Question for Delaware chicken lovers

[chicka pucella]

Hello, I have a question regarding my Delaware chickens. I purchased 10. Out of that I have two females that don't quit look like the rest. The difference between them is that the are a bit smaller and more rounder plus that practically have no comb. But they are just about the most friendliest of all. Do you think this is a defect of some sort? I am planning on breeding and have a few females that match the description of a Delaware perfectly but these two are just so sweet I thought they might make some cuties also. What do you guys think?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Hello, I have a question regarding my Delaware chickens. I purchased 10. Out of that I have two females that don't quit look like the rest. The difference between them is that the are a bit smaller and more rounder plus that practically have no comb. But they are just about the most friendliest of all. Do you think this is a defect of some sort? I am planning on breeding and have a few females that match the description of a Delaware perfectly but these two are just so sweet I thought they might make some cuties also. What do you guys think?

My first thought is...you are certain those 2 are Delawares?

My second thought is (and this comes from a non-Delaware breeder nor poultry show person)...depends on what you want to breed for.

If you want to show your birds or sell your birds for show quality purposes, then you should only use those that meet all or most of your standards, always furthering your line.

However, if you breed for more utility purpose, temperament may be more important that perfect conformation, especially if it just for your own line for your own use.

Even with show animals, temperament is important...and sometimes taking a really well tempered animal can improve the temperament in the line....or not...but the genetics can take a long time to recover from poor conformation.

I personally have my Delawares for utility...egg laying. And while I enjoy the distinct breeds, I would rather have good egg laying ability over perfect conformation, and vastly prefer good temperament over nasty or even just noisy and bothersome. In my opinion a bird just can't be pretty enough to compensate for a nasty temper. But unfortunately, the good temperament often doesn't make up for the really bad conformation if you need it to show.

I'm sure those with stronger genetic backgrounds can tell you how much.

Lady of McCamley

 

[donrae]

Do you have pictures of them? And how old are the birds in question?

If they're still adolescents, don't worry about size and comb size yet, some birds are just slower to mature than others.

As Lady stated, breeding a bird all depends on what your end game is. I personally breed mixed breed birds, crossing different breeds to get a result I like, be it feather or egg color, or egg production, etc. If you're breeding, you have to decide what to breed for. If you're wanting to breed SOP birds for show, you'd not want to start with hatchery stock anyway.

 

[Rollanda]

I read a review on Delaware chickens you wrote a while back. Was wondering if you could tell me how they turned out? I originally did some online reading (not at this site) and the Delaware sounded almost too good to be true. So I placed an order and they will arrive next week. Then I got to reading on this site and now I'm thinking of cancelling my order. Some of the posts make it sound like they are blood thirsty, evil, vampire, attacking birds! I don't care how many eggs they lay, it wouldn't be worth having birds anywhere near those descriptions. Others write really good things about the Delaware and it's almost like reading descriptions of two completely different breeds/birds. Now that you have had them I was wondering how you felt about them. Thanks so much for your help.

 

[chicka pucella]

Hi, I love mt Delaware's! They have the best temperaments. There a re a couple skittish ones, but the majority run to me when I cone out. I have two that like yo sit on my arm and 'talk' to me. They are very goo and smart. I have one that glys over my 8 ft fence to get out and forage, and then flys back in when it gets dark. I had two males. The one was a darling guy. Very gentle. But a chicken hawk got him. Suck a bummer. My other male is skittish of all of us. When I come by he runs while the girls Hahn out around my feet. I would definitely recommend them. None have gone broody but they are laying nice sized eggs.. I got them in April I believe.. Hope this helps, lemme know how it goes..

 

[Rollanda]

Thank you for the reply and the info. I appreciate it.

 

[chicka pucella]

Thought I would show off my male. My daughter named him the president. I have no idea why. But he is a good boy!

 

[Rollanda]

Well, my Delaware's are 3 months old now and I am VERY happy with them. I also believe I figured out why some of the posts I found described them as evil, blood thirsty, vampire birds! That really had me worried! I watched my chicks (all 16 of them) very closely because of what I had read. Everything was great until one morning I walked in the barn and 4 of the chicks were bloody and being pecked at. The night before everything had been just fine. I was pretty shocked and thought "oh no, the posts were right"! I knew enough to immediately remove the bloodied birds and put them in a separate pen. I also washed the blood away from each bird. There were two places they were being pecked. Their rear end and the upper, forward part where the wing attaches to the body. By the end of the day everyone was fine, I just continued to watch them closely. A couples of days went by and then another couple of birds in the main pen were being pecked just like the first ones. Knowing that chickens will peck at any contrasting or obvious spot I realized that all my chicks were at that point of loosing their down and getting their feathers. At their rear end and front of the wing they were loosing the down, but had no feathers to fill in the area. I'm sure that's why they were pecking only at those areas. A few pecks and they draw blood, then it's a problem because everyone is pecking at it. They key was to remove any blood so as not to draw attention from the other birds. As soon as anyone got pecked to draw blood I took them out of the pen. The chicks would recover rapidly (within 24 hours) and I could put them back in the main pen. I started with 16 and never lost a chick. They are now well on there way to being adults. My 4 year old granddaughter and I take them out for "walks". If we sit down they jump in our lap, or peck at our buttons or whatever else draws their attention. I am very happy with their calm and gentle demeanor. Now we will be looking forward to their first eggs, maybe in the fall.

 

[chicka pucella]

That's so good to hear they are doing better. Chickens of all breeds can be suspicious of anything new or different. Glad you stuck with it and enjoy those egged!