Delawares! What do YOU think? Im not impressed....at all

[Catalina]

I have two Delaware hens.
Honey is lighter weight than Butter by a good 2 lbs at least.
And Butter has some ruffled feathers - Honey has all smooth feathers.

I bought them both at the same time from the same hatchery - so I originally thought they were sisters, but who knows?

They are very friendly, super cuddly and sweeties!

They are very upset if they don't get a hug every day.

 

[silkiechicken]

By not putting show birds up front in their pics under the breeds, it's probably good, since it lets customers have an idea of what theya re getting.

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, I agree that they could put some great quality Delawares (if they knew what that was) then sell really bad quality ones to people expecting better. That would be really bad.

 

[hcammack]

Those deleware are way to small they look like my runtly little deleware girl the other two hens I have from he breeder are big and fat and sassy and very wide and deep chested.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

Quote:
you've got it ALLLLLL wrong! I was trying to get opinons on those exact birds themselves! I ordered from Texas Poultry and found out that their birds come from Privett (thats what was on the box they were shipped in) so I wanted to look up their website and their birds to see if I could find a picture somewhere of THEIR Dellies to see what quality birds I may be getting. I already know that hatchery stock is never very good and that only very rarely do you get "lucky." I was looking for answers like speckled hen and seriousbill were giving. I wanted them to "judge" those particular birds so I have an idea on what I've got and so that I can start trying to find birds that are exagerated or "just right" where my birds have flaws and eventually introduce them into my flock and slowly start taking out the bad and bringing in the new. I guess I should have been more specific. I still have every intention in helping to preserve the breed and get as close as I can to the standard Delaware. I know that its unfortunate that I had to start with hatchery birds, but I live in the middle of nowhere and had no other choice really. Not unless I'm willing to drive for hours and I'm not, not at this time anyways. I did get lucky and find one dellie hen and one cockerel. I am picking them up on wednesday. I have not seen pictures of the hen, but am impressed with the cockerel. Once I get them home I will post pictures for you to "judge" them. If anyones got any hens or pullets they want to give up please be sure and let me know as I am very excited about this and have already become attached to one of my chicks. I just didnt think in this particular picture shown that they even looked like true Delawares. If they turn out to be Delaware mixes like you had said I will be terribly disappointed! Only time will tell! And one more thing::::: I already have over $100 into these chicks....noway no how am I giving up on them, if not for any other reason!

 

[gritsar]

Okay y'all tell me if this assumption of mine is possible. Suppose you have someone that has been selling their eggs to the hatcheries for a long time. At the same time this individual is working towards improving their own breeding stock, while still continuing to sell eggs to the hatchery for the extra money it brings in.
I think that's what happened with my brahmas. My lights and buffs are about what you'd expect from a large hatchery. My darks are on the other hand are much much closer to the breed standard. Thor and a dark hen named Sweet Pea are especially nice.
Would it be unheard of for someone to want to improve their breeding stock even if they are selling to the hatcheries?

 

[seriousbill]

Would it be unheard of for someone to want to improve their breeding stock even if they are selling to the hatcheries?

Not at all. According to some people I've talked to, some good, established breeders do sell to hatcheries and have long-standing arrangements to do so, usually for some of the rarer breeds. So, you could buy from, say, Ideal, and get a few chicks that came from a breeder whose name you might recognize. So, yes, some breeders sell to them and still are interested in improving stock.

But, as far as overall quality of birds from hatcheries goes, it's very spotty, because if you buy from them, you might get lucky and get birds from a breeder, but you'd be much more likely to get a lot more chicks that came from a breeding farm where production was valued over standard, and, say, where the birds may have been recently outcrossed for better vigor. It's not an all or nothing proposition. I guess it's more a matter of liklihood. You'd be more likely to get good birds if you went to the name breeder himself.​

 

[ella]

Here are two Delaware pullets from Privett, hatched this April.

They lay very nice big dark brown eggs, and are sweet girls. Type, I can't judge.

 

[seriousbill]

The one in the second photo is a pretty nice-looking little pullet, Ella. Hatchery Dels are often good egg layers and make nice birds for the backyard flock.

Just wanted to add that this illustrates what I mean about quality being spotty. There's a pretty big difference between those two birds.

 

[BeardedChick]

Ella, they are cuties, hatchery stock or not.