Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[speckledhen]

Here is Hedwig's daddy, Isaac. Hot today so he was drooping his wings a bit, but though he is a bit dirty, you can see he isn't really yellowing like some do. He has several very dark tail feathers, but they are not solid black--all are barred, albeit sort of "ghosty".

Here is Ellie in close up so you can see her comb:

 

[Cetawin]

Ike

 

[jeremy]

When showing Delawares (I'm thinking about showing Stewart when he matures) do you know how judges will reflect on the darker "ghost barring" in the tail feathers, Cyn? I know the standard calls for full barring throughout, but I've seen many different examples.

Some roosters I've seen have barred tail feathers that look like they came right from a Barred Rock roo and were stuck on a Del, others have the darker cast feathers, with the green sheen- Like Isaac and Kathy's boy, Jacob.

I'm wondering if anybody has some experience with this in the show ring or just overall thoughts/feelings as to whether or not we should continue to breed roos that show the darker feathers in the tail. Or only breed those that show very clear barring, like I mentioned before in Barred Rock males. Could the difference in tail feathering be a throwback to the Colombian genetics?

Stewart so far only has clear barring, which I'm hoping will remain true as he matures.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Cynthia- you read my mind! I've been telling Daniel about the dellie chicks I'm getting from Scott, and wanted a good example to show him. I went back a few pages this morning- and suddenly- there is Isaac!

 

[speckledhen]

Isaac is the uncle to your chicks, so hopefully, you'll have some nice ones!

Jeremy, I have no idea what a judge will say about the darker tails. Someone who is a top notch Delaware breeder, someone even Janet consulted, said that the best quality Delawares at shows are heavier on the black in the tail, but just how heavy, I'm not sure. I think many judges would have a hard time judging Dels simply because they are rarely seen at shows. I know they have the Standard, but truthfully, how many Dels have you seen that look exactly like the artists' rendering in the Standard? About zero, I think. Isaac has the body type, the carriage, the robust good health, good wing carriage (when he isn't sweltering) and nice markings. What they'd think of his tail, not sure. I have been told that he'd be a solid 8 out of 10 on scale.
Did you know there is even a standard for earlobes? Ike's are a big long, according to that, but I believe that is way down on the totem pole of traits.

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
L0L! That's fantastic.

Well I have high hopes for my boy Cyn, if he measures up to look like his daddy I'll be happy.

He's maturing nicely at this point, he's got an awesome 5 pointer, yellow legs, nice body/wing carrage, no squirrell tail, pretty even coloring at this point, etc. He's showing some smuttyness on his back but I think that'll go away as he ages, it's minimal and isn't too dark. I think as his hackle feathers develop more it'll fade away. Anyways, I was thinking about the green sheen within the feathers and a thought struck me, NHR roosters have darker red/black tail feathers with a green sheen too. Perhaps this is where the color is coming from in some of the roosters we're seeing today? Certainly that trait could be carried on through the NHR hens to in inital breedings to create the Delaware, right?

I feel like as long as there is consistent and visible barring then that should be acceptable. Like you said, there hardly are any Dels shown so I'm willing to bet that just by showing up to a meet Stewart might have a heads up on some other roos because the judges haven't seen a nice Delaware before. At least those are my hopes, not on the other hand where because they have seen so very little stock they critique them very harshly. We'll see I guess.

 

[speckledhen]

As I have said, even BRs have green sheen in the black part of the barring, which is normal. You just don't want solid black tail feathers like a Columbian Rock.

 

[kathyinmo]

I went to take a picture of Jacob today, and caught him flapping his wings.

Oliver ....

Beth's boy, Alexander .... nosing around the junk lumber pile. He is soooo curious!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Quote:
Gorgeous! OK how come my Dels have yellow in their hackles and your do not??? Do you ever feed scratch or corn to yours? Maybe it is this hot Idaho sun...?

 

[kathyinmo]

I never feed corn, and scratch only once or twice a week (but not much). I dunno .... Is it feed or is it the sun?