Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

Walkswithdog-
Thank you again!
Those are great shots- thank you for pointing things out-you can see the roundness- makes me think of the term "full bosomed".
Also, having the BR there is a great comparison for size overall -

People keep mentioning Seriousbill and Shortcake- anyone know them well enough to email and invite them into this? I know this is Delaware girl's thread, but this, for me, is Delawares 101, and I am loving it. I hope I am not being pushy jumping in.

AK-Bird Brain- Dexter is BEAUTIFUL- am I correct in saying that the barring in the tail is pretty perfect?
(learning, learning, learning)

Someone asked a while back about where are all the roos, and walkswithdog answered about the way she sells her culls as part Delaware- I was wondering if everyone just eats their extra roos. ????
 
So...is it Barred tail in the male and solid black in the hens?

Ahhh, so confusing. Is there a standard posted somewhere here that I can view? I know I saw one once but can't find it.
 
Found it!

Delawares are a fairly heavy-bodied, white (silver) bird with black markings. They were originally developed in the state of Delaware in 1940 from some silver sports (birds that differ from the parent stock, often through mutation) that cropped out by chance from a broiler cross using New Hampshire Reds and Barred Plymouth Rocks. They were recognized as a separate breed and admitted to the APA Standard in 1952. While they were thought of as a broiler originally, today they are recognized as a dual-purpose bird, most useful for the backyard or homestead. As a breed originating in America, Delawares are often kept today by those who are interested in maintaining US heritage breeds. Those interested in the show standards for this breed should know that the APA Standard calls for Delaware males to be 8.5 lbs and have a body that is both broad and deep. The comb should have five even points, and the tail should be clearly barred with the black bars predominant. The female Delaware should be 6.5 lbs and should also have a broad and deep body. She, however, should not have barring in her main tail feathers, which should be black with only white lacing on the outer edges. Her tail covert feathers, however, may show barring. Both genders should have barring in the hackle and have yellow legs.
 
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I eat or freeze them but if fridge and freezer are full, I sell them as mixes.

Dexter is handsome. But if Algernon had that light a tail he wouldn't probably improve these breeder and hatchery hens markings and they need improvement so part of what you need is what you are breeding TO.

The girls tails should be black inside a very clear white laced outer feather edge.

All black tails are a fault. And you'll usually find those birds doubly faulted with columbian unbarred neck hackles. Something to breed out.

Dexter has a much better comb than Algernon does.
 
In the very first picture the prize Roo has more than 5 points. At least it looks like that to me.

Is that ok? Is it that they have to have at least 5?
 
No, they should have only five, nicely spaced points. Isaac has a tiny extra sort of half-point on the front of his, but otherwise, it's a beautiful comb, the best of all the ones I had out of two batches of Dels. Someone posted a pic of the SOP Delaware male in this thread--look at that comb on the artist's drawing. That's the absolute perfect Delaware comb. Now, if the girls would quit picking at Ike's comb and wattles when they're bored...
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As far as tail barring, Isaac and his half brother Algernon are heavy on the black, but the tails are barred, not solid (Cher said Algernon has some almost solid black, but couldn't see it in the pics). All of Ike's are barred, but very heavy on the dark side, which bodes well for good tail color in his daughters. If you start too light, it only gets worse when they molt, I hear.
I think Dexter's comb is pretty good, really. Could be better, but hey, if they were all perfect, we would have "arrived", right? Tori, he should throw some nice chicks.
 
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You get first prize if it's the only delaware there kind of regardless unless the judge DQs the bird and he had no actual DQ faults.

The standard is five very clean points.

I'll be awhile achieving that.
 

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