Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[speckledhen]

Could be sun or excess corn, either one. Maybe a combination of the two.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
I just aquired a pair of splash marans. I have a feeling the roo had waaaaay too much corn in his diet, so I'm keeping him to a bare minimum of scratch that is mostly oats and sunflower seeds, and praying for a molt. He looks AWFUL. My splash cochin roos- who spend most of their time free ranging in the shade- have no yellow, even though they have a bit of scratch every day. I'm wondering if there is a difference in the hens & roos feathering- it seems to me that roos tend to get the yellow in their "boy feathers", and girls on an exact diet will have no yellow.

 

[Serrin]

Kathy, I just love that first pic of Jacob!! Looks like he's ready, willing and very able to kick the living shinola out of anyone even so much as thinking about messing with his girls!!!

OK, educate me here people....what is wrong with feeding corn? And is it all corn? Or just whole corn? Cracked corn? Fresh corn on the cob? What?

What?

What is wrong with it?

As a standard every day fare, my kids get the two grain scratch, [cracked corn & wheat] 16% layer crumble [because they HATE the pellets!

] and a nice big basket of fresh cut alfalfa. Am I doing something wrong? Should I scratch the scratch from their diet? And if so, what should I replace it with?

They also get frequent scoops of the wild bird food throughout the day, of which they'll knock over little old ladies in their haste to get at it. And then there's the goodies from the gardens [such as they are this year] on a near daily basis. They also free range all day, every day. If there's a problem with corn in any form, I hope someone will explain to me what it is. I've been feeding it for nearly 5 years now. Heck of a time to find out I've been messing this up all along.

 

[speckledhen]

Some folks think that all chickens are supposed to eat is corn. An exclusively, or almost exclusively, corn diet results in brassiness in the white areas. If you recall, I posted pics of my BR Hawkeye, who was fed a corn diet the first ten months of his life before I bought him, and with proper nutrition, the gold hackles went away completely. Later, as he aged and spent lots of time in the sun, he got somewhat brassy again, but that was from sunshine and fresh air.

 

[Serrin]

Ah! I see. Well, then I'd have to say that the brassiness in Chief and Brutus are due largely to the amount of time that they spend in the sun, but that corn has a small role to play in that as well. They love the stuff. Whereas the girls will pick out all of the wheat, and leave the corn, the boys seem to prefer the corn. It works out quite well for everyone!

Thanks for the info Cyn. I was afraid that I was maybe doing something terribly wrong with their diets in letting them have corn.

 

[speckledhen]

Amy, some of the brassiness can also be genetic. Some lines of Delawares are more prone to it than others, and when they age, they do yellow a bit anyway. Ike is still pretty white, other than the Georgia clay stains from dustbathing. That boy really loves a dustbath more than any rooster I know.

 

[joletabey]

Kathy- I love that picture of Jacob- brave and strong!!!! And yes, I love Alexander- he is very masculine to my eye, and I like his compact look! His build reminds me of my dear departed Buckshot. Maybe he needs to take a little trip my way this fall??? hehehehe!

Cetawin, Hedwig is a cutie and may have the cheeks, but Belle is going to have fluff and glam- maybe they are BOTH going to prove that some Del crosses are gorgeous.

When I fed Purina scratch to my crew, Luke looked yellow. I bought a Purina flock block and crushed it up and I mix 1/3 scratch to 2/3 flock block and he is getting whiter again.

Isaac is SO elegant, isn't he?

Jeremy- I wonder if you are going to have to worry at all at shows- seems to me if you are the only Del showing and Stewart does not have any faults to disqualify him, you will get ribbons. I know that isn't your aim, but when I have gone to shows, the aisles the judges are in are blocked off, the chickens get judged, ranked on a card, and the owner is not allowed anywhere near - you would have to ask to speak to the judge after the show to get any real comments. I also suspect if the judge has no experience with Dels, they would go by the SOP. But then, I am basing some of my thinking on what they do at horse shows and 4H stuff, the the two chicken shows I have been to.

 

[Cetawin]

Beth...maybe you are right. I will consider your new position on both of them being gorgeous, I mean I must be loyal and partial to Hedwig. I'll get back with you on this...I must think on it. LOL

 

[rancher hicks]

Just a quick note:

Got my book "Minnie Rose Lovgoods' recipe for raising chickens" Trillium press. Great book a must have. Learned something in the first pages very important about broody hens. You gotta get it if you don't have it already.

Wishing you the best

Rancher

 

[joletabey]

Rancher, you stinker- put out a tease like that and not tell us what the piece of info is!!! share!!!

Cetawin, I am SURE we can come to an agreement on this. Arm in arm and partial to both!