Delawares from kathyinmo

[finnfur]

A lot of my F5s are over colored, but here are two of the lighter birds.

This one is older and its legs are looking suspiciously brown ... kinda like our summertime dust, I hope ...? It sure had orange legs when it hatched!



Funny pose, and grainy. I was shooting through the fence, in the shade, at maximum zoom, on my iPhone, and the birds refused to be still.

This one is a lot younger and shows the more yellow legs they all hatched with. It's a sweet looking little chick at this age.

If they free range - open area included they have a tendency to change with the dirt color - can't tell much from the pic s but like the top one shape but nothing to compare size with-
Just did 14 week weight in on the F5s and had large percent of pullets unless they fooled me .
Will post some weights and hopefully some pics when they loose the shyness of the adult birds and come out from under the new trailer coop LOL
First day out and still hiding

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

If they free range - open area included they have a tendency to change with the dirt color - can't tell much from the pic s but like the top one shape but nothing to compare size with-
Just did 14 week weight in on the F5s and had large percent of pullets unless they fooled me .
Will post some weights and hopefully some pics when they loose the shyness of the adult birds and come out from under the new trailer coop LOL
First day out and still hiding

They are on a pasture. It has dead grass over most of it and dust in the end closest to where human traffic happens. The older birds tend to hang out in the dust, being lazy. It is SO dry here. And hot. The pasture won't start to get green again until maybe mid September if we get rain on schedule. Some of the oldest pullets ... not quite 4 months ... are approaching the size of their moms if you look from a distance. I have a feeling they don't weigh as much yet. I'll have to try to get some weights. Good idea.

The few cockerels we have are about the same size as the pullets so far. That makes them quite a bit smaller than the dad.

We finally banded the original trio just so there would be no confusion. I'm sure we could figure it out if pressed, we just want to keep it simple.

 

[rancher hicks]

haven't had much to say.

chicks growing fine.

been busy with DW's treatments, trying to work on this house, yard and grandkids.

I'll try to get pics soon.

Haven't seen Kathy on. Sent her a card. Hope she's okay.

 

[1zooman12]

Hello Leslie D. Joyce, et al,
Your pictures seem to reinforce the points you are making. I'm still looking for a trio of the best Delawares with the latest Kathy in Missouri genotypic and phenotypic specifications. (Yes, I'm a trained experienced geneticist, so I talk funny! LOL) I was never made clear about the specific faults Kathy was aiming to eliminate anyhow. It would be handy to know what they were from her point of view then I might be in a position to keep a wary eye out for them in any other stock I might encounter. I have two goals with respect to maintaining a decent line of these particular birds: 1) The maintenance of the best genetic line. 2) Using some to improve the offspring by way of sex linkage production using the pullets as dams and Rhode Island Reds as the sires. This cross is known mainly as the Red Star. I bought a few such last November from a local feed store and despite the best of care the hens have not lived up to the hype when it comes to egg size or dependability of production. One of the hens even suddenly stopped producing nicely shelled eggs and began laying alternately either thin shelled eggs or those with only the membranes. This is nearly a sure fire way to teach the coop mates to begin the dreaded egg cannibalism. There must be room in the husbandry of these creatures for the production of a better strain.
Thank you,
Neal

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Hello Leslie D. Joyce, et al,
Your pictures seem to reinforce the points you are making. I'm still looking for a trio of the best Delawares with the latest Kathy in Missouri genotypic and phenotypic specifications. (Yes, I'm a trained experienced geneticist, so I talk funny! LOL) I was never made clear about the specific faults Kathy was aiming to eliminate anyhow. It would be handy to know what they were from her point of view then I might be in a position to keep a wary eye out for them in any other stock I might encounter. I have two goals with respect to maintaining a decent line of these particular birds: 1) The maintenance of the best genetic line. 2) Using some to improve the offspring by way of sex linkage production using the pullets as dams and Rhode Island Reds as the sires. This cross is known mainly as the Red Star. I bought a few such last November from a local feed store and despite the best of care the hens have not lived up to the hype when it comes to egg size or dependability of production. One of the hens even suddenly stopped producing nicely shelled eggs and began laying alternately either thin shelled eggs or those with only the membranes. This is nearly a sure fire way to teach the coop mates to begin the dreaded egg cannibalism. There must be room in the husbandry of these creatures for the production of a better strain.
Thank you,
Neal

Neal, I'm not a genetics expert by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just getting started. When I start to think about the genetics, my head gets all spinny, so I'm going to have to learn about it in slow tiny bites.

Not related to the Delawares exactly: I've been rather disappointed with my hatchery Sexlinks. They lay early, and most make big eggs. But I've also had more laying issues with them. I've had to cull two hatchery Sexlinks for getting egg bound. They seem to be in some stage of molting all the time. I can understand the desire for a better quality Sexlink, for sure.

From chatter over at the United Delaware Poultry Club page, there must be Delawares with good feather color, but people admit to struggling to get the proper leg color. People on the FB page for the breeding group seem pretty focused on feather color; here with this restoration project line people seem more focused on body shape ... "build the barn" stage. I have seen some photos of birds at the FB page with "good" color where the tails angles and spreads don't seem to match the SOP to my eye. I've also seen photos of birds where the chests don't seem to be very deep and full. I'm a little too shy to ask about that, though.

I think in general people are pretty excited about the potential of this line. I would also love to know more about the "whys" of that. I hope someone with good SOP & breeding experience can chime in with some descriptive discussions.

 

[1zooman12]

Hello again Joyce,
Having traveled the show circuit for a short time with my son as a high school student years ago (He is now 35 yrs old !) and having the bound reference, I get SOP. However, there must be some cranial density in my make up as I'm stymied with FB. I'm betting that it is some super simple designation that I'm just not getting. As a neophyte in mining forum data I think that it might be useful if some genius would make a list of defined abbreviations relevant to poultry, or chickens at least, for older dunderheads as myself. (LOL!) Thanks for putting up with the cave man !
Neal, the Zooman

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Hello again Joyce,
Having traveled the show circuit for a short time with my son as a high school student years ago (He is now 35 yrs old !) and having the bound reference, I get SOP.  However, there must be some cranial density in my make up as I'm stymied with FB.  I'm betting that it is some super simple designation that I'm just not getting.  As a neophyte in mining forum data I think that it might be useful if some genius would make a list of defined abbreviations relevant to poultry, or chickens at least, for older dunderheads as myself. (LOL!)  Thanks for putting up with the cave man !
Neal, the Zooman

Ahh! Sorry. FB = Facebook. Did I edit that out? My bad!

There is a page at Facebook for the United Delaware Poultry Club.

 

[kaiwan]

FB = Facebook
She was referring to the Delaware Club Facebook page.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Questions for people working with Kathy's line ...

How are things shaping up from the Spring hatch? How are they maturing compared to the chicks Kathy shipped to you? Do you have some photos to share/general comments? Do you see any improvements with the F5s? Any backwards movements? Do you think you selected the "right" birds to breed from the batch Kathy sent you?

Are you planning on hatching any of Kathy's line in September?

 

[1zooman12]

Hello Leslie,
I wish I had some of Kathy's line to hatch. I have one lone Delaware but she seems according to standard. She has yellow legs, black tail, wing and necklace markings. She is not quite old enough to ovulate. Seems a happy member of the flock; is into everything. I love it! You must have me confuselated with somebody else's situation.
Neal, the Zooman