I just ordered my Delewares! Question...

[AlbionWood]

We got Dels and several other breeds last year, for DP, and of the cockerels we slaughtered the Dels were by far the best carcasses. We did them at 18 - 20 weeks IIRC, got about 4.5 lb carcasses, and the meat is firm, though not really what I'd call tough. The legs and thighs do need slow cooking (or a pressure-cooker) to get really tender. But the breast meat is quite tender, in fact it is absolutely fantastic fried, by far the best-tasting fried chicken I have ever had. I think you could probably let them go as long as 24 weeks, if you can stand the crowing (we had 9 cockerels in a pen close to the house... what a racket they made!). Or if you want fryers, you might be able to process at 16 - 18 weeks if they are confined and fed a high-protein diet.

We kept one roo and he is covering 20+ hens, no problem with fertility. That 1:10 ratio will produce barebacked hens, you will have to make saddles for them. Young Delaware roos are virile and enthusisastic! At least ours is... also has a wonderful personality.

Dels are excellent foragers and will use every bit of space you can give them. Friendly and inquisitive, too. Wish I had 100 of them.

 

[corancher]

I just read the article. Great information. I have tons of birds and have been still buying cornish cross chicks. I am going to try this before I order more cornish cross chicks. I have been selling my extra roosters and older hens and this makes me wonder what have I been missing.

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
So...the first set-up(from my chicks coming in June) I would keep a roo and all hens...then next, if I hatch some sooner than spring next year, I would keep the biggest roo and more hens(hopefully of good size...)but change the roos around? Then 2 years later everyone gets culled,right? And start over with the biggest from a hatch? Am I getting this?

Thanks for helping...I'd like to be able to hatch enough for meat and also maybe sell some good quality Delawares too.

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
Oh no! I don't want that!!! I had that problem with my laying flock (because I thought since they didn't "fight" it would be ok) Well all that got me was stressed hens,barebacked hens and myself frustrated! I finally have the correct ratio...but my hens haven't molted yet,so they still look mangy

 

[AlbionWood]

We have one Delaware roo and 24 hens, all about one year old, and most of the hens are barebacked. And the eggs are all fertile... so it appears that ratio may not apply to all breeds, or maybe it's for 2-year-old roosters... certainly 1:10 would be too many roos here.

 

[LilyD]

I think you can breed the old roo for two seasons before you need to add a new roo my program will look like this. I will incubate eggs from Brahmas, Dels and Cornish to add to my program this year. When they are old enough to breed to my existing roos I will keep enough eggs from that breeding to fill my incubator and hatch out. Once they have hatched I will keep the largest hens from that hatching to add to my flock that is already existing. The following year I will do the same thing but I will add an outside roo from different lines that is larger than my existing roos. I will cull birds that stop producing eggs or that are small and do not seem to increase in size. As my breeders get larger so should my culls as well. I am going to keep track of my progress in a spreadsheet on excel by weighing my hens and roos that I already have as well as babies that are upcoming so I can get a weight at birth and a weight at 6 months as I am getting ready to cull.