Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[rancher hicks]

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You know sometimes it's not only good to know what to look for that's good but what to look for that's not good. Like the black beaks. and the pale legs. Now I have to go check my chickens.

 

[popcornpuppy]

Cetawin, if you don't want to write kids books than I think you should do a reality TV show! I would definately watch it faithfully and I know it would be more entertaining than most other reality shows!

Kathy, Thanks for the pics. I was having withdrawls and now I got my fix. Aren't you glad you got the platinum membership with unlimited storage for pics???????
(I like #20. But all of your guys are looking good. At least they are not too lightly marked.)

joletabey, if it were me, I would keep her seperated until she is all better. I have had to seperate a few birds that were low on the pecking order and pecked to the point of severe injury. I let them heal completely before re-introducing them. I believe that chickens scense weekness and attack it. Thats JMO and I know you will find a solution that works for you

Rancher hicks, I have been stewing about that Red Sox commont since last night. Pick on the silkies all you want, you can even pick on the Patriots (I hate foot ball). But when I realized you're from New York, I guessed you must be a Yankees fan? If that's the case, can we put the Sox/Yankees hate aside and still be fellow Delaware-loving friends

Now for those who had questions and comments about my roos: I got Johnny from a breeder in Pensyvannia. I won the eggs on an Ebay auction. Ben is an Issac son. SO half of my flock is from GA and half is from PA. (I planned it that way for genetic diversity).
I said yesterday that Johnny is too yellow and I would get some more pics of the boys side by side. Here are the pics. Johnny was the best roo from the PA group and Ben was top choice from GA because he won the personality contest. Ben's only flaw in my opinion is his tail. BUT I'M NOT AT ALL BIASED

Johnny on the left and Ben on the right

Ben in the foreground, Johnny in the back

Ben on the left, Johnny on the right

Just Ben

Just Johnny

And I keep talking about wing carriage on these guys but it's been so hot that they are both drooping their wings so I can't show you guys how much better Ben's wings are

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Hey folks....hope all is well. A muddy mess here as it has rained EVERY day since last Friday. We need a few days to dry out and that don't look like its happenin' any time soon.

Before y'all go culling for dark/black streaks in the beak, give them some time. Especially if everything else looks good. EVERY ONE of my girls that I hatched here (either Pepper x Lil Bit or Issac x "his harem") had a black streak in their beak. ALL of them have grown out of it. I just ran to to the pens to check and make sure and they are all now a solid "horn" color....no black or streaking at all.

As for leg color....well, that's another story

Have a great afternoon

Scott

 

[joletabey]

Scott- that is good to know- beaks can change! Cynthia always said Dels take a long time to get to the finish line.

PopcornKathy- I like them both, but I am with Cetawin on this one- there is something about Johnny- his tail, the way he holds himself, he really appeals to me. But if the yellow is a serious flaw . . .? I dunno. They both have nice combs, and Ben does look a little bigger.

KathyinMo- you are an angel, and I will take you up on that- a nice chunky roo with a darkly barred tail- got one with 5 points????

#2 and #19 look like they have darker tail barring. And are you going to cull any pullets? Once the Orpalace is finished, I will have the large doghouse - room for three!

Tim, did you find any dark beaks?

I think I will err on the side of caution with Miss Lizzy- but I am going to show her Tightrope Holly's picture for inspiration! However, I will NOT tell her what Fattie does.

 

[Cetawin]

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Coward! You are afraid to climb a tree aren't you?

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LMAO Ya know my DH and I were going to apply for Fear Factor Couples ... we had it all worked out...I would eat the gross stuff, he would drink the gross stuff and we would divide and conquer everything else...then they stopped shooting the show. *sigh*

My reality show would entail scooping poo in a lace teddy or soemthing weird like that.

I mean I am not the cougar type (I have one husband and almost have him trained perfectly why start over?), I have enough mosquitos and building projects here so Survivor is out? That new shooting show would be no fun...why hit stationary targets when I can shoot at real predators running?


I crack me up some days.


I still like Johnny for some reason...

 

[joletabey]

Cetawin, actually trees and I are VERY good friends. Having had cats all my life. . . . . .

I figured out what it is. Johnny has more sex appeal.

He seems to have better pecs!!!

 

[delawaregirl09]

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for my absence, its been busy around here with the gardens and summer finally starting!!

popcornpuppy, those two boys are the handsomest boys i've seen since Thor and Isaac. If you need to re-home one, I would certainly take one

Kathy, your birds are always beautiful. I love looking at the pictures you post.

Well, I have some news of my own. I'm cutting down to about 16 birds and getting rid of the rest until I have time to set up breeder pens and establish a solid pay. I'll be getting rid of all my older birds except for two and keeping nxt years replacements to grow out. I'm keeping the two blues I got from James to see what will turn out and two or three Delawares from Legs and his ladies. As far as a rooster goes, I dont know. I have two of Oreos daughters, but I'm starting to think they arent girls anymore... Oh dear, lol.

I hope everyone is doing well with Summer coming on, its already hot hot hot here in Oklahoma.

 

[popcornpuppy]

Quote:
The SOP says the head, neck, back, etc should be white. No mention of yellow, but if it says white I have to assume yellow would be bad/wrong. It's too much bleed through of red that causes all of that yellowing. Some of it is dirt from dust bathing, but his brother who we culled showed even more yellow at a young age. The pullets from that group have nice color and I was hopping that if I paired them with Ben, the yellow would improve or be bred out.

And my roos are appropriately named:
Ben Grimm the guy who looks scary, is a big strong guy but a real softy

And Johnny Storm the ladies man (with nice pecs) I liked that joke by the way joeltabey

ETA:I can't believe every one is down sizing their flocks such as Kathy and Delaware girl. This is spring , time for hatching and adding to the flock

 

[kathyinmo]

Kathy,
With Ben and Johnny together I can see the difference in coloration. Where does the yellowing come from? I didn't know they would do that. Does it wash out or molt out? (I'm sure that is a dumb question!) Both of your boys look great! I am anxiously awaiting for Jacob to finish growing.

Scott,
I noticed that also ..... that alot of the beak darkness does disappear with age. I am gonna watch these guys, and not worry about the beak color for awhile. Really, the biggest boys have the darker streaks that are noticeable.

Now ..... the leg color ..... The boys in this group (as a whole) have better leg color than the girls. The girls' legs are more pale, and also they have less hackle color. Ya know how we talk about having 2 pens (ideally) for breeding (one for girls and one for boys)? Well, I think Claudia has an excellent flock for the roosters! Really, I do like these boys. They are still young, but I am enjoying watching them change.

 

[rancher hicks]

Popcornpuppy: I'm really not a sports fan. My SIL is and he's from the UK. I just like to get him going.
He's really good about it.

As for you, don't take it to heart. Although my dellies sit and watch Yankee games with me. It's how I tell keeper from the culls. I hold up a yankees logo and a redsox logo. The ones who go to the Yankees logo are Yankeepers. The ones who go to the Redsox are Dedsoxes.