Delawares

[caychris]

That looks a lot like my New Hampshire chicks. Could be a cross, or she will get more solid red as she grows.

I would call it a mutt. If one parent was delaware then its at least half delaware could be just an expression of some recent crossing genes and the parents were not full delawares either or look for the mailman roo.

All in all it does look very NH ish but Dels are essentially half hamps Even with Bonhams lines of birds you get strange things crop up from time to time. Genetics is complicated stuff.

 

[Noelygfan]

Thank you all so much for your help! He is still around and becoming more used to us and more personable. It seems like some of his neck feathers are getting darker, and he's much more smooth with the ladies. I still have hopes his "owners" will come and take him back, especially since he's taken to crowing in the middle of the night. I hope this is an indication of him being young, and not just old and annoying.

I see no barring in his tail and hackles so he's definitely not pure Delaware. Delaware males must have barred tail feathers and hackles. But, if he's a good pet rooster, he's worth his weight in gold! Super cute picture!



Isaac, whose painting is my avatar. Though his tail was on the dark side, all feathers were definitely barred.

 

[speckledhen]

Thank you all so much for your help! He is still around and becoming more used to us and more personable. It seems like some of his neck feathers are getting darker, and he's much more smooth with the ladies. I still have hopes his "owners" will come and take him back, especially since he's taken to crowing in the middle of the night. I hope this is an indication of him being young, and not just old and annoying.

Actually, crowing in the middle of the night usually means he's been disturbed, either by a predator lurking or by lights flashing into his window.

 

[Noelygfan]

Actually, crowing in the middle of the night usually means he's been disturbed, either by a predator lurking or by lights flashing into his window.

I thought it was maybe from the moon and he was a young guy. He HAS chosen his roosting spot in the coop right along the window, so he can see what's going on outside. Perhaps I'll go out with the dog and investigate, we have had a lot of issues with raccoons breaking into the cats' food in the barn, but I recently solved that with one of those "critter proof" bins. Maybe they are branching out the coop?

In any event, this roo seems relatively nice, but kind of clueless during the day. There will be hawks making noise and he does nothing to tell the hens to take cover. The older hens are more aware than he is....

 

[speckledhen]

I thought it was maybe from the moon and he was a young guy. He HAS chosen his roosting spot in the coop right along the window, so he can see what's going on outside. Perhaps I'll go out with the dog and investigate, we have had a lot of issues with raccoons breaking into the cats' food in the barn, but I recently solved that with one of those "critter proof" bins. Maybe they are branching out the coop?

In any event, this roo seems relatively nice, but kind of clueless during the day. There will be hawks making noise and he does nothing to tell the hens to take cover. The older hens are more aware than he is....

Mine generally ignore hawks screaming through the sky. It's when they fly silently and circle that my rooster alarms, which seems to say they know the hawk is hunting. If he's screaming, they know where he/she is and are not all that bothered by it.

 

[Maeschak]

I see this is a fairly old thread but thought I would ask my question here anyway, just in case someone is still lurking around!

Has anyone here made their own sex links with a production RIR and Del pullet? I am contemplating doing so and wanted to hear about anyone's actual experience.

Thanks!

 

[Bullitt]

You can cross a Rhode Island Red rooster with a Delaware hen to get red sex-link chickens. Or you can use a production red rooster, which is basically a strain of Rhode Island Red bred for production and not looks and body conformation.

This will produce hearty chickens that are very good layers.

 

[Maeschak]

You can cross a Rhode Island Red rooster with a Delaware hen to get red sex-link chickens. Or you can use a production red rooster, which is basically a strain of Rhode Island Red bred for production and not looks and body conformation.

This will produce hearty chickens that are very good layers.

Thanks! Have you done it? I was wondering how that sex link stacked up to some of the other combinations, but not many folks seem to make their own sex links so I havent been able to find anyone with actual experience.

 

[Bullitt]

Thanks! Have you done it? I was wondering how that sex link stacked up to some of the other combinations, but not many folks seem to make their own sex links so I havent been able to find anyone with actual experience.

.
There is no magic to it. The hatcheries make a variety of sex-link chickens by crossing different breeds. A production red rooster and a Delaware hen will produce red sex-link hens that are very good layers. Many of the sex-link hens will out lay almost all breeds of brown-egg layers.

 

[hayscountyfarm]

Hello everyone can anyone direct me to someone that sell heritage Delawares