Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[Cetawin]

DelGirl - Ya know I think it is the weather and everyone being cooped up that is doing it. I have 5 of my girls that have no tails or just one or two feathers... Someone in my coop is bored and pulling feathers...no real blood drawn though. I went down yesterday and sat in my coop with the feared evil Stick and Spray Water bottle to try to find the culprit...One of my hybrids (Golden Buff) was picking at others but not sure if it was her or not doing the real tail pulling, she is normally very very shy and passive. When I find the culprit it is quarantine time for her or she is outta here.

 

[delawaregirl09]

Joletabey, Cetawin- I think your both right. The apron i fixed came off and she got picked a little more, but shes fixed up now.us It is so cold!

 

[Cetawin]

I caved in to the wiles of my boy Thor and let them outside for a bit. It is not raining and the fog lifted so it is not too bad outside right now. They are enjoying the garden time. Thor requests that you excuse his bad feather day...he has a flyaway feather

Little Miss Nosey aka Cannonball - she is still small compared to Fattie but bigger than the EE, Penelope

Miss Independent aka Fattie

Thor and Athena

Thor and his 2 main girls - Cannonball and Athena Fattie of course was off feeding her face

This one for a somewhat size comparison of my largest EE roo, Severus and Thor in the corner

 

[kathyinmo]

I was out doing chores today, and one of my EE decided to help me!
She is always the one to jump up to the highest points. To this day, she is the only one that has been on top of the coop ... on the roof! Silly girl!

Look at the difference in your weather, Cetawin, and mine! ha

Now this is Dellie related .... because, because, because .....
because I was going to get new, better, pictures of the Dellies, but it was so cold that my camera froze!

 

[joletabey]

Kathy- your place looks like mine! Too much snow! I love that picture- what a pretty hen.

Cetawin- Fattie is SO cool looking - I bet Cannonball will catch up, though. Right now she looks like a sweet little dove, doesn't she? Tell them if they want a real man, Buckshot is waiting. . . . .

I wanted to get pics today, too, but it's just too cold. I think I will wait till Monday - It's supposed to be bearable again.

 

[Cetawin]

Well my birds got their first experience with an Earthquake....they and the dogs were all unsettled. I myself was on an eliptical in the gym when it hit....freaky experience. We are all okay with very little damage. Luckily the quake hit about 25 miles out in the pacific near Eureka, CA. One report indicates a 6.5 and the radio here announced a 7.5.

 

[Laney]

Cetawin, I'm glad to hear that you and all of yours are OK. We get enough with Tornado's here. I never would have thought that NC was Tornado territory, but we get more warnings and touch downs than I ever expected.

In MA all we had to worry about were lightening strikes, blizzards and nor'easters. Now down here it's hurricanes and tornados!

I would never want to have to worry about earthquakes too!

Dellie bit: Eggs are cranking along. I am thinking it looks like about a 50% hatch rate, but with the darkness/porosity of the eggs I'm leaving the ones that look like early quitters in as possible slow growers. Hatch date is the 21st.

Laney

 

[kathyinmo]

Dellie questions .... Let's talk about color ... (next we move on to, "shape!")
In reading my handy dandy (expensive) colored version of the APA's Standard of Perfection manual, I find the following under, "color:" ...
"color -- MALE" :
COMB, FACE, WADDLES AND EAR-LOBES: Bright red.
BEAK: Reddish horn.
EYES: Reddish bay.
HEAD: Plumage, white.
NECK: Hackle -- web of feather white, crossed with irregular indications of black barring; quill and shaft, white. Front of neck -- white.
BACK AND SADDLE: White.
TAIL: Main tail -- showing irregular indication of black and white barring, black predominating.
WINGS: Fronts, Bows, Coverts -- white. Primaries and Secondaries -- showing irregular indication of black and white barring, the black predominating; the quill and shaft white.
BREAST: White.
BODY AND FLUFF: White.
LEGS AND TOES: Lower Thighs -- white. Shanks and Toes -- rich yellow.
UNDERCOLOR OF ALL SECTIONS: White.
-------------------------------------
"color -- FEMALE" :
COMB, FACE, WADDLES AND EAR-LOBES: Bright red.
BEAK: Reddish horn.
EYES: Reddish bay.
HEAD: Plumage, white.
NECK: Hackle -- showing irregular indications of black and white barring; entire web edged with white; quill and shaft, white. Front of neck -- white.
BACK: White.
TAIL: Main tail -- black, entire feather edged with white. Coverts -- showing indications of irregular black and white barring, predominatingly white quill and shaft, white.
WINGS: Fronts, Bows, Coverts -- white. Primaries and Secondaries -- showing slight indication of irregular black and white barring, the white predominating; the quill and shaft white.
BREAST: White.
BODY AND FLUFF: White.
LEGS AND TOES: Lower Thighs -- white. Shanks and Toes -- rich yellow.
**note there is no, "Undercolor of all sections," listed in this book, under female, as there is under male.
----------------------------------------

Now, for the questions to begin a lengthy discussion ...
Question # 1 ... What the heck is, "reddish horn?" I thought we wanted a yellow beak. Now, realize, I have this colored version here ... with the artist's interpretation of the written description!

Yeah ... well, anyway, her interpretation is kinda like a dirty yellow. ... not orange, not yellow, but kinda in between; or like a dirty or muddy yellowish tan approaching a pale brownish-orange. (I'm not good at describing this color she painted, obviously) ... My thought is that reddish horn is sort of a brownish with red tint color, but lighter. How do you all interpret that color?

 

[Cetawin]

Kathy...all I can say is you have chickens you lost me on the specifics

 

[joletabey]

Kathy - I looked in my handy dandy (expensive) colored version and to me it looks like a medium shade of amber. It doesn't look "reddish" to me at all.

I found it interesting that most of the other breeds in that section don't mention color in reference to the beak. In the pics in that section, the Buckeyes and the New Hampshires don't have yellow beaks, either, but no mention is made in the description of beak color. RIR is described as reddish horn, also, though, so maybe we can find a good photo of an RIR? I will go start a thread asking for pics of reddish horn, if no one here has one to post.

Several of mine have a dark horn spot on the top of their beaks, and it shades off to a yellow tip.
Some of them appear to have yellow beaks with a reddish streaking in the yellow.

Cetawin- I am glad it wasn't inland and at your place- we get mild earthquakes here, too, and they old timers say we are due for a big one-

edited to say - I went on JamesA's RIR thread to look at the pics, but they looked like a regular horn and yellow mix- maybe Cynthia can describe it to us?