Delawares should have yellow (not white or green) legs and a deep bowl shaped body. A good Delaware is big and meaty as they were developed as the original broiler before the cornish X was developed. The females should have (my description) a peppered look around their neck and black tail feathers with a white border. The males should have barring in their tail, not solid black. Here are some pics of my far from perfect Delawares but should help you to see the difference
Hey, thanks! Well, I can certainly pick him apart but he's given me a great start. Hoping to show some of his offspring at the Spring show in Salem. I Must be nuts, white birds!!! I figure if I can get a white horse clean, should be able to deal with a chicken!
Thanks for the recipe, still can't wrap my head around bathing a chicken!!!!
I read lots but don't post much.
I never use bleach on any of my birds. I figure if I wouldn't bathe myself in it, I'm not going to bathe my chickens in it. I do use horse shampoo, a whitening shampoo called QuikSilver for light birds and a color enhancing shampoo called QuikColor for dark birds.
I would worry about the bleach as well. Someone I purchased birds from at the fall show uses a laundry soap called Vivid for bathing white birds. Anyone else use that? She also uses a puppy shampoo made by Zodiak with a 30 day residual that kills fleas/ticks. I would think that would work well if the birds have any mites before taking to a show. I can tell you that the 3 birds I bought still look amazing and smell wonderfull!I never use bleach on any of my birds. I figure if I wouldn't bathe myself in it, I'm not going to bathe my chickens in it. I do use horse shampoo, a whitening shampoo called QuikSilver for light birds and a color enhancing shampoo called QuikColor for dark birds.
Bleach can also be very drying to the feathers and cause them to be brittle...
Actually, they don't. Delaware's have a more Columbian feather pattern and larger combs, as well as more a black color then light grey. Light Sussex have a lot more black/grey to.
Delaware pullet: (mine, in Febuary)
Light Sussex pullet: (not mine, pic off the Internet).
