Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[speckledhen]

Depends on the age of the bird. They do explore with their beaks, ask for attention, etc. When the rooster is young, he may be testing boundaries, but when he is mating the ladies and he is biting, flogging, that's really bad. To a degree, temperament is heritable. I won't breed a mean rooster or even an aggressive hen. The Meier lines of Delawares are known for their sweet temperament, but it's also an individual thing.

 

[joletabey]

The nippy thing is something all baby animals seem to do- we have to train puppies and kittens and foals not to use those teeth on people, so hopefully we can discourage it in the chickens also- Cynthia brought up an important issue with the temperament/hormone thing. On first thought, it wouldn't seem so important with something as small as a chick, but a big ol' nasty roo is something else again. Boy, the list is growing longer!

 

[Cetawin]

rustyswoman I agree with Cyn...wait until they are mature breeding age and the hormones kick in...you can (or normally should) be able to pick a butthead then for sure. One thing about the Dellies that I have never had with any other breed in mixed flock...the explore everything with their beaks! shoes are subject to inspection, gloves, your hair, your shirt, your pant leg you name it.

 

[joletabey]

They also have excellent taste- the first few times I made the mistake of wearing my wedding ring and another lovely ring DH gave me, I thought I wouldn't be able to get my hands back-

What about the reverse? Has anyone ever known a butt head roo chick get nicer after the hormones kick in? Like he suddenly gets a sense of responsibility instead of the instincts of a terrorist?

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Thanks all! I decided it was time to update pictures of the little darlings and all but one of them just let me pick it up and carry it around. One decided to peck but I think it is natural for them to want to protect themselves. If he gets nasty later on he will go to a different home.

I took at least two pics of them all except for the carbon copies (I started forgetting who was who in the pics!)

These are such beautiful, sweet chickens! Thank you Cynthia!!!!!

#2

#3

#4

#5

group pics

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I forgot these! Do you say Roo or Pullet? Comb says pullet to me but markings say Roo.

 

[Cetawin]

aaaawwwww how precious. Can I have em?

*says to self Stop that! NO MORE ROOS except Suede, Zane and Ike NO MORE ROOS*

 

[speckledhen]

#1 is really handsome, nice comb and markings. #2's markings are a bit on the light side, but his comb looks nice. I can tell you that #4 is a cull due to more than one extra comb point. #5's comb is odd and probably has too many points, but being a pullet, give her more time. #3 has good markings, but looks like he may have an uneven comb later.

The new pic you just put up looks like a pullet to me, but I had one boy who completely fooled me. His markings werent great and his comb didn't even really show up till much later than the others. I think that's a girl who will molt out her barred tail feathers later on.

 

[Cetawin]

Lookie what all my feathered kids got....

scrambled eggs, oatmeal, ground beef and fish oil


Look who was unhappy he could not scarf it down...he gave me the curled lip (which preceeds bad drooling)

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

DANG COLD HERE....look at this, can anyone say

ROAD TRIP!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=282746