Delawares from kathyinmo

[LeslieDJoyce]

Posted some pullets here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-the-standard-of-perfection/280#post_14611383

Nice! Yay!

(I'm not sure that particular cockerel is quite as full in the chest when viewed from a more normal angle, but I keep thinking he looks like a decent pullet in that photo ... needs a higher tail!)

 

[KittieChick]

He should have one blue egg shell gene. It is dominant so if that gene is inherited by the chick, the egg shell will be blue. He may have a white egg shell gene too and if that is inherited instead, the egg shell will be white with chicks from the Delaware and Austaralorp. The egg shell can still be blue if the EE Hen provides a blue gene though. The EE Hen might also have a white and blue egg shell gene though.

The Delaware and Australorp will have brown genes for the outer coating of the shell so most of those eggs will be a light green. The EE hen may have some brown coating genes too so it is hard to say what tint of egg she will have. Note: Green eggs come from a blue egg shell coated with brown. Egg shells are only white or blue)

You can get a lot more information by going to one of the EE threads.

Just spent the last 4 hours scouring around looking for EE egg color info. So much to process! Ron, I have just a quick question that I didn't seem to find an answer. Will the rooster have an effect on the color egg that a fertilized hen lays? Like my DelWare started laying a nice brown, but they are looking more purple pink. She's one of his current favorite girls. My EE just started (as far as I know) and her eggs are minty blue. So, in an eggshell (haha), will egg color be affected by fertility, and will eggshell color have a bearing on the resultant chick, if hatched?

 

[ronott1]

Just spent the last 4 hours scouring around looking for EE egg color info. So much to process! Ron, I have just a quick question that I didn't seem to find an answer. Will the rooster have an effect on the color egg that a fertilized hen lays? Like my DelWare started laying a nice brown, but they are looking more purple pink. She's one of his current favorite girls. My EE just started (as far as I know) and her eggs are minty blue. So, in an eggshell (haha), will egg color be affected by fertility, and will eggshell color have a bearing on the resultant chick, if hatched?

Egg shells can only be white or blue and it is simple genetics. Blue is dominant so the pullet chicks will lay blue if it gets one blue gene from either parent.

Green comes from a brown coating that is more complicated and comes from 9 to 15 brown genes. The green color is classic color blending; the same as mixing paint. Blue mixed with brown makes green. The darkness of the green color comes from the darkness of the brown coating.

I have read that the blue color comes from a liver pigment in the hen so it may be possible to change the blue with nutrition and health.

Glossiness can come from the bloom coating and some bloom can make brown eggs look purple and white eggs look pink. That would be a third tint for eggs. Your Delaware must have a bloom coating that changes the egg color. If so, the egg should look brown when wet and the go back to purple pink when dry.

Your EE has some brown genes that can combine with the other parents brown genes to change the green color.

 

[KittieChick]

Egg shells can only be white or blue and it is simple genetics. Blue is dominant so the pullet chicks will lay blue if it gets one blue gene from either parent.

Green comes from a brown coating that is more complicated and comes from 9 to 15 brown genes. The green color is classic color blending; the same as mixing paint. Blue mixed with brown makes green. The darkness of the green color comes from the darkness of the brown coating.

I have read that the blue color comes from a liver pigment in the hen so it may be possible to change the blue with nutrition and health.

Glossiness can come from the bloom coating and some bloom can make brown eggs look purple and white eggs look pink. That would be a third tint for eggs. Your Delaware must have a bloom coating that changes the egg color. If so, the egg should look brown when wet and the go back to purple pink when dry.

Your EE has some brown genes that can combine with the other parents brown genes to change the green color.

Thank you!

 

[finnfur]

Don't know if anyone has seen this independent study on breeds of Heritage chickens on grass.
But note the guy had a problem with the Del chicks from the hatchery [ 9 died] and we have no indication
of line of hatchery Dels used. Its interesting however
http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=FNC12-866&y=2013&t=1

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Don't know if anyone has seen this independent study on breeds of Heritage chickens on grass.
But note the guy had a problem with the Del chicks from the hatchery [ 9 died] and we have no indication
of line of hatchery Dels used. Its interesting however
http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=FNC12-866&y=2013&t=1

That is interesting. Too bad he had so many deaths with the Delawares.

I wonder if a flock would become more efficient the more it was localized.

Our experience with hatchery birds has been pretty mixed in terms of getting big meaty birds. Mostly we didn't get big meaty birds from the hatchery stock. The Speckled Sussex and Golden Laced Wyandotes have been the heaviest. Besides the Cornish X we raised that once, of course. We've lost very few chicks here ever (lost a few ducklings, though).

 

[LindaB220]

Don't know if anyone has seen this independent study on breeds of Heritage chickens on grass.
But note the guy had a problem with the Del chicks from the hatchery [ 9 died] and we have no indication
of line of hatchery Dels used. Its interesting however
http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=FNC12-866&y=2013&t=1

Quite interesting. I had read it months ago as a newbie, but re reading it really changes the dynamics for me.

Edited to add: Four out of seven of my hatchery Dels died the first week. No reason.

 

[finnfur]

Quite interesting. I had read it months ago as a newbie, but re reading it really changes the dynamics for me.

Edited to add: Four out of seven of my hatchery Dels died the first week. No reason.

intersesting : i have never lost a Del chick from this line once they were a day old- I culled one that was having spasms but it would have made it as it was eating and drinking OK

 

[capayvalleychick]

Don't know if anyone has seen this independent study on breeds of Heritage chickens on grass.
But note the guy had a problem with the Del chicks from the hatchery [ 9 died] and we have no indication
of line of hatchery Dels used. Its interesting however
http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=FNC12-866&y=2013&t=1

That is an interesting study. Sounds like the farm owner realized that the issue was probably the source of the chicks, rather than the breed.

This is a good example of the fact that you can't necessarily assign qualities to be set in stone in a breed. The strains or lines within a breed can vary so much.

I've had 3 lines of Delawares and all three were different. One line was not vigorous. Many of those died the first year. This strain has been much more healthy. There has been a few health problems, but nothing that I would consider out of the norm.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

PapaDel spent the night in the fluffy "Spur Removal Recovery Pen" last night to make sure his fresh naked spur stumps didn't get bumped & bleed. I put Gust out for a middle of the night pee (read as: chicken poo snack), and PapaDel was crowing non stop. He was NOT AMUSED by being separated from his harem. Such drama. He went back in with them first thing this AM.