Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[speckledhen]

Panda is doing well. Sunday is Day 18 for her. On Day 21, I have to go to get a bone density scan in Blairsville, so I hope her babies hatch on Day 20.

New2Chooks, I'm so sorry about your Orp girl! That really bites.

 

[Happy Chooks]

AND I had to take my dog to the vet. She decided to chase a buck and in the chase ended up tearing open the inside of her back leg on a stick. $250 later, we're now home and she's still groggy from anestesia. Is today over yet?

 

[kathyinmo]

I don't know what the temperature here today was, but I will tell you one thing .... it felt like the hottest most humid day I ever remember. Not the slightest breeze at all. I am so worried about my chickens. They were all holding their wings out and panting. I could hardly stand to be outside myself. My broody is in the attached garage, which has an air conditioner/heat vent, so it is a tad bit better there. Horrible, absolutely horrible hot here today.

Beth, the only pictures I got today were awful .... He really looks better than these pictures portray.

 

[Cetawin]

New2Chooks I am so sorry about your Orp girl...hopefully when next I go hunting at Sarah's I will kill a raccoon for you too. I hate those critters!

Kathy - it is horrible when you watch them panting and trying cool off like that. I know it is hard on them...mine have been doing that off and on for a week now. I grab them up and hose them under their wings and cool their feet. Poor things.


Beth, the d'uccles are about 3 months old. They are so so sweet. The little boy was a real love when I was putting bag balm on his legs and comb this evening...he had a tussle through the wire with a cochin boy today and another boy had been picking at his leg feathers...but he let me rub his face and such and just held real still....I am very very pleased with the d'uccles...Cheyenne's mille pair are sweet too.

 

[kathyinmo]

Wanna see a couple spoiled rotten Delaware girls .... I think it is Dellie mind control ....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4532071#p4532071

 

[Serrin]

Kathy, those two girls are just beyond mere words!

The pictures say it all anyway. What heart melting little girls you have there. How old are Miss Stella and Miss Della?

Well, OK, I got a fleeting moment to get a few pictures of Evie and Prius tonight. By no means their best pics to date, as I waited until about a half hour before their bedtime and the lighting wasn't the greatest.

Now, for those who have not kept track of this latest facet of the Delaware conversation, be forewarned. These [duh! obviously] are NOT purebred Dellie's. I'm not even sure if there is so much as a drop of Dellie blood in them. That's what we're going to put our heads together on and see what kind of a consensus we can come to.

Without further ado, may I present first Evie. Also the very first chick I ever hatched! Hence the name, Eve.

Evie is on the right and her buddy Dottie (I think that's Dottie...too many black and gold girls sometimes can be confusing!

) is on the left.

And since everyone seems to be concerned with what the butt feathers look like in Dellies, here's a shot of Evie's fluffy, puffy posterior!

Now this is a fairly nice picture of Prius. She's the absolute sweetest of the two black and white girls, and frankly, one of the sweetest birds in this flock period!

This shot here can give you a better idea of her body shape.

And of course, life would not be complete without a shot of the fluffy butt of Prius!

Just so that you can compare the two girls side by side, obliging young ladies that they are, they provided me with this nice shot of the two of them together tonight!

So, Kathy, Beth, Cyn, Cetawin, Scott and all other Delaware authorities, your opinions please on these two wonderfully sweet little pullet mutts. Is there maybe a slight chance that there is Del in there somewhere? If not, what else might there be? I know the brown bits of them probably came from the RIR roo that the family whom I acquired the eggs from had in their flock. As for who contributed the Dellie like features, I have no idea. But their personalities, both in general and Prius in particular, just seem to scream out Delaware!!

Prius is just the sweetest little girl. Every time I turn around in the yard, there she is. And constantly she is wanting to be picked up and cuddled for just a minute or two. Then it's off to chase down some bug or other. 15 minutes later, she's right back at my heal and checking up on me. And even though I give these hooligans treats on a daily basis, I never use the treats as an enticement to promote friendly behavior. If she has made that kind of connection in her mind, then she came by it all on her own!

Besides, any treats I tried to use as enticements wouldn't do me any good anyhow. Chief is right there to take full credit for the procurement of all treats issued!

And the girls readily accept his pronouncement that it was all HIS idea!

OK, forgive me....I know he has absolutely not one drop of Dellie in him, but since we are, in a round about way, on the subject, here's a picture of the love of my life. He may be just a mutt in the eyes of many. But to me, he is my sterling silver and gold hued knight in shining armor. And the girls think he's pretty nifty too!!

My boy, Chief!

Any thoughts y'all might have on these two girls, you are eagerly encouraged to give voice to that opinion! Oh, and if it helps, they officially turned 19 weeks this last Thursday.

 

[kathyinmo]

Serrin,
I see what you mean! I don't know about chicken genetics much at all, but I sure do see what looks like Delaware markings, for sure! AND, the sweet dispositons you say that Evie and Prius have .... well, that certainly is a Delaware trait! Your girls are just beautiful! NOW, your boy Chief ..... whew, he would be an easy one to love! He is a gorgeous boy! I love his barring and his stance. He is good to his girls and to humans .... Well, what more could you ask for!!! You have winners there, girl ! I think they are all wonderful and gorgeous! Congratulations to you!

 

[Serrin]

Aww! Thanks for saying such nice things about my little hooligan mutts Kathy! Yeah, I'll readily admit it. I'm completely besotted with that big silly lunk of a roo. And there's no way on this sweet green Earth I could ever want for more in a boy. He's so totally sweet on his girls, I swear he asks permission from them before he mounts. And forget about getting him to eat first when treats are passed out.

Big dork can't keep his mouth shut for a second and just enjoy a goody. Oh no! He has to call each and every girl over personally and make sure they get their fill before he'll even consider indulging in whatever it is himself!

That's all fine and dandy, but I want this boy to grow up BIG and STRONG and that ain't gonna happen when he keeps giving his girls all the best bits and morsels! He even stands guard over them when I'm tossing out a nice big handful of dry dog food! (I have yet to raise a chicken that didn't go HOG WILD over Purina dog kibble!

) And yet somehow, he can resist even that temptation. He'll pick up a nice piece, only to drop it in front of one of the ladies and make a big production of calling her attention to it!

Ya just gotta love a great big lummox like that!!

At the end of the day, after he makes an accounting for all of the girls in his flock, [I swear he's actually in there counting beaks to make sure everyone is present and accounted for] he then comes to me for love and cuddles and caresses. He has come to expect it, I think. On the evenings that I must be away at their usual bed time, I close them up into their fenced in area, but leave the main coop door open so they can still come and go as they please. On such nights, when I return way past their bed time, I almost invariably find Chief roosting in the doorway of the coop. Heaven help anything he doesn't recognize as friend who tries to gain entry to his girls! They're going to have one heck of a fight on their hands.

But OMGosh! I can rattle on about the boy, can't I? OK, I'm all done hijacking this thread. And I promise to never do it again...errrmmm...at least not deliberately! (teehee) We now return you to our regularly scheduled Delaware thread!

So Kathy!?! You really think there might be some Dellie blood in there someplace on Evie and Prius?? It sure would explain their wonderful attitudes, now wouldn't it?

Does anyone else have thoughts on these two little sweeties? I'd love to hear your opinions!

 

[ChksontheRun]

Those are some beautiful chickens. And I love to hear stories about adoring attentive roos. His antics make me think again of poor Thor. I think that is the type of roo that we all long for. Don't you just love it when they make sure all of the girls are in for the night?

Sure looks like there is a bit of Del in those girls. I think "mutt" chickens can be some of the most atractive with their unique coloring, and it holds true with your girls.

Woke up this morining to more chicks. Yeah, I will not have to raise one by itself. I now have 2 dels and a black one. It came from a speckled egg. Kathy, any ideas? Anyway, they are all doing well and tonight will go to the brooder. I will post pics when they are in there. (I made a new brooder for my little babies, copied from one here on BYC that I just love)

The black one I had to help out of the shell. He piped, and then the membrane completely dried out in the next 14 hours. It was like leather. I very slowly chipped away at just the shell in a zip around the shell without breaking the membrane, then very carefully started a tear in the membrane in the direction of the zip. That was a 4am this morning, and by 7, he had torn the membrane the rest and hatched the rest of the way himself. Very exciting.

I think 3 may be it, but will leave the remaining 4 in the bator till tomorrow night just in case. Not a great hatch rate, but I am pleased for a total newbie with shipped eggs. I probably will try again next spring. But I think 18 chickens will do for this winter. Now here's hoping that at least one of these 2 Dels is a girl.......The wait is on.

 

[speckledhen]

Your girl looks like she has some Columbian Rock in there, but could be some Del--many hatcheries have Dels mixed with Columbian Rock that look like that. She's chunky! Pretty girls. Chief looks like a black sexlink rooster, very handsome!