Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[Cetawin]

I have 2 Delaware babies...Speckledhen's Isaac is their Daddy.

They are 3 weeks old

this is little Cannonball

This is Fattie (this one is the baby of Isaac and Kira)

 

[M To The Maxx]

I don't have any Delawares but I would like to say that all of these look great!!!!!

 

[delawaregirl09]

I agree Max, they do all look great. And Isaac's babies look great!!

 

[Cetawin]

Thanks...I really love them. These are my first delawares, sorta bonus eggs to fill in the dozen when she sent eggs from her BBS Orps. What a bonus they turned out to be. They are really fun, friendly beauties.

 

[JamesA]

Mine are only babies but her they are.

 

[delawaregirl09]

Aww, I remember when mine looked like that

My Dellies were amazing babies, quiet but spirited

Oh! And Cetawin, I love our birds and your "Eggtopia". I love it!

 

[walkswithdog]

Lord my Delawares never knew a moment of quiet. I was looking at my hold overs for the winter and one of the hatchery girls has some brown smut on her wings after her adult feathering came in - ugh. I'll sell her as a mix after winter.

I have the first few Del babies and Del mixes hatching this month and next as I test the "new" antique bator - Goliath. Shut up isn't in the knowledge base of these either. That's okay their energy and busy is why I like them.

Algernon (Isaac's cousin) over barred and partridge rocks are producing some big chicks. I'll hold a few of the boys for meat evaluation. Fortunately the chicks are sexually dimorphic pretty quickly.

There is one in the hatch last night that might be splash sizzle roo over delaware hen - if it frizzles and it's a girl it stays LOL. Mostly for entertainment value.

I like Delawares - but my largest priority has to be type - the group of hatchery girls were so narrow in shoulder and pelvis they just haven't ended up with the right shape. Some of the breeder girls have better shape but their hackle color sucks. One too little, one two columbian. At least the breeder had been sorting for proper body shape. Algie is huge and good body type, good tail barring, hopefully he improves hackle and width in the next generation, and hopefully there will be some males with better comb type to choose from.

Getting into a "new" breed is gonna take some serious sorting. At least they're gorgeous even when they've major flaws.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Here are a few of our Delawares

This is Dell our breeding roo. He wouldn't stand still long enough for a good pic. He is in with New Hampshire Reds to reintroduce some stability back into his line.

This is one of our newest additions. We generally keep a closed flock anymore but couldn't pass her up.

And the next two pics are babies we hatched here from Dell and the New Hampshire girls.

 

[delawaregirl09]

What beautiful birds, pamperedpullet!!! I wish my Delaware Roo, Moose, had lived. He was the best looking bird as far as Standard goes that I had, but oh well. He lived a short but happy life.

Walkswithdog: I understand that. I bought about sixteen Delaware hens last summer and had to get rid of about four of them because they had brown on them that kept coming back, so I didnt want that passed on.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

I think I may start over with different Delaware stock in the spring. The 3 cockerels and 2 pullets I have just don't seem quite to type. Pullets have baring in the tail instead of black-laced, etc. Also, the cockerels seem to be getting very rough with the pullets and the DS reports having to give each of them the boot lately. I do not put up with mean roosters, so maybe it will be better to start over in the spring.

I am sad, the family really liked them when they were younger, and they shaped up early very nicely, but as they have aged they have grown farther from what we expected.