Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[NestingHillsSC]

Quote:
He is. You referred him to me! LOL

 

[speckledhen]

I did? LOL, didn't recall who it was.

I especially like the pullets' hackles in the pictures you posted.

 

[Zanna]

Old Momma Delaware raising my latest batch of 8 BCM

 

[speckledhen]

Old Momma Delaware raising my latest batch of 8 BCM

How old is your hen, Zanna?

 

[Zanna]

She is 4 now. All of her eggs this year have had bloom on them and I haven't been able to get any to hatch so she gets surrogates I hatch them, toe punch then she willingly takes them. Here she is a year ago and with some babies of her own last summer.

 

[speckledhen]

I was thinking she was older than mine. My two remaining Delaware hens will be 5 years old in Feb. Glad she's a great broody. Mine have never been broody.

Not sure what you mean by her eggs having bloom on them so not hatching. All eggs have the bloom anti-bacterial coating, so you must mean something else?

 

[Zanna]

I was thinking she was older than mine. My two remaining Delaware hens will be 5 years old in Feb. Glad she's a great broody. Mine have never been broody.

Not sure what you mean by her eggs having bloom on them so not hatching. All eggs have the bloom anti-bacterial coating, so you must mean something else?

Ah yes, it is that chalky look which I believe to be an excess of bloom? Maybe that is not what it is called? If you wash the egg it looks normal but as soon as it dries it looks chalky again. I have heard several people say that those eggs never hatch and I tried about 30 of them this season to no avail, just kept hoping as I finally had a son from her that I deemed breedworthy. Have also set the occasional chalky looking egg from other breeds and none of those have hatched either.

 

[naillikwj82]

weight request- Has anyone ever taken the weights of their Del's at 8 and 16 weeks, cocks and pullets?

 

[catdaddyfro]

Ah yes, it is that chalky look which I believe to be an excess of bloom? Maybe that is not what it is called? If you wash the egg it looks normal but as soon as it dries it looks chalky again. I have heard several people say that those eggs never hatch and I tried about 30 of them this season to no avail, just kept hoping as I finally had a son from her that I deemed breedworthy. Have also set the occasional chalky looking egg from other breeds and none of those have hatched either.

Those rough chalky eggs like that are a mess up in the shell structure sometimes a glitch or possibly from an previous illness if the hen consistently lays them. They are very porous when you look at them under a candle so the non hatching probly has to be due to porous shell and it letting in bacterias/other non sterile substances. JMO yeah I don't remember ever having one hatch either.

Jeff

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I did? LOL, didn't recall who it was.

I especially like the pullets' hackles in the pictures you posted.

HAHAHA. You did. LOL

And I thank you.

Out of the 7 I have left, have around 2 that are pretty light. Won't use them for breeding this year but the ones that have nice hackle coloring. Very hard to find pics of what a really good Delaware hen is suppose to look that. Find a lot of picture on roosters.

Thought about getting a good breeder GNH cockerel and a few good breeder Barred-Rock hens and seeing what I can get out of them in form of Delawares. I know that's what Kathy does.