Not Delawares

[ewood]

I started breeding Delawares last year with stock from Whitmore Farm, and was very happy with the adults and their offspring. Unfortunately, we had a raccoon incident, and I had to get some new breeding stock. I was unable to get from Whitmore, so went to Ideal Poultry, which I had heard great things about. Well, out of the 22 Dellies I ordered, 4 of them have varying shades of green legs, NOT Delawares! I'm thinking they are a Delawegger cross? Or maybe just EE's? Any thoughts? I'm also wondering if the ones that look like Delawares, are actually Delawares. I'm hoping I can still get some good quality Dellies out of this.

Anyway, here they are. I put one yellow legged Dellie in there for comparison. Thanks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hatcheries are in the business of mass producing chicks and their prices reflect that. Each hatchery has different people selecting which chickens go into the breeding pen, but with the mass production pen-breeding system they use you are not going to get show quality chicks. They may have 20 roosters with 200 hens in a pen with matings random.

Good show quality breeders carefully pair certain roosters with certain hens, there is nothing random about it. They may hatch a lot of chicks to get a few good quality chickens. They tend to let the chickens mature to be sure of the quality before they breed them. Their prices reflect this different method.

Hatcheries and show quality breeders are a world apart. If you get anything like a show quality chicken from a hatchery you are extremely lucky.

I raised 17 Buff Rock cockerels from Ideal a couple of years back. I don't raise for show I have my own criteria. Out of those 17 only 3 met my criteria. There is a tremendous amount of differences in individuals from the same hatchery. I was happy with my final selection but I was not selecting for show. If you want show chickens get them from someone breeding show chickens. Hatcheries are not breeding for that, it's not why they are in business.

 

[ewood]

Thank you for your reply. I do not expect to get show quality, I breed for egg production and meat. I however, would like them to look like Delawares, lol.

 

[debid]

I don't think it's any different from the single combed silver laced Wyandottes people get or the messy patterning on barred Rocks that's typical. "Breed representative" is a pretty loose definition.

Have you considered buying culls from a breeder? Their cast offs may well be nicer than the hatchery stock.

 

[junebuggena]

You are not going to get breeding quality birds from Ideal. As far as hatchery birds go, Cackle has the best overall. They actually attempt to breed for quality.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thank you for your reply. I do not expect to get show quality, I breed for egg production and meat. I however, would like them to look like Delawares, lol.

Yeah, egg production and meat. That plus playing some with color/pattern genetics are some of my main goals.

I can understand your frustration but I personally don't worry about breed standards. They are just not important to my goals. I find that the more traits I select for when deciding which chickens I want to breed the harder it is to find acceptable candidates and something has to suffer. We all have our own goals but just how important to eggs and meat is leg color? It's your decision, of course, but that kind of stuff is way down on my list of criteria.

With that said, I also like green eggs. Selecting for green eggs has hurt me as far as my production goals. Everything is a trade off.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

x2 with Ridgerunner

If you are breeding for family goals and long term sustainability, breed from the birds you like for the qualities you like. Just sell as "utility" quality or mixed breeds if you sell any.

If you want to sell breed types, then you need to be more concerned with standards.

For me, I breed for egg quality and color, and secondary pretty plummage. Interestingly, I find leg color to be exasperating as grey crops up in the most unexpected places. I have read that yellow is "supposed" to be dominant, but apparently it is not as I've bred yellow legged to yellow legged and gotten grey and even a little willow.

Leg color genetics is complicated, which is why I can see production hatcheries aren't that concerned.

So if it is just for your family goals, leg color won't matter either. Breed for health and your quality choices, which sounds like you are heading for dual purpose...eggs and meat...which Delawares can do nicely.

LofMc

 

[drumstick diva]

x 2 LofMc

 

[ewood]

Thank you so much for the advice. It really puts things in perspective. As far as leg color goes, I read on other boards that the blue leg color is dominant, but a separate gene from the yellow legs. So, they either have yellow or white base color, and then if they have a blue gene, the white legged ones will have blue legs and the yellow will have green. so, by that explanation, which I got from another thread here, If neither parent has the blue/ green legs, the offspring should not either. Apparently, it is more complicated than that, lol. Anyway, thanks again.

 

[speckledhen]

Looks like you have only one with proper leg color in that batch. Delawares are a difficult breed. They almost went extinct and in trying to bring them back, all sorts of nasty stuff happened in the hatcheries. Leg color is an issue, body type and proper coloring is an issue. My own heritage line of Delawares had the brightest yellow legs on the cockerels and I was very pleased with it (my flock aged out, all except one has passed on now). If you want a good and proper Delaware, a hatchery will never give you that, unfortunately. Ideal is not a place I'd buy anything, to tell the honest truth. And some hatchery Dels also have a nasty temperament, not something any Delaware is supposed to have. I know because I had some from McMurray, hatched from a set of parents owned by a friend of mine. Sold them all before they hit maturity for being flighty.

Raise them up and see how they do, or sell them off and get some better ones. That's not so easy because, as you know, not a lot of breeders of quality Delawares. Paul Harter in Missouri used to have some decent ones. And there is a breeder in Alachua, Florida I think that has them, cpartist, I think? I may have her screen name wrong, name is Luanne, I believe.