Delawares

[Biddiquack]

My Dels interacted more with us when they were young - we handled them a lot, and they perched on us and followed us around. We never fed them out of our hands after they were 5 or 6 weeks old. As they got older they got more independent. One roo had to be held down every couple days to keep him in line, and he tried to kill a BO hen (what was up with that??), so he went into the pot. The other roo wasn't as aggressive, but you couldn't trust him around children, and one of the hens would try to peck you to see if you had food (not attacking you though). The dominant hen can be pretty rough with the other chickens. They're great foragers, and unfortunately will stray pretty far if left to themselves. Just my experience.

 

[Flaisure]

Pretty sure my 21 week Delaware Ellie laid her first egg today. The kids found it in the middle of our back yard 5 feet from our coop lol

 

[NickyPick]

My Delaware rooster is now a year old. He's moved from 4th place to 2nd in the rooster hierarchy, and he looks to be a good one. We've been having predator problems lately and he's really quick to react to a threatening sound. The other night, I was bringing the flock in with their bedtime treat and went around to close the doors and stumbled against the feed troughs, making a loud noise. Colonel Sanders came charging out of the coop and ran out of the outside pop door to the horse pens, calling the alarm and looking sharply for any lagging hens. Once he saw that it was just me, he went back in. The head roo, Conan, never even came to look.

 

[caychris]

My Delaware rooster is now a year old. He's moved from 4th place to 2nd in the rooster hierarchy, and he looks to be a good one. We've been having predator problems lately and he's really quick to react to a threatening sound. The other night, I was bringing the flock in with their bedtime treat and went around to close the doors and stumbled against the feed troughs, making a loud noise. Colonel Sanders came charging out of the coop and ran out of the outside pop door to the horse pens, calling the alarm and looking sharply for any lagging hens. Once he saw that it was just me, he went back in. The head roo, Conan, never even came to look.

He knew the youngster would take care of it. Or let him freak out so he could look cool when it ended up being nothing.

 

[NaPuaO]

I have a question this is my first time raising babie chicks, I have 3 Delaware that are as of today 3weeks old. One has come down with Wry Neck, and at the same time I noticed that one also had a big bulbous thing on her/his head....I have separated him/her from the flock and named him TRex "T" for short. Anyone know if this is normal?

 

[Noelygfan]

Ok....so we've only ever had hens (at least for me as an adult). Today, either a rooster wandered into our yard or someone left him. No one seems to be missing him, I've called around. So far he seems nice.

We have Delaware hens....is he a Delaware rooster? The local humane society has offered to get him, once I can get him cornered... but that's proving difficult. He seems young, but BIG to me. Any thoughts on the breed?

 

[caychris]

Ok....so we've only ever had hens (at least for me as an adult). Today, either a rooster wandered into our yard or someone left him. No one seems to be missing him, I've called around. So far he seems nice.

We have Delaware hens....is he a Delaware rooster? The local humane society has offered to get him, once I can get him cornered... but that's proving difficult. He seems young, but BIG to me. Any thoughts on the breed?

Possibly a delaware but seems hatchery stock maybe quite young still too

 

[Noelygfan]

Thank you. He's getting some faint, black speckles around his neck area. So you think he's young too? He is A LOT bigger than my 1-year-old Delaware hens. Could he be a Brahama? Or a light Sussex? Some of his dark tail feathers are somewhat iridescent. If he is truly young, it is more likely that he was dumped on me because someone did not want a rooster. That really ticks me off. I don't want a rooster, but I don't want to send him to the humane society and have him killed because he cannot find a home.

The man said they hold them for a time and look for an owner or a home, and then it gets to a point of "what do we do with him?" I don't want him to die because someone was a ****head and dumped him off on me. If we end up keeping him, I am guessing we'll have to stop buying layer feed too.

 

[Noelygfan]

I have a question this is my first time raising babie chicks, I have 3 Delaware that are as of today 3weeks old. One has come down with Wry Neck, and at the same time I noticed that one also had a big bulbous thing on her/his head....I have separated him/her from the flock and named him TRex "T" for short. Anyone know if this is normal?

 

[caychris]

Thank you. He's getting some faint, black speckles around his neck area. So you think he's young too? He is A LOT bigger than my 1-year-old Delaware hens. Could he be a Brahama? Or a light Sussex? Some of his dark tail feathers are somewhat iridescent. If he is truly young, it is more likely that he was dumped on me because someone did not want a rooster. That really ticks me off. I don't want a rooster, but I don't want to send him to the humane society and have him killed because he cannot find a home.

The man said they hold them for a time and look for an owner or a home, and then it gets to a point of "what do we do with him?" I don't want him to die because someone was a ****head and dumped him off on me. If we end up keeping him, I am guessing we'll have to stop buying layer feed too.

If he is Brahma then he should have feathered legs. Sussex would probably have more significant Columbian patterning.

Delaware boys are a bit bigger than their female counterparts. (as are chickens in general) Might still be a cockerel gauging by the spurs