"Double Breast" appearance on chicks - desirable or problem?

[Ironclay]

I heard delawares can lay XL eggs, so I picked up some straight from TSC just for a trial run before I went and dropped "breeder money". I normally raise and breed Marans for SOP, but I'm looking for a good fit for me for a dedicated "egg layer only" flock.

Well, besides from discovering that these delawares are evil from birth (these are first baby chicks that I've ever seen cannibalize another healthy chick at 3 days old and pretty much attacks me on sight with quite a bit of force), I've noticed that they had a creased chest I've not seen in any of my other breeds. The crease appeared around 7 days of age and then became more pronounced as they aged. It no longer goes away after feeding.

My question is: Is this what double-breasted looks like? Or is this a sign of a problem with the health of these chicks or my feeding?

The creases appear on both cockerels and pullets, but is WAY more pronounced on the cockerels. I have these chicks with australorps that are the same age and none of them are having the same issue.

I AM seeing a pattern of chicks missing feathers off necks. Is this a nutritional issue or are they outgrowing their feathering?

 

[Ironclay]

Does that last them until the next feeding?
Or do they eat it all up and spend time hungry?

It lasts them until about 5-6pm. I will usually see a small amount left in the pan when I go out to check on everyone at sundown, but it's gone by the time I check in the morning.

Could be picking, could be juvenile molt.

I am leaning more towards this because I am not seeing wounds or irritation. They're just naked/thin-feathered looking. Almost like the fluff is disappearing but the adult feathers haven't caught up.

They are also gigantic! We are having to expand our coop to accommodate these large ladies.

Yes! These chicks are HUGE for their age!

I'm actually kind of intrigued because I wasn't planning on keeping them after I saw their attitude. And they require WAY more feed than I'm used to feeding, which is another mark against them. That's money, after all.

But I have a black copper marans rooster that throws monster cockerels. I have put him over other marans and barred rocks. They hit 6-7 pounds by 10 weeks, they make my full grown adult cocks look ridiculous, and they achieve this without eating more than my regular layers.

So now I'm thinkin'. I wonder if I could keep the two pullets in this group and breed them with that roo, and see if I can "fix" their crappy food conversion rate while keeping that double breast, and they should (in theory) be sex-linked chicks. I might have me a cool project for 2023-2024.

 

[Mrs. K]

Did you put them in the cage to take pictures, or is that what they are living in? Because if so, they do not have near enough room and I don't think are getting enough exercise. Are you sure they are Delaware? They rather look like broiler chickens to me.

 

[Geena]

They look like the new "broiler enhanced" Delawares. If they are "attacking" you it's probably because they are hungry, they eat a lot of feed because they grow fast. The cannibalizing and feather picking is most likely because they are crowded and possibly not getting enough protein.

 

[NatJ]

They get fed around 10am once a day.

They usually get 1 to 2 scoops. I went to the shop to figure out how much a scoop of crumble was and it comes out to 2.4 pounds per scoop.

Does that last them until the next feeding?
Or do they eat it all up and spend time hungry?

I AM seeing a pattern of chicks missing feathers off necks. Is this a nutritional issue or are they outgrowing their feathering?

If they are hungry and have no food, they are probably picking feathers to eat.

Chicken foods are usually formulated to provide the right nutrients when the chickens eat as much as they want. So if you do not provide enough food, they can have a deficiency of everything (protein, energy, vitamins, minerals, etc.) The solution is to let them have all the food they need, not to go looking for supplements or special foods.

 

[Ironclay]

Delawares are supposed to be barred.

And OP's birds in the photo do look barred-- that's why the black is in dots, instead of lines along the edges of the feathers. (So regardless of whether they are really Delawares or not, they do have the right color & pattern to be the mother of sexlink chicks two ways.)

They're absolutely barred. One of the boys in this group has grey barring between the shoulders that's clear as day.

I believe that the downy differences will be pretty noticeable, but that will be something I can't report back on until next year when these babies are grown.

At least 3 of these babies look like males (there's 5 total), so I'm really, really hoping the other two are actually pullets.

 

[3KillerBs]

They usually get 1 to 2 scoops. I went to the shop to figure out how much a scoop of crumble was and it comes out to 2.4 pounds per scoop.

All chicks except for Cornish X broilers should have access to feed 100% of the time during daylight.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

They get fed around 10am once a day.

They usually get 1 to 2 scoops. I went to the shop to figure out how much a scoop of crumble was and it comes out to 2.4 pounds per scoop.

They go through just a little more than 2 gallons of water a day.

That is not enough for growing chickens. Their double breast appearance is most likely because they are trying to stuff themselves as full as possible and quickly as they can. Growing chickens need access to feed all hours during daylight. Only feeding once a day will make them feel starved and also most likely why they are cannibalizing each other.

 

[NatJ]

Oh, I wasn't ware Delaware are barred

Delawares are supposed to be barred.

And OP's birds in the photo do look barred-- that's why the black is in dots, instead of lines along the edges of the feathers. (So regardless of whether they are really Delawares or not, they do have the right color & pattern to be the mother of sexlink chicks two ways.)

 

[NatJ]

What type of sexlink?

With a Black Copper Marans father, and Delaware-colored mother, they would be both gold/silver sexlinks and barred/not-barred sexlinks. Daughters would be gold and not-barred, sons would be silver and have white barring.

Depending on what color the chick down is, I'm not sure whether it would be easier to look for the light head spot (barred males), or for gold/silver color differences. Either one might work, and if any chicks are ambiguous, looking for both traits might help sort them out.