Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[math ace]

You may want to look into the Sussex for foraging. My speckled Sussex love to hunt and scratch around for their own food.
I am not personally going to recommend the SPECKLED variety because they tend to be smaller than the other color varieties.
Plus, the hens lay only medium sized eggs...

As far as egg production, The delawares are the best egg producing "Large" dual purpose bird I own.
They are also the BIGGEST bird. The roosters are the friendliest too. I have marans and speckled Sussex to compare them to.

My marans are second to the Delaware for size and friendliness. I breed for size so my marans are bigger than a lot that you see being sold.
If you decide to go after the marans, you will need to check on the size of the breeders stock. Mine free range great. They spend no time at the feeders if given an opportunity to go find their own grubs. The disappointment with marans, IMHO, is their egg production. I get super large, JUMBO, eggs from my girls but they tend to take more time off from laying than the other two breeds.

 

[speckledhen]

My Delawares are fabulous at foraging! In fact, they go further than other breeds, them and the Barred Rocks! My Delaware rooster goes far from the coop, much further than my other ones ever did. I live in the woods on a mountain and the Delawares are all over the place. It's weird that math ace's are not big foragers. That really isn't like a Delaware at all. I have pictures of them in the trees, way out from the coops, over by the power line easement which is one of our borders, way down by the driveway gate, all over the property.

 

[sahmhomesteader]

I have always heard that Dels are great at foraging, one of the best. My Dels are great hunters of food and for the most part always on the go hunting for that bug or what ever they find.

Scott

Awesome! Do you worry about them being white and free ranging?

[COLOR=800080]You may want to look into the Sussex for foraging.  My speckled Sussex love to hunt and scratch around for their own food.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]I am not personally going to recommend the SPECKLED variety because they tend to be smaller than the other color varieties.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]Plus, the hens lay only medium sized eggs...[/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]As far as egg production,  The delawares are the best egg producing "Large" dual purpose bird I own.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]They are also the BIGGEST bird.   The roosters are the friendliest too.  I have marans and speckled Sussex to compare them to.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]My marans are second to the Delaware for size and friendliness.  I breed for size so my marans are bigger than a lot that you see being sold.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]If you decide to go after the marans,  you will need to check on the size of the breeders stock.  Mine free range great.  They spend no time at the feeders if given an opportunity to go find their own grubs.  The disappointment with marans,  IMHO, is their egg production.  [/COLOR] [COLOR=800080]I get super large,  JUMBO, eggs from my girls but they tend to take more time off from laying than the other two breeds. [/COLOR]

So your Delawares free range fine? Are they quick to mature?

My Delawares are fabulous at foraging! In fact, they go further than other breeds, them and the Barred Rocks! My Delaware rooster goes far from the coop, much further than my other ones ever did. I live in the woods on a mountain and the Delawares are all over the place. It's weird that math ace's are not big foragers. That really isn't like a Delaware at all. I have pictures of them in the trees, way out from the coops, over by the power line easement which is one of our borders, way down by the driveway gate, all over the property.

We have about 2 acres they would be free ranging on and it is a flat piece of land with few trees. I plan on planting some things they can take cover under or rest under if need be. Do you think the Delawares would do well foraging in this setting?

Your answers have given me hope again. I just feel that with Delawares I would get the most bang for my buck, and I would be helping out the breed.

You all said they are very friendly too right? I just need to make sure for my little children. Also, do they go broody? Good mothers?

 

[speckledhen]

Awesome! Do you worry about them being white and free ranging?
So your Delawares free range fine? Are they quick to mature?
We have about 2 acres they would be free ranging on and it is a flat piece of land with few trees. I plan on planting some things they can take cover under or rest under if need be. Do you think the Delawares would do well foraging in this setting?

Your answers have given me hope again. I just feel that with Delawares I would get the most bang for my buck, and I would be helping out the breed.

You all said they are very friendly too right? I just need to make sure for my little children. Also, do they go broody? Good mothers?

I have always free ranged and never had a predator loss, but I've always had several roosters. I do, however, have lots of cover, most of it we planted here before the chickens were even an idea, lots of rhododendron and leyland cypress and hemlocks, for evergreen coverage all winter for privacy's sake, in case someone did build across the power line easement from us. That has been the best thing for cover for the birds, especially in winter. You could plant some fast growing evergreens and/or put up some little A-frame tent like structures for them.

YES, they are very friendly! They are mouthy as chicks, exploring everything with their beaks, but they can be taught early on not to pinch, lol. Mine have never gone broody, however, as that just varies a lot. They came from a broody lineage, though, so not sure why they never did.

You need to be careful with ANY rooster around little kids, no matter the breed! That is just a given. My rooster is an angel, even likes to be picked up on occasion and sit in the hammock with me, but he gets nervous when he hears little kids screaming and banging around at a neighbor's house. Kids just make motions and sounds that put most roosters on edge, so you need to be careful until they are older/taller and can be taught how to conduct themselves around a rooster and cannot have their eyesight endangered by a leaping, flogging rooster who gets startled by them.

 

[finnfur]

Awesome! Do you worry about them being white and free ranging?

The other questions are answered and I agree they are great free rangers. Mine are first out and last in. And friendly.
As far as predation and white birds I don't think there is a difference in color . its opportunity. Mine stay in Enet to control ground predators of which we have many. In 3 years I have lost two birds to Redtail hawk . Same year 1 week apart . We have Red, Black , White and Tan chickens. The Hawk took two black ones ? Nothing to back it up but my theory is one of the Hawks prey that size here is wild turkey. The smaller ones born in the spring [ this was early fall ].
I have since put out ScareHawks and didn't have loses this year . So far . But its usually seasonal , Spring and fall on their migration route.

Most of what everyone is telling you positive about the Dels relates to Heritage Breeder birds and not hatchery stock IMHO

 

[sahmhomesteader]

The other questions are answered and I agree they are great free rangers. Mine are first out and last in. And friendly.
As far as predation and white birds I don't think there is a difference in color . its opportunity. Mine stay in Enet to control ground predators of which we have many. In 3 years I have lost two birds to Redtail hawk . Same year 1 week apart . We have Red, Black , White and Tan chickens. The Hawk took two black ones ? Nothing to back it up but my theory is one of the Hawks prey that size here is wild turkey. The smaller ones born in the spring [ this was early  fall ].
I have since put out ScareHawks and didn't have loses this year . So far . But its usually seasonal , Spring and fall on their migration route.

Most of what everyone is telling you positive about the Dels relates to Heritage Breeder birds and not hatchery stock IMHO

What is hatchery stock like?

 

[Bobby Basham]

Wow, it took a few weeks, but I managed to get through all 1,268 pages of this thread, and what an education! I wanted to learn as much as possible about the Dels because our large ACE Hardware store started selling chicks about six months ago. They only get a small batch of 25 sexed chicks every week which are Dels and Ameraucanas (I believe from Privett Hatchery). I know they're not the real deal, but I only want about 4-6 for a small backyard flock for entertainment and eggs. They are kept in a very beautifully designed brooder divided in half for the two breeds and is kept very clean. I think the employees pay too much attention and spoil them, and they're not skittish...LOL! They even have a whole aisle dedicated to poultry, including supplies, feed and a small library. Their conditions are better than some stores that just dump hundreds of chicks in a big bin and not monitored. Someone is always close at hand.

I chose the Dels because I can readily get these without the worries of shipping, which is why I chose to read this entire thread. Maybe having some "pseudo" Dels is better than having none at all. I'm glad to see folks are still working on this breed and maybe I'll have some by next year, even if I have to make that long 10-minute drive over to ACE to get what they have for now. I live in a modern HOA neighborhood where chickens are permitted, but would like to get back to my farmboy memories back in the 60's.

The knowledge shared here is truly awesome, and you probably touched more lives than you'll ever know, and I truly appreciate all that was shared here, especially the genetics aspect of it all. I'd like to share my preliminary design for a run, basically a modified dog kennel, coop is still up in the air. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Delaware is one the breeds I am considering for my first spring raising chickens. Are they good at foraging? I will have my chickens pastured and hoping to feed as little feed as possible during the warm months.

YES!!

 

[speckledhen]

What is hatchery stock like?

My first four were from McMurray hatchery parents owned by a friend. They were horribly flighty and aggressive. I can't say more than that-I got rid of them, including two pullets, by the time they were 8 weeks old. They almost made me never want the breed again and I had to be talked into doing a fertility test for a breeder who I know wanted to renew my faith in Dels. She swore that I would have a different experience with her heritage lines and she was right.

 

[NestingHillsSC]

My first four were from McMurray hatchery parents owned by a friend. They were horribly flighty and aggressive. I can't say more than that-I got rid of them, including two pullets, by the time they were 8 weeks old. They almost made me never want the breed again and I had to be talked into doing a fertility test for a breeder who I know wanted to renew my faith in Dels. She swore that I would have a different experience with her heritage lines and she was right.

They are the most calm and gentle birds ever besides my Heritage Reds. But the Delawares are even way more friendly. They all follow me around the whole time I am in the area.