Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Because.

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Maybe Walt will drop by and answer your question. This is the answer I got to alot of my questions:

If you plan to breed towards the standard, it is helpful to keep this picture in mind all the time. (Actually, more than one expert told me to keep this picture in the coop.) Print out the picture, look at it, study it, memorize it, look for it in your birds all the time, and cull by it.

 

[Stevenson]

Quote:
Maybe Walt will drop by and answer your question. This is the answer I got to alot of my questions:

If you plan to breed towards the standard, it is helpful to keep this picture in mind all the time. (Actually, more than one expert told me to keep this picture in the coop.) Print out the picture, look at it, study it, memorize it, look for it in your birds all the time, and cull by it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_28420_1968_-_dealaware_male1.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_28420_1968_-_delaware_female1.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_delawaresfaceleft.jpg

Thanks Kathy. I need to do that. Yesterday I went out to the chickens with my SOP in hand.

I like your "because" answer.....cause I think that is exactly the place I need to get past. I feel like if I know why the wing needs to be carried horizontally, I may be able to more properly cull.

 

[fowlman01]

Quote:
Maybe Walt will drop by and answer your question. This is the answer I got to alot of my questions:

If you plan to breed towards the standard, it is helpful to keep this picture in mind all the time. (Actually, more than one expert told me to keep this picture in the coop.) Print out the picture, look at it, study it, memorize it, look for it in your birds all the time, and cull by it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_28420_1968_-_dealaware_male1.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_28420_1968_-_delaware_female1.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/31282_delawaresfaceleft.jpg

Thanks Kathy. I need to do that. Yesterday I went out to the chickens with my SOP in hand.

I like your "because" answer.....cause I think that is exactly the place I need to get past. I feel like if I know why the wing needs to be carried horizontally, I may be able to more properly cull.

The SOP says that the wing needs to be horizontal, but the real reason you want it to be that way is that it means that part of the anatomy is correct. There are very few breeds that allow a chicken to have droopy wings. If the birds skeleton is correct, the wings will be horizontal. Droopy wings can be helped, but not fixed by having the bird fly up to a roost. Some people feed their birds up as high as the bird can fly to exercise the wings, with the hope of making them tighter and more horizontal. I think the bird has to have the correct wing setting from the beginning.

Walt

 

[Stevenson]

Quote:
Thanks Kathy. I need to do that. Yesterday I went out to the chickens with my SOP in hand.

I like your "because" answer.....cause I think that is exactly the place I need to get past. I feel like if I know why the wing needs to be carried horizontally, I may be able to more properly cull.

The SOP says that the wing needs to be horizontal, but the real reason you want it to be that way is that it means that part of the anatomy is correct. There are very few breeds that allow a chicken to have droopy wings. If the birds skeleton is correct, the wings will be horizontal. Droopy wings can be helped, but not fixed by having the bird fly up to a roost. Some people feed their birds up as high as the bird can fly to exercise the wings, with the hope of making them tighter and more horizontal. I think the bird has to have the correct wing setting from the beginning.

Walt

Interesting. It sounds like the issue is one of genetics, but something that can still be made better with existing birds....kind of like the yellow legs. If the genetics are there, it can be worked on.

Walt, why is this prefered for the skeleton? I understood some of the previous topics (such as wide stance and v shaped tail), but is this one like the yellow legs in that it is just what people prefer?

On a side note, my wife called me and I got my first egg today! She said it is tiny...but I am pumped! 19 weeks and 5 days old. I am assuming it is from my Del hens, but it could have been from a partridge rock or a new hampshire.

 

[fowlman01]

Quote:
The SOP says that the wing needs to be horizontal, but the real reason you want it to be that way is that it means that part of the anatomy is correct. There are very few breeds that allow a chicken to have droopy wings. If the birds skeleton is correct, the wings will be horizontal. Droopy wings can be helped, but not fixed by having the bird fly up to a roost. Some people feed their birds up as high as the bird can fly to exercise the wings, with the hope of making them tighter and more horizontal. I think the bird has to have the correct wing setting from the beginning.

Walt

Interesting. It sounds like the issue is one of genetics, but something that can still be made better with existing birds....kind of like the yellow legs. If the genetics are there, it can be worked on.

Walt, why is this prefered for the skeleton? I understood some of the previous topics (such as wide stance and v shaped tail), but is this one like the yellow legs in that it is just what people prefer?

On a side note, my wife called me and I got my first egg today! She said it is tiny...but I am pumped! 19 weeks and 5 days old. I am assuming it is from my Del hens, but it could have been from a partridge rock or a new hampshire.

I guess it is the preferred skeleton because the birds do have to fly on occasion. Loose wings will not support a bird in flight very well. Placement of the body parts contribute to the overall health and vitality of the bird. Vitality and vigor is another thing we should all try to maintain. Without it you don't have much of a chicken. In the old days a bird with loose wings was said to be "unthrifty" and if you think about it it is an appropriate word. They culled unthrifty birds as soon as they were identified. Back in the day they could not afford to keep birds that would never be correct physically.

I have never found loose wings to be a major problem in the breeds I have raised......which is most breeds. It seems to be an easily correctable fault in large fowl through selective breediing. Bantams are another story. Many males in bantam breeds have this fault and it is not easy to fix...don't know why there is a difference, but there is.

Walt

 

[Stevenson]

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That makes a lot of sense! Thanks so much!

 

[Zanna]

I would love some critiques if anyone has the time. I raised some dels this Spring from two different sources. Out of 5 roos, I culled down to the one in the pics and out of 8 hens, I have chosen three to pair with this roo, really like one and want to see what the others will produce. The roo and my favorite hen are not related, it is possible that the other two hens and roo may be brother/sister, I have no way to know for sure as the breeder ran a mixed flock. Here is the roo and two of the hens:

This is the roo 1 month ago now, he has matured much more.

This is my favorite hen and the roo. The hen has a nice open tail.

This is my favorite hen and one of the others. The second hen has a much less open tail than the first and is a little smaller (she is 2 1/2 mos. younger though).

Here is the roos hiney, I think his tail is quite open so may help the slighly pinched girl. A little hard to tell with all the fluffy new growing feathers.

I would love the roo to look more rounded up front, he seems shallow in the chest to my eye but he is really wide and a super gentleman even when he was younger. The 5 Del roos were in a growout pen together and all but one got his tail feathers plucked so they are just starting to grow back. My favorite hen is 8 months old, the roo and the other hen is 5 1/2 months old so I know they still have a lot of growing to do. The roo has always had pale yellow legs and so did all of his siblings. My favorite hen (and her sisters) from the other breeder has nice yellow legs. You can not really tell in the pics. because of the lighting.

 

[kathyinmo]

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I think you did a great job in describing what you have! I also think you have some great stock to work with there!

 

[Zanna]

Thank you Kathy! They are currently in the breeder pen and I will start collecting eggs in about a week then put them in the incubator for the long anticipated wait............