Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[Happy Chooks]

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Ahhhh, I see. Thanks for clarifying that for me.

Haven't gotten around to ordering my SOP book yet.

 

[Serrin]

Kathy, if you ever come to the conclusion, for whatever reason, that you can no longer keep Oliver or Jacob, know that you can send either of those fine and handsome men up here! I'll make sure that they have all of the ladies they can handle and nothing but the very best feed, accommodations, and loving any rooster could ever dream of having!

There will always be room in my coop for either of those boys!

 

[Inkheart]

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I second this thought!!!!!!!!

 

[kathyinmo]

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I second this thought!!!!!!!!

Hahahaha. Thank you. I love the boys. I just don't think I could part with them. One of these days I will get pictures of Jacob. He is still molting and looks a mess..... I did take some pictures, but, oh my, he would be upset if I showed them.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

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I keep putting off ordering the SOP because I am told there will be a new one out "soon". I would like to get the latest version. Why are they delaying the publishing!?!?!? I have been told it would be "soon" for a year! The one on Amazon has a comment that it does not have illustrations.

 

[speckledhen]

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Cyn, question for you on your assessment of this roo. To my (very untrained) eye, he looks young yet, but appears to have good type. Is this a correct assessment? (just trying to learn here) Will the tail color darken as he gets older or does that not change? (again, trying to learn) I can certainly see the difference in tail color (mainly lacking the solid black in his tail) when compared to Kathy's boy.

ndemerly.......I think he's beautiful, I'm not trying to insult him by any means, I just want to learn what the desired type is. I realize nobody has the perfect bird. I hope I don't offend you by asking this.

Yes, he is young. ndemerly asked for opinions, and I mentioned the good and not so good points. He does seem young and should fill out more later on. Kathy is correct, Oliver is too heavy on the dark in his tail, ndemerly's is too light. The perfect balance is definitely in the middle of the two. Oliver has awesome type and that body isn't seen very often in today's Delawares. My Isaac is deep bodied, but not quite as broad as Oliver.

I had a couple who were light in the tail, with white predominating. The barring was very crisp, but just too light--that's not the reason they were culled, though, not the primary one. They were just not as bowl shaped as they should have been, but it takes till almost maturity to see how a Delaware rooster will turn out. You really can't cull too soon with this breed, except for obvious awful flaws.

 

[HorizonSon]

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There in lies the real rub with chickens: it seems that farming chickens and trying to improve one's stock will forever be in conflict with each other... Seeing as i'll be culling extra roos as early as 12~16 weeks old for consumption. <sigh>

What can one do?

 

[Happy Chooks]

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Cyn, question for you on your assessment of this roo. To my (very untrained) eye, he looks young yet, but appears to have good type. Is this a correct assessment? (just trying to learn here) Will the tail color darken as he gets older or does that not change? (again, trying to learn) I can certainly see the difference in tail color (mainly lacking the solid black in his tail) when compared to Kathy's boy.

ndemerly.......I think he's beautiful, I'm not trying to insult him by any means, I just want to learn what the desired type is. I realize nobody has the perfect bird. I hope I don't offend you by asking this.

Yes, he is young. ndemerly asked for opinions, and I mentioned the good and not so good points. He does seem young and should fill out more later on. Kathy is correct, Oliver is too heavy on the dark in his tail, ndemerly's is too light. The perfect balance is definitely in the middle of the two. Oliver has awesome type and that body isn't seen very often in today's Delawares. My Isaac is deep bodied, but not quite as broad as Oliver.

I had a couple who were light in the tail, with white predominating. The barring was very crisp, but just too light--that's not the reason they were culled, though, not the primary one. They were just not as bowl shaped as they should have been, but it takes till almost maturity to see how a Delaware rooster will turn out. You really can't cull too soon with this breed, except for obvious awful flaws.

Thank you for the explanation.(wanted to make sure what I was seeing wasn't way off base, and it wasn't - except the tail feathers part) I do agree that Oliver has fabulous body type. He's a beefy boy. Kathy, how old is he now?

 

[kathyinmo]

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Oliver was hatched 3-12-2010, so 8 1/2 months old.

 

[Happy Chooks]

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Oliver was hatched 3-12-2010, so 8 1/2 months old.

Wow, I would have guessed that he was over a year old with that body. He's gonna look like a tank when he's a year old.