Delawares from kathyinmo

[LeslieDJoyce]

Zanna, I your hens & pullets!l and I'm so glad you kept Surprise! around so long that he got to show you his good side.

I think I just named your cockerel.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Kim, this s the one I think I want to send to you. Orange legs? Check. Deep chest? Check. Also happens to be the biggest. And, bonus! Have the best color.

Wow!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Going to bombard you all with some pics. Will put each bird/grouping on a new post. This first cockeral is an F'5 and has been my great hope. He is the youngest of all my f'5's and was the only broody raised Del. I think I am about to give up on him, it is that darn right wing. It will not fold up properly and this may sound odd but the feathers seem to be almost too wide and I count more than 10 primaries, 1 axial and 10 secondaries. They are still in different growth rates so I know the feathering is not completed quite yet. Love all else about this youngster, he is wide, chunky, lighter in colour. What do you guys think, I am thinking cull?

His color is SO nice compared to my birds! And otherwise he looks pretty good. Maybe a bit of a flat spot in his back compared to the ideal, though that can change over time (I'm seeing changes with maturation, and also seeing changes seasonally). Strange about the wrong number of feathers in the wings ... and he does point that right one down on the diagonal a bit, and etc., but he is very tempting. Because I think at some point someone might want to do a "color project pen" with this line ... he'd be good for that if the wings aren't actually "deformed." I wonder if he had more time?

Does this mean we might have two different kinds of wing issues in this line? The one with the wings carried super low and outside the fold a bit like a strutting turkey ... looks like slipped wing; and another issue with the wrong number of feathers/wide feathers plus a bit of a folding & low-carriage issues?

This is the only one of the 6 older F'5's that I think may be breedworthy. He is darker than I like but the darker tail may help with getting the correct coloured tail on the F'6 pullets. He is very wide and stout but shorter than all the others. The other 5 have all ended up with squirrel tails, I swear, overnight they just all went upright He and his brothers were dustbathing in mud so he looks a little darker in his lower fluff and right under the wings than he is. If Leslie decides to do a 3rd mating, this boy will go over to her when I am done with him so she has a more distantly related breeding.

I like him, too. He seems "fluffier" than the other. But I really like his compact shape and top line.

I think it is a super good idea to keep a male around on the West Coast who won't be a direct descendant of PapaDel, and he looks very good for that.

Leslie's PapaDel and 3 of my original f'4 hens from Kathy. He was doing his best to protect them from me and they absolutely adore him, he is an amazing guy!!! I love how these hens still look like pullets, they will be 2 years old in April. Have heard that is a desireable trait.

There's a reason I have so many photos of him ... he likes to be between me and his flock. Those pullets hens are looking very nice. I do like that they perk their tails up a bit as I'm seeing a tendency toward lower tails in my flock. He is one lucky guy. I hope it is a good mix and those chicks come out bouncing and beautiful. And breed-worthy.

The four F'5 pullets that I will be using PapaDel over as well. Colour issues for sure but am liking/size type. Have one other i may use but she is one of the type with the bulging keel up front. She is very large, has a great open tail and the best colouring of all of the 5 I culled down to. Just don't like her balance but am keeping her in reserve.

Look at the HEADS on those girls! And I absolutely love the curves of their chests and their balanced backs and the wing carriage on the one that's showing looks very nice. I see they have a little extra peppering on their backs, but otherwise they look extremely "clean" or "organized" or "tidy." Which means good feathering to me. They look like they could move around the yard pretty well for big birds (I like that about a bird).

 

[capayvalleychick]

Do you have photos of the sire & hen that produced this cockerel? I'd like to see how to get lighter color like him.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Do you have photos of the sire & hen that produced this cockerel? I'd like to see how to get lighter color like him.

Ha! Me too!

 

[Zanna]

Do you have photos of the sire & hen that produced this cockerel? I'd like to see how to get lighter color like him.

Here's Dad, he got so brassy I culled him.



And here is Mom early last year. She is the one upfront in with PapaDel.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Here's Dad, he got so brassy I culled him.

Wow, his cockerel shows no sign of brassiness. Has the cockerel been out in the sun much?

 

[Zanna]

Wow, his cockerel shows no sign of brassiness. Has the cockerel been out in the sun much?

He is out all the time but is young yet. The birds I got from Kathy, none showed brassiness as youngsters. Of the three I ended up keeping, two went quite brassy after a year old. Of my F'5's many showed brassiness right around 6 mos. old.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Kim, this s the one I think I want to send to you. Orange legs? Check. Deep chest? Check. Also happens to be the biggest. And, bonus! Have the best color.

Wow! He is really nice looking.

I wish I could join in this fun. I can't have roos where I am right now though. I was thinking I would be happy with just my Delaware bantams, but after seeing this guy I think I still need to be looking for a LF version for me. Chicken math is creeping up on me!

 

[marnette]

5th Generations