If you've been following my posts, you know I've been working to breed out my Delawares to get my chickens closer to the SOP. I lost my job in January so I can't deal with finishing the birds out but since I had several hatched, I put an ad on Craigslist. A guy and his uncle called and want to feed out large numbers of chickens for our local immigrant Asian community. They want around 200 per month. I told them I'd be happy to hatch them out for them provided that they let me come pick out the best 20 for my flock. They also agreed to pay $1 each for them.
It is a match made in heaven! I get to hatch till I can't hatch any longer and get to keep back the best birds. They couldn't care less what they look like cause they only want to sell them for meat. It is a win win situation!!!!
As a side note. Just had my first test hatch of the season last week. Nothing anomalous besides the chicks from one hen that are obviously feathering out quicker than the rest.
All in all a happy camper. No odd markings, no odd skin color, no dwarves. Will post some comparison shots of the chicks in the coming days.
Deliweggers. I have a black Ameraucana Roo and only two Delaware hens left. Hmmmm...
The Buckeye Roo over Delaware Hen sex-link chicks (1 month old) were all lightly downed and do appear to all be boys. They are larger than the other boys in the pen. Moved them to the garage brooder this morning. They keep biting my fingers, always hungry at this early teen-age boy stage.