Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[kathyinmo]

Oh yea ..... I am gonna have plenty to pick from ..... Final tally on group 2 .... get this!

.... 8 males, and 2 females! I hope this next hatch has just a few more females! LOL

On a sad note .... I had my first loss to a predator today.

One of my sweet little buff Silkies became hawk food. It was a very small hawk I found feeding on her. Rather brave, he was, continued to feed until I was practically on top of it. The Silkies are now all locked up, and very quiet. Their guardian, our dog, was not out there. It is a dreary dark day, sprinkling out, and he had went inside the doggie door, and was sleeping in the garage. This is uncharacteristic of him. He usually guards those chickens anytime they are out, and watches the perimeter all night.

Look at my little egg collection from today ... A torpedo egg! I have some new layers, and am so happy to be getting eggs!

 

[Laney]

Kathy, I am so sorry for your loss! Tell your Dog he had better quit laying down on the job! It happens no matter how much we protect them.

Cyn, I hope that Shadow does OK and lays an egg normally really soon. Keep us posted.

Beth, I would have real trouble picking. I'm thinking number two has a slight edge to me although I can't really say why, could just be the angle of the picture. Keep watching them for temperament and to see how they bulk up.

Catdaddy your boys are starting to look nice, can't wait to see what they start looking like after their mini-molt is done!

Welcome to all the new folks to the thread who have popped in while I've had such a busy week! I'm still mucking out the goat barn a little bit at a time. I'm sure at some point I'll be able to feel, or not feel some part of my body again. DH took another nasty tumble today. He has MS and really isn't too steady on his feet. He's working on a new fenced in area for the goats..but a new fenced in area for the goats, means a new fenced in area for the chickens too!!!!

Laney

 

[Cetawin]

Kathy sorry about your silkie

Have talk with that doggie tell him no sleeping rain or no when chickies are out and about.


Cyn - as I stated on the phone it is a mild lanolin scent. I am going to mix it and the triple antibiotic up and rub that in my very sad boy's comb. He truly sounds pathetic doesn't he? hahahaha spoiled spoiled spoiled

 

[speckledhen]

The poor thing was wailing at the top of his lungs! Sounded like some forlorn hound dog!

 

[Cetawin]

LMAO and he was busy telling me how bad it was too huh? I have got to get a picture of him playing me...dropping the left shoulder and wing like he is hurt sooooo bad. But as soon as I walk away where he can't see me looking at him, I can catch him standing up just fine.

This is what the comb looks like today with his corona/triple antibiotic mix on it:

I did pick up some bag balm this evening after I went to the gym so tomorrow I will start using that.

He weighed 7.8 pounds...did I tell you that?

Remember me telling you how he drops flat and hikes his butt in the air when I scratch his back, like a cat? Well

He got so relaxed he dropped his head down on the towel...this was right before his head thumped down..

So I ask you ... is my big boy spoiled or what?

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Hmmm, Laney picked # 2. Cetawin is no help at all ... she wants to steal them all! I like all three better than the guys in my first group .... So, what is your choice? Have you decided yet? I have 8 roos (out of 10) to pick from in my second group .... I think I may be in the same shape you are .... Hmmm, which one?

Thor does appear to be, "pampered," yes!

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
Hmmm, Laney picked # 2. Cetawin is no help at all ... she wants to steal them all! I like all three better than the guys in my first group .... So, what is your choice? Have you decided yet? I have 8 roos (out of 10) to pick from in my second group .... I think I may be in the same shape you are .... Hmmm, which one?

Thor does appear to be, "pampered," yes!

HEY It's what I do

 

[Laney]

We got back about 9:30 from my DD's class and stopped to check on all the animals. DD got SawsAll to eat out of her hand. It's so sweet because she has trouble because of the bad eye, so she kind of moves the food around with her beak, then eats it. But then Bam Bam, our White Java roo (I think I can say that safely now, pink waddles growing in, and behavior is rooish) comes over to my daughter's hand and starts pushing the food over under SawsAll's beak!!!! That is when my daughter says, he is definitely a rooster! He's taking care of SawsAll just like Biden takes care of his girls!!!!

All the Mottled Java's just hung out in the corner in a big group packed together like frightened sardines. Not unexpected they are not the friendliest of breeds, but that is why I have Dellies!!!!!

Got some new pictures of Biden and Helen a few days ago but haven't had a chance to post them. I think that the pictures of Biden can show you a bit about things that can be right and wrong with a rooster..... (comments above pics)

I just liked this pic because it caught him in a huff. It does show his tail color fairly well though. You should be able to see how although his tail is very dark, it is definitely barred. Good for a female line. Leg color is also shown well in this picture and you can see it is a very bright yellow, also good.

You can see in this picture that his come is 5 or 6 points, not bad. It's good and straight also very good. His hackles are definitely barred and although light, they aren't bad. This is a good rooster for coloring and comb. Now we get to the not so good stuff. Take a look at his wing. It should be horizontal, instead it's slightly dipped. His tail is also standing a bit too tall. It should be at a 45 degree angle to the body, instead it is at almost a 90 degree angle.

I do have 4 eggs in the incubator that are sons of Biden. They are Biden x Helen. We will see if they turn out better than their father.

I know there is no way they can compete with the Isaac babies I have, but perhaps they will have something to contribute to the gene pool.

Now, baby pics....

SawsAll, her good side, with Mottled Java's in the back.

SawsAll and Bam Bam give the Stink Eye. I think they could win an award, even at their young age they give a very professional stink eye.

SawsAll's tail black, you can just see it peeking out.

Laney

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Thanks Laney! Thanks for pointing things out, as well. I think Biden is a gorgeous bird. It would be hard to find a 100% SOP bird. He looks like a nice big size, too! Where are the pictures of Helen?

 

[Laney]

Where are the pictures of Helen?

Can I plead tired? Oops~

I went back and realized I didn't pay as much attention to Helen as I thought. But here is what I have. I promise to try to get new pics of her soon though.

I look at Helen, and I can honestly say, I miss Emily. If you look at Helen's neck you can see that her hackles are not great. Toward the top of her neck they appear nicely barred, but as you get to the base of her hackles, a large portion of each feather is taken up with a single bar, giving her neck quite the Columbian look to it. Her comb, like Bidens is 5 or 6 points (I'm still not great on where you start counting.) though it's hard to tell in this picture. If you look at her tail, the black is currently not great, although it has been better. The standard calls for a black feather edged in white. The white edging on her black feathers encroaches a bit too much for my liking. Emily's were gorgeous.Her legs are a nice yellow, although starting to fade just a teeny bit as the number of eggs she's laid goes up.

Here you can see her behind Biden. I think it really emphasizes the difference in her almost Columbian looking hackles, even though they are barred, and his nicely barred hackles. Her wings also dip, if you follow their line along her body in this picture. All in all, neither bird is a throw away to anyone but a breeder.

Laney​