Ok NEW SUBJECT. WHAT IS IT WITH SAND HILL PRES. AND THEIR DESCRIPTION OF THE DELAWARE?
So I got the catalog and i'm readin and this is what it says.
"They are a fast grower, lay huge brown eggs, have moderately large single comb with five well defined points, WHITE WITH GRAY/BLACK CUCKOO NECK, TAIL AND WING FEATHERS. ......................" quote.
EXCUSE ME?!!!! This is completely untrue. DELAWARES DO NOT HAVE ANY CUCKOO PATTERN IN THEM WHATSOEVER AND YOU CAN BE SURE SAND HILL WILL HEAR FROM ME!
Now from the SOP page 59 first paragraph and I quote: "with the result they became almost white, showing a slight indication of BARRING IN THE HACKLE, PRIMARIES SECONDARIES AND TAIL. "
page 60 and I quote Color- Male: Neck: Hackle - web of feather white, crossed with irregular indications of BLACK BARRING, quill and shaft, white. Front of Neck - white. Back and Saddle - white.
Tail: Main tail showing irregular indication of BLACK and WHITE BARRING, BLACK predominating. Sickles and Coverts - showing irregular indistinct BLACK and WHITE BARRING; quills and shafts withe.
Wings: Fronts , bows and coverts- white. Primaries and secondaries - showing irregular indication of BLACK and WHITE BARRING, the BLACK predominating; quill and shaft white.
Female is similar but my point being that the Cuckoo pattern and the Delaware barring are not the same.
According to Storey's illustrated Guide to Poultry breeds.
Cuckoo: plumage is bluish white barred with irregular light and dark bars. Female is slightly darker than male. (notice bluish white, not black and white or gray and white or blue and white)
Barred: feathers are crossed with sharply defined bars of one color (usually black or slate) against another (usually cream or white). Bars can be irregular in size or uniform throughout the feather. A females bars are generally narrower than those of a male.
If the Delaware has the Cuckoo pattern why not just say so. Or are Cuckoo and Barring interchangeable? However even if they were there is no gray in the Delaware. There is a distinct difference between the Cuckoo Marans and the Barred Rock patterns.
Sand Hill is misleading people. IMO or am I wrong? What is the consensus on this? Before I make a fool of myself, which in my case isn't unusual, but at my age why should I care.