Delawares from kathyinmo

[capayvalleychick]

Bummed the one on the right is brassy.

Are you sure he's brassy and not dirty?

My second F4 female (of 2) is coming through molt enough now that I can see her buff barring all over her body like the photo of the one I posted earlier. I guess that means *all* my F5s have the Buff Barring gene in them. That explains why so many of the F5 females have brown. Maybe all of them do. We'll be doing the Big Look later this week/this coming weekend.

What I'm getting with the F5 males is more barring throughout the body on the birds that have more correct barring in the tails. The guys with the whiter bodies have blacker tails and are looking more likely to go brassy. But they also change so much color-wise as they continue to mature, and several of my birds are weeks & weeks behind. That big brassy guy with the black & gray barred tail is one of the older F5s... they could all end up looking that way, more or less.

Frustrating shame as they are looking so nice with size/shape. One could even say they look "tasty," which is pretty much the point. Unless you're breeding.

I tried to get a photo of one of the bigger F5 males that shows black wing feathers low on one side, but he wasn't cooperating today. Most of the other wings look fine from a distance. We'll unfold them during The Big Look.



EDITED: This photo shows the body shape of the bird in back with the better tail ... kinda puffed up in the photo, so looking more solid than he probably is. It's cold here today. It doesn't show his color well -- he has barring in his saddle, etc. The iPhone camera chose to focus on that leaf caught in the fence instead of the birds.



Edited again: This photo shows the color of the more barred cockerels a bit better. The big brassy bird is in the bottom right. I was trying to photograph the right wing of the bird on the left. You can see some black wing tips there, but his bodyguards are in the way.

I wouldn't use the one in the middle, unless you have to. I'm no expert, though. Having trouble myself, trying to figure out which are the best.

He needs therapy. Or scratch.

Here is a picture of him with only the chicken wire in front of him. I had to zoom and crop a lot, so it's fuzzy. I'll try to find him today and see if both wings match.

He sure looks good on this side. I'm seeing the same wing that might be slipped in my males. And the same slightly less white shade all over in a couple. It's not the same as the brassiness that I've seen in other Delawares, which shows up as darker gold on hackles & back. So, I wonder if it's influence from the NH color, rather than brassiness. Of course, if you have better options, you simply cull the yellow birds and the birds with the incorrect wings.
But if you have choices in which your largest, best type otherwise birds have either the wing issue or yellowing - do you cull those and choose a smaller male, or one with more barring???

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Are you sure he's brassy and not dirty?

Ha! I'm not at all sure the "Big Brassy One" isn't dirty. I *might* try to bathe him this week. My birds have a tentative appointment with Destiny on Sunday, so I need to make sure they're all in the best possible condition for that. It's freezing cold here, and I'd prefer to not bring them in and heat them up and blow them dry during a cold snap ... hmmmm.

I wouldn't use the one in the middle, unless you have to. I'm no expert, though. Having trouble myself, trying to figure out which are the best.

Yeah. I think I do have better options, even if he does continue to lighten up. A lot. I've still got 17 Delaware cockerels to choose from, that photo was just the four in the corner, and showed off the two different color types reasonably well, and that one funky wing you can almost see ... whiter birds with blacker tails & possibly brassiness vs. more gray birds with better barred tails.

I think I'll have at least one Big Bird of each color type to choose from. And then I'll have to choose. Le sigh.

I'm sure they are all mature enough now to make informed decisions. That said, I do wish I could wave my magic wand and make them all the same age before Destiny calls.

He sure looks good on this side. I'm seeing the same wing that might be slipped in my males. And the same slightly less white shade all over in a couple. It's not the same as the brassiness that I've seen in other Delawares, which shows up as darker gold on hackles & back. So, I wonder if it's influence from the NH color, rather than brassiness. Of course, if you have better options, you simply cull the yellow birds and the birds with the incorrect wings.

Both my F4 Females are finishing up their molt with buff barring where they should be white, so I'm think *all* the F5 offspring have those genetics (if I'm going to be washing birds, I should wash one of the F4 hens ... what a relief it would be if that barring was just stain). That said, the color of the males is so different from the females. Perhaps the brown feathers that showed up in the F5 pullets is sex-linked trait? My F4 Male does NOT appear to be shifting colors with this molt.

But if you have choices in which your largest, best type otherwise birds have either the wing issue or yellowing - do you cull those and choose a smaller male, or one with more barring???

Now isn't THAT the question. What of the many important characteristics do I choose as the most important deciding factor? My theoretical breeding goals for this year flew out the window when the actual chicks arrived. I guess it's to be expected with the first year of a new breeding project and a new-to-breeding breeder. It's all a surprise.

At some point I'm going to have to work on combs, for example. How much worse the combs will get before I prioritize that goal is another good question.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Well duh.

Left Wing.




Right Wing.




That answers that question.

 

[shorttimer]

Thanks. I'll be in touch when it's time to putting a flock together.

 

[rancher hicks]

You at the top of the list. Let you know when they start producing.

All of these line of Delaware breeding cocks have been gentle - disposition of the line in general I guess.

However the young studs started sparring at about 22 weeks and it got a little more serious at cull 27 weeks - few bloody combs etc but no
massive injuries.

Who else is on that list?

Sorry I haven't been on but I've been sick. DW's been sick too so neither of us has felt like doing much. Thanksgiving was not much fun as my DD was sick and had to go home. We've all been sick. I think my GD brought it home from preschool.

Anyhow, the new girls are starting to lay. Looks like to many of the C. Rocks are boys. I'm already planning to hatch next year. My dels are still my best layers.

Provided things go well with DW. She's taking early retirement and we have to see how that goes. Her disability ended and she had no long term. Most of her retirement from her job will have to pay for health insurance.

Well gotta go. Jeopardy is on.

ta, ta for now.

 

[finnfur]

Who else is on that list?

Sorry I haven't been on but I've been sick. DW's been sick too so neither of us has felt like doing much. Thanksgiving was not much fun as my DD was sick and had to go home. We've all been sick. I think my GD brought it home from preschool.

No body I know of - but my carry forward breeders are 5 F5s and one F4 - so it may take awhile to get the new girls laying big enough eggs.
Hope every body recovers at house.

 

[DuckBoy]

Quote:
I have a question i have read that you can breed a del roo to a new hampshire hen and get del looking birds from this. Can you in turn put those birds back into the pool (del/nh) and breed them back to a new del rooster or hen and get pure birds? SEE Below. del roo X NH hen = del/NH look like dels del/nh roo X del hen = dels? del roo X del/nh hen - dels?

 

[finnfur]

Quote:
I am not a genetic expert - far from it
But I seem to have read one of those crosses produced Dels but haven't tried it
I also remember a sexlinked cross but don't know what it was - need to research - try a search on these threads and there is another thread thats dead called del genetics - it might be there

 

[Zanna]

Quote: I believe this to be true, you just need to cull all that are incorrectly coloured. The sexlink cross happens when you use the NH Cock (Or RIR or?) over the Del. hens. All the female offspring at hatch will be coloured like Dad and the males will be coloured like the moms.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I tried some practice handling of the Delawares last night. Screaming, crying, wing flapping, suicide leaps from the roost from the pullets. Such a fuss.

We do have a heat lamp in the breeding coop for the water (cuz it's been freezing here), so maybe they'll be a little more quiet in the dark. I plan to pester them every night in the hopes that they'll calm down by Sunday.

The males don't love getting picked up, but they are a little less dramatic about it. They used to make me help them up on the roosts at night, and I've handled them to move them into the Cockerel Colony coop and check their wings and stuff, so maybe that explains the difference.

As expected, the pullets seem to weigh nothing. Big balls of fluff. The older males are getting heavy.

I'm wondering if maybe I should worm all the Delawares. I'm not getting eggs at the moment, the three older birds seem about finished with their molt, we are hauling water anyway cuz it's cold, so it would be a convenient time ...

We have not been worming at all here. Early on I called the poultry guy at OSU Extension, and he discouraged me from doing random worming ... I know it's a big debate, so I chose to follow his "do nothing unless there's an obvious problem" advice. No obvious signs of parasites doesn't mean much ... especially to a novice.

Thoughts?