Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[fowlman01]

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Ohio and Indy are the only places to see the depth and quality of the large waterfowl and turkeys. They are worth the look.

Walt

 

[joletabey]

OK, I am sorry I kidded around. EVERYTHING I saw in Ohio was worth the look, really. Its a great place to learn. And I did like the geese and turkeys in particular, I had never seen any like this, changed my whole attitude about geese in particular.

 

[RustyHen]

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I could not make Stevenson this weekend but hope to go to the show in April. I have never shown chickens before but am trying to breed some nice SOP Dels. and planning on showing some in April if I think they are quality enough

I was sad to see so few LF - my first show too and wanted to see in person what I needed to be looking for

 

[rebel yell]

Here are a couple of my Dellies, Rooster is about 4 1/2 months & the little pullet is about 3 1/2 months, we realy like em,

 

[beanmcnulty]

Just a quick question about what fault is worse on a roo- is the back smut worse or tail feathers with less that great barring? I have to choose between the 2 big boys I kept, one has back smut and good looking tail, the other no back smut and less good looking tail barring. My feeling is back smut is worse, and I hope I can get some good pics soon, they are always moving and hard to photo:/ thanks!

 

[joletabey]

Bean, before I looked at either smut or the tail, I would look at the body type. Choose whichever one has the best body type for the breed - you want an underline that is bowl shaped, not loaf shaped. And the width should go back all the way to the tail. If both roos have a great body, then its a toss up, because a lot of it depends on your hens and whether they are too light or not. I used a too dark roo on too light hens and got pullets with better markings, but the roos were a bit up in the air. A lot of the more established breeders have said you need a hen line and a roo line in order to get the markings correct.

Also, when you talk about "less good looking tail barring", do you mean the color or the barring proportions? I would like to see the pictures, and hopefully a few more people will chime in on this.

 

[Gerry2011]

Question about tails. At 12 weeks old is the tail they are showing what they will have when they are fully grown?

 

[catdaddyfro]

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Either/or its hard to say for me, I would take the little smut in the back and great tail barring over the one with the more black tail as its an indication of the barring genes at work more than the columbian/more black tail genes. BUT...with that being said the first thing you should look at is which of the two has the more correct body type over anything else first. If they are young then you may have to wait a little bit longer for them to mature a little as Dels are hard to cull at younger ages for they are subject to change somewhat in the the growing spells from say 12-18 or so weeks. Hope I helped more than hurt, but yeah lets see the pics then it'll be an easier way to say what could be done here or there.

Jeff
Ha I chimed in Mrs. Beth just as You were posting I was struggling/ typing in my response LOL

Edited for spelling TAIL

 

[beanmcnulty]

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The "bad" barring looks like the hen coloring, a black feather edged in white, there are some that are barred but a lot look like that. Maybe he would be good for a "hen line"? The bodies look the same to me but I am new to this! I will try and look closer and get pics! thanks!

 

[catdaddyfro]

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Not particularly as they do go though some what of a mini molt between 12 to 18-ish weeks, some do some don't. I'd say too that at 12 weeks their tail feathers are just new from the 8 week juvie molt too.

Jeff