Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[heritagehabitatfarms]

so ??? hear... i saved 2 roosters out this year... both had correct tails when i chose them... but now after there adult feathers come in they both have white in there main tail feathers... the dominent one is way more than the other one... i have hatched about 75 chicks out of them and they are all to light colored as chicks... they are mostly white with a spot on there heads some have just a gost of the stripes on there back but i have not got a single one that was the proper color... so i need to replace my roosters right??? is this whats cosing the light down color???

and if so any one want to ship me a correct colored rooster???

thanks Elias

 

[pinkchick]

Kathy~

Eggs are in 'bator and set for hatch on 10-22. They were packaged wonderfully and just as I suspected it was like trying to get into Ft. Knox.

Only 2 of them were cracked, it looks as though the box was lightly squished at one point during travel. All is well and in 21 days I should be posting little fuzzy butt photos. Can't wait! Thank you again!

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
You can't cull roosters will they are at least 16 weeks old or older. They change over and over till maturity, color-wise. Light colored ones may not stay that way--time will tell. One line in particular is prone to having one tail feather with lots of white in it, the Meier line. My own boy comes out of that line and when he has it, one is incompletely barred. He molted it out and it hasn't come back yet, so no idea if it will be half-white again.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

Quote:
You can't cull roosters will they are at least 16 weeks old or older. They change over and over till maturity, color-wise. Light colored ones may not stay that way--time will tell. One line in particular is prone to having one tail feather with lots of white in it, the Meier line. My own boy comes out of that line and when he has it, one is incompletely barred. He molted it out and it hasn't come back yet, so no idea if it will be half-white again.

i dont know for sure how old they where when i culled... but they where almost full size... and they both had good looking tails then... it was when they got there final adult feathers in that it came in white... i dont know what line these are they where supost to be a mix of 3 SQ bloodlines lol... from somebody local not a BYCer... i saw there adults and they looked real good and the main rooster had a good tail... and the 25 chicks that i bought all had good chipmonk stripes down there backs... but out of 12 roosters i obviosly culled 4 the wrong things lol...

can i fix this with just getting a new adult rooster with a good tail and not keeping any of the 75 chicks that i have now... or would it be better to start out with a whole new bloodline from some one hear???

thanks so much y'all... Elias

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
and the 25 chicks that i bought all had good chipmonk stripes down there backs...

Huh? Delawares should not have chipmonk stripes.

 

[kmwright]

Something is wrong with my sweet Dellie! I posted on the main board, but I'm just so upset that I'm bringing it here. All of a sudden, she sits back on her hocks when she's not walking. And even when she does walk, it looks like she's off balance. I don't suspect Marek's, because she doesn't do the "splits" like I've read they normally do. But she was freaking out this evening because she couldn't make it in to the coop with the other girls, so I put her in an isolated small area with her 2 BR sisters and she's sleeping comfortably. I just want her to be better! She's my super special sassy girl and I love her so much. Any advice??

 

[kathyinmo]

I am so sorry your sweet Delaware is not doing well. I did respond to your post, and still think the same.

My advice is to keep her ALONE in a quiet area, if you are going to watch her. If she has something contagious she will give it to her friends. It sounds to me like it could be Mareks (range paralysis) or mycoplasma synoviae. Those are the 2 poultry diseases I have read about with paralysis and weakness.

 

[kmwright]

Thanks, Kathy. I will try to keep her secluded.....she just screams and the others surround her. I don't know where else to put her, maybe in the garage but it gets SO hot in there. I hate not knowing what's wrong with her or having the means to make her better. I just noticed this today and it's already ruined my weekend. I feel so bad for her!

Here's a video. Don't mind the squeaky voice in the background....just an obnoxious 3 year old.

 

[kathyinmo]

Ya know ..... you might try some vitamin B. Also vitamin E. It is worth a try. Do you have PolyViSol kids vitamins drops? A couple drops of them every day too. It is possible that it could be a vitamin deficiency.

 

[kathyinmo]

I copied this from an old thread I found with your symptoms. It seems to me it could very well be a vitamin defiency.

At this age, it's not going to be any laying issues. (Sometimes the "penguin walk" in laying hens means laying issues.) But if she does it again, I'd consider treating her with riboflavin or vitamins B as it can sometimes be a nutritional deficiency. Using brewers yeast on the food or a vitamin B complex can help. The next symptom (were it this) would be the toes curling inwards and the bird walking on its hocks (elbows).

However, if she's very very heavy and fat, sometimes that means they have too much weight for their bone structure. That can be either just too much feed (usually more in broilers) or a lack of calcium. I'd make sure the label on your feed contains vitamin D3 in some form (cholecalciferol), and a ratio of 2:1 calcium (max) to phosphorus. Then I'd also make sure, if this is the case, to not feed a great deal of grains - stick to 95% the complete feed, and if it's weight withdraw their feed for part of the day.

Here, read this thread .....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=216914​