Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[caychris]

I understand your desire. But if you started with culls why not get some good stock and save yourself about 4 years or more.
What you save on food would buy a lot of quality and fund the drive to pick them up.
But if you do i wish you success . " Eat mo' chicken" will be you motto .

Im not so worried about saving time. I'm fairly young. (Neal is almost 30 years my senior.) And I expect to be doing this for some time to come. I have 4 breeds I plan on working with for years to come (Delaware, Pita Pinta, Barred Holland, Cream Legbar) Im just starting out and taking my time. With the Delaware I will probably work on keeping some of the initial cross stock around. Neal already has or plans to maintain some Barred Rocks because quality ones seem to be very rare on the West Coast.

There are lots of logistical issues to solve as this program goes forward in addition to the birds themselves. Im willing to take my time to learn. Im not in a hurry even if I talk about crosses its more about the information and knowledge. Each line of birds adds to the effort needed. Ive learned a lot from just this small breeding of the Neal's Dels.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I think Chris should do exactly what pleases him. Clearly what pleases him is to start over. As much as that frustrates me, I kind of get it. It seems like such a big, juicy mystery.

One way we could all benefit from this, possibly ... and I can't emphasize this enough so I'm repeating myself ... I'd love to have more information about the process, etc., and Kathy has said she does not want to share that information about her own work/experience with her own re-created line, which is a shame because I know she herself got a LOT of generous help and encouragement from a lot of other people, so we have to reinvent that wheel. People are always asking about the process, and if it is shrouded in mystery and cynicism, then they'll just keep asking and we'll we'll have a harder time than necessary moving past the stage where people are attracted to this particular breed because of this particular mystery, so new breeders plan to "cross first, ask questions later." So I'm hoping Chris shares, and shares, and shares. Information is power.

Chris's breeding partner is a geneticist ... his contributions to the various conversations about what goes on with this breed in general could possibly be VERY helpful. I haven't heard much from him about it, though. That's a shame.

Personally, I'm skeptical that people with the best, most historically accurate Barred Plymouth Rocks and New Hampshires will want to contribute to another Delaware project, so I don't predict Chris will make "better" birds than Kathy did. But right now I don't have a really good trio to offer him, so I make a weak argument when I encourage him to help by line breeding what already exists.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Im not so worried about saving time. I'm fairly young. (Neal is almost 30 years my senior.) And I expect to be doing this for some time to come. I have 4 breeds I plan on working with for years to come (Delaware, Pita Pinta, Barred Holland, Cream Legbar) Im just starting out and taking my time. With the Delaware I will probably work on keeping some of the initial cross stock around. Neal already has or plans to maintain some Barred Rocks because quality ones seem to be very rare on the West Coast.

There are lots of logistical issues to solve as this program goes forward in addition to the birds themselves. Im willing to take my time to learn. Im not in a hurry even if I talk about crosses its more about the information and knowledge. Each line of birds adds to the effort needed. Ive learned a lot from just this small breeding of the Neal's Dels.

That second part ... SO TRUE. Just from my own experience: huge empty coops and many unused acres can turn into a crowded mess of chicken desert in one breeding seasons working with just one breed. And I'm not fighting the climate up here very much.

Choose your focus wisely, and have lots of Plan Bs for when the birds (and predators) prove you wrong. The faster you can respond to any issue, the better.

 

[Rod-T]

 No offense was taken. Just offering another way to look at it.

 If your primary concern was some layers, then you would be served well by purchasing from a hatchery. There is nothing wrong with that.

 If it was me, I would rather spend just a little more and gets some chicks from Luanne (Cpartist on here).

I was able to order eggs thru luanne. .thank you for the help

 

[gjensen]

If someone wants to do it just to do it, then they should do it. There is nothing wrong with that.

I remarked because that is not where the work is. It is easy to start.

There are some lines of Delaware out there that I could "fix up" using a pair of exhibition Barred Rocks. I would not need to "recreate" anything.

You could cross the NH and BR and use a pair of the F1s with your culls and Neal's birds. No need to go all of the way through. Everything that you need is in that simple cross and what you have.

I could take those culls and get it with what is available out there.

No matter what is done, the work is over the long haul.

 

[gjensen]

I was able to order eggs thru luanne. .thank you for the help

Luanne is great. She is honest.

She is not as convenient as the big hatcheries, but it is worth it.

 

[Rod-T]

 Luanne is great. She is honest.

 She is not as convenient as the big hatcheries, but it is worth it.

I think she was a fair price too..

 

[caychris]

If someone wants to do it just to do it, then they should do it. There is nothing wrong with that.

I remarked because that is not where the work is. It is easy to start.

There are some lines of Delaware out there that I could "fix up" using a pair of exhibition Barred Rocks. I would not need to "recreate" anything.

You could cross the NH and BR and use a pair of the F1s with your culls and Neal's birds. No need to go all of the way through. Everything that you need is in that simple cross and what you have.

I could take those culls and get it with what is available out there.

No matter what is done, the work is over the long haul.

I agree it is a long haul.

 

[caychris]

Out at Neals with pics of some of the birds
that
I counted the birds in the various groupings and it looks like we only have 2 pullets of any quality and 1 cockerel that shows promise of any type. The remaining birds (4 cockerels and 2 youngsters too early to tell yet) all show way too much barring or in the case of 1 have a leg defect. So including my pullet thats a total of 9 birds we were able to hatch this year.

We started late and the Delawares are beginning to lay again it looks like so we might be able to do a late hatch this year.

Here are the pics
A couple of the Jr Cockerel






Some close ups of the parents

 

[Zanna]

Luanne is great. She is honest.

She is not as convenient as the big hatcheries, but it is worth it.

x 2!