Delawares from kathyinmo

[finnfur]

Was it this one? It's about hens, how to tell if they're productive.

There is also this one, for FFA, judging laying hens as a testable skill:

Not the one I remember - think it was a lady doing it.
But these will get the job done. Thanks

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Question about the F4 hens: how are they looking after their molts? Does anyone have some of the original F4s that aren't turning brown? Both of mine did ... not great for my entire corner of the project.

So now I'm eagerly awaiting the F5s to finish molting. I know some are turning brown, some still look white but don't have a lot of feathers at the moment so who knows how they'll finish. Unfortunately, both of the hens I sent to the youth breeder have turned brown.

I worry my work here is done.

 

[finnfur]

Are you talking Brassy or New Hampshire color ?

Both of our F4s and F5s have a similar hatch date and still in pin cushion stage.- Most of my problem with brassiness has been male . But mine have been so dirty [red clay here] dusting in their new woods digs I might not have noticed.

Don't give up the ship - steady as she goes.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

It's all kinds of things, from the buff barring to more aggressive reds and browns.

 

[caychris]

My 2 girls are showing a little (just a few spots) red bleed through on their backs. Neals boy has turned fairly yellow(pale buff) in places.

Neals girls also show a bit of the red bleed through. I had thought it might just be that they were dirty. Lots of red dirt. But with the comments here it might be more.

My hatchery dels I have here get very brassy if they have lots of sun. They molted a while ago and are pretty much white again.

Here are some pics though of the birds out at Neal's sorry for the poor quality pics I just wanted to get some quick shots.

This is the Oldest Pullet at Neals She is very similar to my Pullet Ive show before with solid rather than barred neck feathers.


We have about 4 or 5 Dels in this group of about 18 birds but their barring is crazy. (the other birds in here are RIRxWhite Leghorn)

The closer one here looks like a right mess.he has so much barring everywhere that he looks like someone dipped a barred rock in bleach

With all the barring the only way to tell the males in this group is by the long lanky legs



This is an older group of brids and we only got 1 Del here (the pullets should be coming to POL) He has the nicest look of the lot of boys so far,

And here are some pics of the parent birds.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Feathers that start white and turn brassy via sun exposure aren't as big a problem as the ones that grow in buff/brown/red. Though, people tell me that if a bird has the correct "stay white" feathers, they won't be as prone to sun damage.

ETA: Too much barring is the LEAST of our worries here, IMO. Barring comes from the "not brown" side of the family. I'd rather see extra black/barring than any amount of brown. But my I reserve the right to change my opinion on that.

It would be good to get a more experienced breeder/crosser's opinion on that.

 

[finnfur]

Feathers that start white and turn brassy via sun exposure aren't as big a problem as the ones that grow in buff/brown/red. Though, people tell me that if a bird has the correct "stay white" feathers, they won't be as prone to sun damage.

Believe Walt said that- The sun causes it but it is in the genes and inherited.
It just shows up mostly on the back and only on surface to sun exposure.

I don't think I have noticed the bleed thru buff/brown/red you are describing - Pics ?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Believe Walt said that- The sun causes it but it is in the genes and inherited.
It just shows up mostly on the back and only on surface to sun exposure.

I don't think I have noticed the bleed thru buff/brown/red you are describing - Pics ?

I'll see if I can snag some photographs. It isn't easy to photograph the chickens, particularly the free-ranging chickens.

The iPhone tends to bleach out any color problems.

 

[finnfur]

I'll see if I can snag some photographs. It isn't easy to photograph the chickens, particularly the free-ranging chickens.

The iPhone tends to bleach out any color problems.

Is your phone late model with BURST mode. It amazes me - take 8 to 10 pics in less than second - then pick the one you think is best.
Just learned I had it two days ago and had the phone over six months

Wet rainy day - Bert #2 is real brassy top of hackles and top of back below hackles - sun exposure - the two hens close to him have some also but some of that is red clay.
The other two on left are fairly white however everybody is in various stages of molt.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

One of last year's culls molting into a buff color on top. Some are much more red than this.