Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[speckledhen]

 

[kathyinmo]

 

[Laney]

You are hysterical Scott!!!

I hate to fly... I mean really hate. My mother was a private pilot and she would always take me up in that tiny plane. I Christianed her plane....it wasn't pretty. I'm known to get very ill on planes, and I fly often too, 3 or 4 times a year to see family. I refuse to do connecting flights at all because the up and down is the worst.

I do have a prayer I say on every take off and landing that I'll share with you:

"God please take me to my destination safely, and if you can't do that, please take me HOME quickly." With that, my anxiety is lower because I figure I'm covered on both sides.

On a Delaware Note: My chickies are growing in some wing feathers and I can see a little smut growing in on a few of them. I'll get pictures as soon as I'm feeling a bit better. DH has given me his cold. OH and he went out and bought a new air powered staple gun....LOL.

Laney

 

[Bassleg]

You guy's are killing me!!

 

[TriciaHowe]

I have someone local to me that has Delaware eggs for sale.... Don't know much about the breed but the price is good.
Do these look like good birds to you??

http://gainesville.craigslist.org/grd/1592063230.html

Thanks

 

[speckledhen]

They look pretty good. The rooster shown has an extra comb point but seems very meaty with good wing carriage and markings.

 

[Laney]

Are you looking to breed them or to just add to your layer flock?

They look like a good starting point for breeding. Everything is in the right place, and the coloring is ok. They could use some beefing up, but I would probably think about getting them seriously myself if I wasn't already where I wanted to be in my program right now. I need to breed out what I have before I see what I need to add in as far as outcross goes.

If you just want layers, I would jump on them, they look wonderful for layers.

Just don't forget to quarantine them from any birds you already have for 2 weeks to a month. You don't want to bring any diseases that they might already have into your flock. Unless you are buying eggs?

Good luck and welcome to the SDWD

Laney

 

[speckledhen]

One of the largest issues with most Delawares today is that they are not deep-bodied enough. If you look at the SOP for this breed, the males are really chunky with big broad, deep chests. That boy looks pretty good, but I'd really want to see him face on so I could see more of his chest. It's a hard breed to perfect.

 

[TriciaHowe]

Thanks

I was looking to get a few doz. eggs and keep the pullets for eggs and sell most of the cockerals. I just didn't know enough about the breed standard to say good or bad - just looked like a big chicken to me LOL! DD wanted to get into 4H poulty this year - she already does the horse club - and this seems like it could be a good breed for her for what she wants to do. She has a new batch of turkens that she is into right now too (4 days old, thanks to another byc member who gave us 18 eggs!!!).

 

[Laney]

I agree Cyn, he does look nice and big, but the angle of the picture made me question the deepness/broadness of his chest. That's the problem sometimes with buying a bird based on pictures. Unless you get multiple pics with different angles, you don't really get the right impression of the whole bird.

If he is a big broad bird, then he is a really good starting point for breeding I think. Really good coloration, wing carriage. Comb needs work. If he isn't, a cross with some larger hens will help that in a few generations while keeping the good points that he provides.

Laney