Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[TwoChicks]

Quote:
Gorgeous flock! Wow. Look at all the happy chickens! Lol. I wasn't sure if my Sookie was going to stay lightly marked or if she would develop more markings as she matures. But I'll tell you, she is just about the sweetest chicken. She is usually the first one to greet me and she comes running from where ever she is at to see me.

I'm fast becoming a Del fan. It wasn't a breed I had chosen, she came in a brown-egg layer assortment, but I'm glad she did.

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Those Delawares have mind control, ya know. They steal your heart and take over! The Delawares really are super friendly and sweet!

cetawin, They all look great! Love the green backdrop in the photos. I swear, Thor is still growing. He is looking bigger every time I see him. Are you sure he doesn't have some Jersey Giant in the genes?

 

[Cetawin]

LOL TwoChicks they are great and Kathy is right BEWARE OF DELLIE MIND CONTROL the make you get more and more and more.


Kathy Thor is back up to his 9+ lbs and now at 10 lbs. he still had about 4 lbs to go to catch up with Daddy. Suede weighs around 14 lbs so Thor is trying to catch up. They all so love all the green grass and the shade mix in the backyard is perfect because it is not too hot for them and they have cool shade to go into when they are tired of running around in the sun...Plus, I can see them from the diningroom and kitchen windows. I enjoy going out on the second floor deck and sitting there watching them as well as yelling "CANNONBALL NO PUT THAT DOWN!"

 

[joletabey]

Cetawin, that is a beautiful flock! I don't think I have seen all your other birds before- I am so glad they are doing so well after that horrible trip. I agree with Kathy, I think Thor looks bigger and heftier every time you post a picture. That is one beautiful boy!

Twochicks- I have a light girl or two also- you are going to have to get more Dels, there is nothing like them!

I took Lizzie out on the lawn in the U of the run and she and Julian the Great Black Panther and ALL the chickens listened to me read out loud. I put the book down and Lizzie decided to check it out to see if it was true. . . .it was a chapter on animals and pets in heaven. . . . .(yeah,I am still reading that book)

Since she was there, I took a pic of her hackles and tail feathers- I am hoping some of the tail feather "trim" will molt out, and that she and Luke, who is too light, will balance each other out. She is a good little egg layer, in spite of her injury. It's not exactly Columbian, is it? Or am I blind?

Cynthia, is this similar to Georgie and I think you said Ellie (Ellen?)

 

[kathyinmo]

Beth, Do you have the hard back version of the SOP? If so, look on page 27. It shows the feathers of the Columbian color pattern. I don't know if that helps any. They don't show a Delaware example, but there are some barring examples (however from BRs).

 

[joletabey]

Kathy, page 27 is part of what is confusing me, as Lizzie has the white edges like the MALE feathers featured- on the feathers that aren't barred, or are barred above the tips that are black outlined in white. To me, they almost look splashed, like on page 23, lower left hand corner. The patterning is broken up - the barring she has is irregular, and even the black outlined in white is not a smooth pattern on all the feathers.

I flipped back to page 62 where the Del portraits are, and dang if the hen doesn't have black and white tail coverts- so maybe Lizzie's tail is more correct than I thought!!!! Would you look at that and at her tail picture and tell me what you think?

 

[kathyinmo]

I think her tail is gonna be just fine.

It is the hackles that I think may not have the correct barring. I thought the same as you, with that splash photo.

The artist's rendition has way to much hackle coloring, doesn't it? Isn't that too dark?

 

[joletabey]

Boy, don't I wish I knew- it would have been so nice to have photos instead of artist renditions. If you read the description of the female hackle, it doesn't even really tell you - unless you "irregular INDICATIONS" of black and white barring to mean "light" - I do think she is too heavy in the hackles, which is why I want to see what she and Luke produce- if she can have a darkening effect on a roo's hackles and rail feather. Hey-whose birds did these artists see? I am not sure I have seen anyone's roo with black and white tail feathers, either. Everyone's seem to be black and charcoal or grey and white - it's all very frustrating.

Going out to eat, be back tonight-

 

[speckledhen]

The black and white rendering is less cartoonish than the color one. Why can't they get real and put a photograph in there? That is just someone's interpretation of the perfect Delaware. I bet they'd have a hard time finding one that was close enough to perfection to put in the book for everyone to emulate, but some of Janet's stock is pretty darn close.

When Isaac was a mere 15 weeks old, I happened to get a photo of him in almost the same position as the artist's rendering. That really helps to compare your bird to the standard. I tried to get him in that position later on, after he filled out, but never did get a suitable one. The pic is a bit dark so you can't see the barring in his tail well, but trust me, it's there. This was before those two pesky partially white tail feathers showed up as his tail got longer.

The problem with this breed is you need a line to breed females and another to breed males, due mainly to the completely different tails in the sexes. Beth, yes, her hackles are very heavy, not barred enough near the bottom, but there are two parents represented in every chick. If there weren't, then Phoebe couldn't have produced a Cannonball with her perfect comb nor Kira produced Gracie with her near perfect comb.


Here are others in my photobucket:
http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv95/Mtnviewpoultry/Delaware Flock/DelawareStandardBW.jpg
http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv95/Mtnviewpoultry/Delaware Flock/Delaware_Standard.jpg

 

[kathyinmo]

I like that one much better the one in the hardback book.