Quote:
I'd say that's a good way of putting it, Cyn.
The way I look at it is this: Delawares are a rare, old-time(heritage) breed that nearly died out in the 70's and 80's. A few breeders managed to salvage what they could of the remaining lines, and kept the breed going. Then later, when there was renewed interest in the old breeds, you started to see a lot of hatcheries adding Delawares to their lists of stock. That might sound like a good thing, and in a way, maybe it is, but not all of the hatcheries have been very careful about the amount of "outcrossing" they do in order to produce larger numbers of a truly rare breed (also since the Del color pattern is dominant, it's really easy to do this and still get birds that "look" like Dels). Therefore, some Del breeders tend to differentiate between "hatchery Delawares" and "heritage Delawares." It's a touchy subject, and different breeders have different policies on it. Some never mix lines; others do. It gets more complicated when you consider that not all hatcheries or breeders are equal on the issue. But, for the most part, I'd consider a "heritage" Delaware to be one obtained from a breeder who has taken care to procure and breed from non-hatchery stock.
I'd say that's a good way of putting it, Cyn.
The way I look at it is this: Delawares are a rare, old-time(heritage) breed that nearly died out in the 70's and 80's. A few breeders managed to salvage what they could of the remaining lines, and kept the breed going. Then later, when there was renewed interest in the old breeds, you started to see a lot of hatcheries adding Delawares to their lists of stock. That might sound like a good thing, and in a way, maybe it is, but not all of the hatcheries have been very careful about the amount of "outcrossing" they do in order to produce larger numbers of a truly rare breed (also since the Del color pattern is dominant, it's really easy to do this and still get birds that "look" like Dels). Therefore, some Del breeders tend to differentiate between "hatchery Delawares" and "heritage Delawares." It's a touchy subject, and different breeders have different policies on it. Some never mix lines; others do. It gets more complicated when you consider that not all hatcheries or breeders are equal on the issue. But, for the most part, I'd consider a "heritage" Delaware to be one obtained from a breeder who has taken care to procure and breed from non-hatchery stock.
