My Delaware Flock **New pics added post 25***

[allaboutdemchicks]

Good information guys! I have some young ones from SeriousBill and will soon be looking for my "keeper". I think this thread will help me on the subject of what to look for. And the pictures are a plus.

 

[speckledhen]

I've really enjoyed mine. Isaac is about 26 weeks old and filling out beautifully. He is surpassing my stocky older Barred Rock rooster and doesn't even look tiny next to great big Blue Orp, Suede, either.

 

[walkswithdog]

Cyn are these guys not just HUGE????

I sold off the two last cull boys and only have the keeper boy with the odd comb left but he's soooo darn big!

To the OP I'd always go with the best body type - you use a lighter or narrower bird and you may be years trying to get type back. Combs are a fairly quick fix, narrow shoulders/pelvis/stance is just a war not to fight if you don't have to.

Birds still narrow here at 16 weeks are culls and gone. They never catch up with the wider ones. I started with heritage and breeder and hatchery birds so I would also have a wide gene-pool and be able to compare them.

I won't buy hatchery stock again. They under perform. Most lack width even at 20 and 24 weeks.

I had a few catch up enough to stay but not many.

Good LUCK with your stock!!!

Mine are laying now. I'm setting up our first purebred pen come fall!!!

 

[popcornpuppy]

Quote:
I am on ebay right now looking at Delaware hatching eggs. The seller of the eggs I am looking at is freeiibeme, real name Johanna. Is the the person you got your eggs from? If it's not the same person, what was the person's user name/real name? (If I get eggs from ebay, I want to get them from someone with a good reputation.)

 

[Chowder]

We have a 2 year old Delaware Hen and she is the BEST! Loves to be around us and isn't afraid of anything but isn't aggressive either with other animals or anything - veru curious. And her and my DD and DH are all buddies . . . . I am only good for my veggie scraps! Off to get a good photo of her.

 

[HighSpringsChix]

The eggs I got from ebay came from a breeder in Georgia, and a breeder in New Jersey. I don't know for sure which breeder the hens came from. I only got 6 chicks out of 24 eggs even though I had an experienced person hatch them for me. I'm betting Georgia though, because the eggs were only in transit for a day or two and probably had a better survival rate.

So thanks to all the good advice, I am down to 1 roo. I hope the girls start laying soon.

 

[aveca]

You can work out the comb issue Im working that out myself in a couple. Didnt have any body issues but purpleing in feathers of our breed was a pretty big no no. so lost some good combs and we are just working that out. Keep at it . In a couple generations you'll be real happy. Nice birds.

 

[HighSpringsChix]

Buddy Buddy and his girls, 9 weeks later. They are about 25 weeks old.

The one in the back on the left holds her tail to high and has almost no color in her hackles. She is going to the layer pen soon.

Bad boy here just attacked my daughter yesterday. No more free range for you, Buddy!

He's w i d e .

These are the girls from seriousbill.

This one is my ebay hen. She looks pretty good. The other one has white legs, so into the layer pen she goes.


So I think they are coming along nicely. I am having a devil of a time culling. One with white legs and the one with the high tail are going to the layer pen. What about a wavy comb on a hen? Is that considered a defect? The girls all have good tails, white laced and no barring. The roo has good barring in his tail, I think.

And I also just hatched out 27 of 30 eggs I got from Bill Braden. (unbelievably good hatch!) So, I will have a bunch more to sort through soon. I am hoping to see some really good Delawares in January at the show in Lake City. That should help, to have something to compare to.

What do you think?

 

[speckledhen]

I see alot of wavy combs on the hens so that is very common, but how straight they really should be, I'm not sure. Leg color is another common issue, but it's not of primary importance till the body type has been met. Extra comb points are also quite common, as in your guy who has seven, if I am seeing the pic right. Ike has one small extra half-point on the front, but I proved that will always be passed down since his first daughter Gracie has an nice, what seems to be turning out to be a five pointer and so far, at 15 weeks, is pretty straight.

Just remember that there are two parents represented in every chick and no matter how spectacular the parents are, the chicks may not measure up or they could be even better--genes are fickle things!

They're a nice looking bunch, good for your foundation flock!

 

[HighSpringsChix]

Buddy's comb has at least 6 points, probably 7. lol He was the best of my first crop of roos, though. He was the biggest and meatiest. It's funny watching him chase my EE hens across the yard. He's so big, he can't catch him. It's like watching a work horse chase after a thoroughbred.

I am hoping a couple of my babies from bill braden turn out to be better roos. And I have 5 of Buddy's babies under a broody silkie right now. Perhaps he will throw a good looking son.