My #1 Delaware Boy (PICS/new pics added in posts #28 & #35)

[speckledhen]

Anywhere from 22-26 weeks with the lines I have is where I expect eggs. A Delaware from hatchery stock may be different, as well as some individuals.
My 12 week old cockerels are grabbing the girls already. The girls scream and struggle and the boys look a bit perplexed, LOL. I almost always see 16 week old cockerels starting to mate the ladies. My last Delaware boy started at about 18 weeks and I considered him a late bloomer-he crowed at 18 weeks, too.

 

[Mourningdove]

Thanks for your reply! So end of June is right! I guess boys will be boys as this little man is making them hollar and run too.

 

[speckledhen]

You should see those girls turn in circles to get loose from the boys, LOL. And they holler the entire time. The boys are a ways from making them swoon, or squat.

 

[Mourningdove]

my girls are like that too!

 

[speckledhen]

The two finalists and #3 boy all began crowing about a month ago. The cockerel I had last year didn't crow till he was 18 weeks old, so these boys are precocious little things. Anyway, they are impressive in their size for this age (going on 13 weeks) and the legs are like yellow tree trunks.

 

[walkswithdog]

The boys here are at boot camp - they'd BETTER NOT crow or George will come stomp some respect into them. But they're thinking about it.

You were right by the way, I grabbed the boy who's tail I thought was black and the lower part of each dark feather has a significant portion that is barred.

He and my second pic then remain in the running. Both have nice barring in the tail. What was second pic has less tail black but better overal body width, and great neck color. He's moving up in my estimation. Both are fairly dark beaked but I think that goes into down-the-line-criteria, and not in this cull.

I'm moving out all the green and pale legged girls, the pale legged boy and the one with the several crooked toes.

This next week I plan on moving out about 20 birds, possibly more. I need room for the upcoming batches.

I'm filling cages for the swap meet next Saturday. And the Delaware pen nears finishing.

 

[speckledhen]

Sounds like you are making great progress in the sorting-out process. I am so torn about my top two. If #2 had a slightly better comb, that boy would be my pick because that is a TANK of a cockerel! He seems to me to be about 3 weeks older than he is. He's so friendly, too, and very attached to my DH. If in the end, he goes, you will have a spectacular specimen with that size you really want. And actually, the #3 boy is a looker, too, with a nice size and shape and very even colored hackles.

 

[speckledhen]

Adding pics of my #2 choice, who may pull ahead to #1 if #1 turns into a butthead, LOL. He is HUGE. Pictures just don't do him justice as far as his size goes. So far, his only real flaw is that his comb isn't as nice as I'd like, though it really isn't bad. Not the best pics because he is always pushing his big mug into the camera, but here he is:

And here is #3, who I've decided to hang onto a few more weeks:

 

[sloallie10]

just thought id let you know i like #3. He looks nice!

 

[speckledhen]

Thank you for your input! He is a good looking boy, I think. He's not as large as the #2 boy, but about the same as the other one. He is photogenic, anyway!