Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[capayvalleychick]

I was thinking the same thing. I love the size of your birds, Kathy.

Cindy

I like him, too. What is the weight on those boys? They look like the body builders of the Delaware world.

Do any of them have yellow legs?

Kim

 

[Zanna]

8 month old cockeral, what do you guys think?? No sugar coating please, Mate or Plate

 

[Stevenson]

8 month old cockeral, what do you guys think?? No sugar coating please, Mate or Plate

I am by no means an expert...but I think he looks pretty good overall. The bowl shape is good and he seems very wide from the top. If I were to try to point out any faults that I see, it would be too high on the tail angle, not the greatest comb, and potentially a bit narrow in the breast...but that may be just the picture angle. I would think he is certainly something you can work with! For 8 months old, he sure seems to be filled out nicely!

Where did you get your birds?

 

[Zanna]

Thanks for your input Stevenson! Yes, I hate his comb but am pretty happy with all else with my inexperienced eye My birds originally came from two different breeders in Oregon. Got hatching eggs from one lady who had been working with the breed for 5 years and a dozen chicks from a lady who bought her breeders from someone in Idaho. I have no idea the original lines, probably quite far removed anyways. This boy was one of 14 that I culled down to from my first breeding last October, just sold his brother a month ago, he was smaller/narrower so I sent him on. Getting ready to breed him back to Mom once she finishes raising the chicks from her daughters bred back to Original Dad (gets a little confusing!). Original Dad has developed much of the yellowing you were asking about a while ago. So far, no sign of this in his son and an improvement in size for sure.

 

[Folly's place]

Hello again, I posted earlier about leg color, but here's another question. Next week my Meyers Hatchery chicks will be eight weeks old, and it will be weigh-in time, What should well-bred chicks weigh? They are growing well, larger than most of the Sussex in the same pen. Thanks, Mary

 

[plantcityhomestead]

Even though my Delawares are not even laying yet, I am thinking about the next generation. I have a small flock, 2 cockerals and 6 pullets purchased from tigercreek, so they are about as good as I can get in this area. They are starting to show their strengths, but unfortunately not all in one bird. I know I should breed to type, but one cockeral has good size, another has great yellow legs. Since my flock is so small, do I breed all of them and make selections in the next generation, start culling in this generation, or pair according to the strengths of each cockeral? This will be my first attemp at breeding, and I want to do it right.

 

[DelDels]

Even though my Delawares are not even laying yet, I am thinking about the next generation. I have a small flock, 2 cockerals and 6 pullets purchased from tigercreek, so they are about as good as I can get in this area. They are starting to show their strengths, but unfortunately not all in one bird. I know I should breed to type, but one cockeral has good size, another has great yellow legs. Since my flock is so small, do I breed all of them and make selections in the next generation, start culling in this generation, or pair according to the strengths of each cockeral? This will be my first attemp at breeding, and I want to do it right.

You could pick your three best hens. Try them with one cockerel, then do a second hatch with the other cockerel. This would give you two separate strains to compare and work with. Keep the extra hens as layers and perhaps breed the best layers of that group to the best cockerel. This is just a general idea and you could improvise with other ideas according to what you see as they develop.

 

[tigercreek]

Even though my Delawares are not even laying yet, I am thinking about the next generation. I have a small flock, 2 cockerals and 6 pullets purchased from tigercreek, so they are about as good as I can get in this area. They are starting to show their strengths, but unfortunately not all in one bird. I know I should breed to type, but one cockeral has good size, another has great yellow legs. Since my flock is so small, do I breed all of them and make selections in the next generation, start culling in this generation, or pair according to the strengths of each cockeral? This will be my first attemp at breeding, and I want to do it right.

My breeding plan is to look for over all type and not worry too much about specific traits yet. If you can build a good typy body, then you can use those birds to repair leg color or comb. My plan is to work on tails, they seem to be the easiest to improve in the breedings I have done so far. You really have your options open as these birds are from the cross of 2 lines. I also am going to cull hard! You can set type a lot faster if you are only keeping the best quality birds, especially when you are limited in the numbers you can keep grow out. I think!! ....stan

 

[plantcityhomestead]

You could pick your three best hens. Try them with one cockerel, then do a second hatch with the other cockerel. This would give you two separate strains to compare and work with. Keep the extra hens as layers and perhaps breed the best layers of that group to the best cockerel. This is just a general idea and you could improvise with other ideas according to what you see as they develop.

My breeding plan is to look for over all type and not worry too much about specific traits yet. If you can build a good typy body, then you can use those birds to repair leg color or comb. My plan is to work on tails, they seem to be the easiest to improve in the breedings I have done so far. You really have your options open as these birds are from the cross of 2 lines. I also am going to cull hard! You can set type a lot faster if you are only keeping the best quality birds, especially when you are limited in the numbers you can keep grow out. I think!! ....stan

You both have good ideas. DelDels I definitely want to breed the best layers. I think that is important. I will be moving any "culls" over to the layers. I got rid of most of my layers this spring, just to keep numbers down, and I think I went a little too far. I need to keep both cockerels since I only have 2. I hope they both turn out well.
Stan, are you selecting only for tails? Is there a priority list in selecting for type in Delawares? What would you say is the biggest weakness in this line that we need to address? I will definitely need help selecting the best birds. I don't have an eye for it yet. Do you consider temperament in selecting the cock? The two boys have totally different personalities.

Cindy

 

[tigercreek]

No, I'm not selecting only for tails, or even for tails first. First is over all body shape, then I look at tails as a secondary selection factor. If I have a pullet with a great body type and a pinched tail, she goes. She must have the body type first and an at least decent tail to go forward. I have not had a bad tempered cockerel yet. Yours might be so different from each other because they are penned together and one is more dominate. He should still have a pleasent nature around people?? stan