Old fashioned strain of Delawares wanted, IL

[yotetrapper]

The meatbird strain. Back before the hatcheries ruined them. Anyone selling these?

 

[al6517]

They may be very hard to find, I would try to concentrate on reputable breeders or show stock.

AL

 

[standardbanty]

www.whitmorefarm.com

 

[klf73]

seriousbill has heritage delaware.....

 

[Southernbelle]

shortcake1806 has heritage delawares, too

 

[houndit]

The best breeder that I have ever seen is Matt John of Shadylane poultry farm. http://www.shadylanepoultry.com/

 

[speckledhen]

I have some Delawares from seriousbill and so does Shortcake. The males are deep bodied as they should be, though I'm not sure how much they'd be classified as a meat bird. Im not sure that strain really exists as it was originally bred way back in the 40's. I did cull and eat a 24 week old Delaware cockerel out of Janet's stock (seriousbill) and he was pretty meaty for one that had not been fed as a meat bird.
Truly serious Delaware breeders are few and far between. I hope to be one of them.

 

[seriousbill]

I understand that Whitmore has Dels from J. McDaniel, which is where some of mine were originally from. Matt John did have some good Dels but a flood decimated his stock. I don't know if he's back up and running yet or not, but I do know that he knows his business. Bill Braden at Land of Tobe has some pretty good Dels; I understand that some of his stock came from Ron Macher in MO, who had some of the best in the country back in the day. From what I've seen, though, Bill has some of the same issues in his flock that I have in mine, such as hens with too many comb points, etc. Right now, I'd put my primary breeding male up against just about anybody's without getting too nervous about it, even though he's not perfect, because it's very, very hard to find good Delawares.

Here's my two cents on the Del as a meat bird:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=164035

 

[speckledhen]

Right now, I'd put my primary breeding male up against just about anybody's without getting too nervous about it, even though he's not perfect, because it's very, very hard to find good Delawares.

I second that, Janet. He's a hunk of a rooster, just stunning. Hopefully, you'll find some with the advice of folks who really know their Dels. Please let us know when you do.​

 

[shortcake1806]

The roos we have butchered in the past were some of the best tasting birds I've ever had. They were about 6 months old and weighed in at about 5 lbs each. Now that being said these guys were really well fed for that time. I don't know that I'd use them as a primary meat bird. Here's my flock roo El Capitan at about one year old forgive his muddy self we have red clay and rain: