands or splotches of cream and all of it overlaid with a darker brown speckle. I would say the NH side of these Dels is where that pretty speckle comes from.

I love the art of the egg...so beautiful and it never gets old.

 

[kathyinmo]

I went in town to pick up my organic food order from the co-op tonight. The guy there got chicks from me last year. His favorites -> the Delawares. He told me that they are laying like crazy. Out of his 17 hens, he got 13 eggs today.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm liking these gals too....they've got spunk and personality!

Getting nice, big, beautiful eggs from them now and from the WRs as well. Their whole demeanor changed once they started laying and all the sudden they turned into women. The WRs very matronly and serious, the Dels~ moochy, spunky and bossy.

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Pics ?

This is when I first got it. Redid the inside a bit.

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I'm going to start my very first incubation this weekend if I can get my act together and it won't cost me a cent. I'm going to try something a little unconventional and just see if it works...if nothing else it should be interesting.

I've hatched out 19 White Leghorns. As for my Delawares I have 4 pullets and a cockerel in the pen now. I haven't started collecting the eggs yet. I'm so far behind in my egg orders. Plus I'm waiting for the weather to get just a bit warmer. Have better hatch rates.

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I read Delawares lay a light brown egg -- mine are pretty light, with a yellowish hue. In the General Population this year some of my new mutts have started laying off white eggs I think are SUPER cool!!!

Mine lay from light brown to very dark brown. I have one in the breeding pen that lays almost a chocolate egg. I've found that no hens lays the same color or shape. lol I can always tell who is laying.

 

[Beekissed]

Mine lay from light brown to very dark brown. I have one in the breeding pen that lays almost a chocolate egg. I've found that no hens lays the same color or shape. lol I can always tell who is laying.

Isn't that funny! I've never seen the egg color vary that much within a breed. I agree...the egg is pretty individual to the hen, though I've seen some that were so similar to others they were hard to distinguish most of the time. That's usually in a large flock with many of one breed. Mine are more notable for their shapes and color patterns. I haven't learned all the new pullets just yet but I will...just takes time.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I'm liking these gals too....they've got spunk and personality!

Getting nice, big, beautiful eggs from them now and from the WRs as well. Their whole demeanor changed once they started laying and all the sudden they turned into women. The WRs very matronly and serious, the Dels~ moochy, spunky and bossy.

I like my trio a lot. The male is so dancy and has a great relationship with my father. If he sees another hen through the fence, he courts her. He really is very attentive to the hens ... at first it was more the one that matured first than the other one. The smaller female was on the "outside" of their circle for a while as she was slower to mature. So she'd often be off on her own. But once she decided to mature she pretty well caught up in size and now they are all being cute together.

 

[finnfur]

I'm liking these gals too....they've got spunk and personality!

Getting nice, big, beautiful eggs from them now and from the WRs as well. Their whole demeanor changed once they started laying and all the sudden they turned into women. The WRs very matronly and serious, the Dels~ moochy, spunky and bossy.

Yep - When I put these pullets in with the mixed adult group the RIR old gals ruled the roost - They were cut from the flock when we culled the Del males.
Then the older line of Dels took over. In fact first 3 nights with the group the new Dels wouldn't even go in the coop. I would go pull the little pile of them out of weed clumps after it got dark.
Now they rule the roost. They first out and last in . Rain , sleet or snow.
Thats the pullets but the teenage boys both sleep in late and go back in early .
I am sue that will change when they discover females LOL

 

[finnfur]

This is when I first got it. Redid the inside a bit.

Very innovative - good job- all that matters is it hatches well.