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

[JacinLarkwell]

Oh, I wasn't ware Delaware are barred

 

[3KillerBs]

Oh, I wasn't ware Delaware are barred

As far as I know they're the only breed with the barred colombian pattern.

 

[Ironclay]

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.

Thank you. I've never worked with a broiler chicken before, so I'll need to look into what a "broiler enhanced" Delaware is how it differs from a typical Delaware.

I will up their feed intake and start mixing it with game starter to bump the protein up. Clearly the DuMor Chick Starter isn't cutting it with this breed. They get Rooster Booster twice a week as well.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Are you feeding them only at certain times or do they have access to feed 24/7? If only at certain times how much are you feeding them?

 

[aart]

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.

Could be picking, could be juvenile molt.

 

[KyCoop]

I got two Delaware this past June at 8 wks old. They are now 22 wks old and also have cleavage. From what I understand Delaware were bred as meat birds but were great layers so they are kept for laying now.
Mine are mostly nice although Jenny did challenge me when she was a baby and 8 inches tall. She didnt want to go in for the night and let me know it. I dont think so missy. I turned her around and patted her behind. She has been fine since. I do have to watch my dogs around them. I have tiny dogs.

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

 

[Ironclay]

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.

I thought they were broilers, too! But now they're getting their delaware colors so I don't know what to think.

There's 9 chicks in here, and this is an 8 ft x 2.5 ft brooder, when an enclosed box on one side containing a heating plate. I do agree that they are nearing the point of needing to be moved to a tractor, but I want to give them another 1-2 weeks in here because they're still favoring that heat plate.

The camera makes the cage look really narrow and they're crowding because they're trying to get at me. I assure you, it's not nearly as tight as it looks here.

 

[Ironclay]

Are you feeding them only at certain times or do they have access to feed 24/7? If only at certain times how much are you feeding them?

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.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

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.


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.


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.

What type of sexlink?

 

[3KillerBs]

What type of sexlink?

The males would be barred -- though it might be hard to see the white spots on the chick down if the babies are mostly yellow like Delaware chicks.