Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[kathyinmo]

oh, none of our females had black smudges on thier backs? all yellow. I do know if you hold there wings out when young the males have on first 10 feathers two rows of feathers....will see a row close to top of wing then space with no feathers, then another row of feathers. Females have straight feathers no skipping and this is true we checked ours when we first got them and hoped it wasnt correct but..............if you google sexing of young chicks they have some clips on it and you can see what Im talking about, unfortunately I think they had to be very young to do this? Still learning myself

If you click on the link I posted above, it will show pictures of feather sexing. Unfortunately, not all breeds can be feather sexed.

 

[LaRaysChicks2]

My first girls 2 years ago not much color and combs short, not very red either? 4 months old here.

 

[DeannaOR]

We have one Delaware, I haven't come up with a name for her yet, She has become best friends with our Australorp and they are always together. The Delaware is often naughty, the Australorp is always sweet and polite..they make quite the pair.


Here she is trying to figure out how to get past my turkey hen who is sitting on eggs.


Here she is with her bf.

 

[Buckhunter76]

I believe theses are 10 to 13 weeks old

 

[kopeck]

I have hatched hundreds of Delawares. The black smudge means nothing, really. I also have not been able to feather sex them accurately. Not all breeds have the slow feathering gene that is required to accurately feather sex chicks. I don't think the Delawares do.

http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/sld001.htm

Interesting, thanks for the info, I was told it was much more general then it looks like it really is. As far as the smudge goes this is what I was referring to:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/447744/sexing-delaware-chicks#post_5614503

I read it somewhere else too but I can't turn up that link at the moment.

K

 

[catdaddyfro]

Feather sexing at hatch or a couple of days old only works if it is known fast feather breed(here you must know which feathers the fastest/first male or female). Now to make a fast feather sexing cross here again you must use a fast feather breed over a slow feathering breed. Then you will be able to sex them at hatch. If you cross a fast feathering male breed over a slow feathering female the results of this cross will yield slow feathering male chicks and fast feathering female.(Hybrid Sex-links) and just the opposite holds true with crossing a slow feathering male over a fast feathering female= slow feathering female chicks, and fast feathering male chicks this is too sex-linked and will not hold true in future generations just as color sexing does not either because of hybridization.

Jeff

 

[LaRaysChicks2]

Your girls are beautiful, I love the black Australops they are sweet, and yes my Del girls can be nasty sometimes too lol but sweet to us! A gentleman came and took all the Roosters today! Now I will put my Australops with the Del girls in the big coop finally, Cleaning the two coops was a job.

Our brooder we call Fluffy Butt shes so white and fluffy! We have decided to not get anymore Delawares, the Hawks like them to much and easier for them to spot they dont mess with the Australops I think that they think they are crows

 

[RedIII]

DeannaOR, love the pictures. The Delaware I had was buddied up with an EE, and they stuck together like glue. It's kind of funny that you say your Dellie is the mischievous one - I think mine was kind of like that, too. She was the bolder of the two, but not always the most independent girl. I sat there one time and watched her observe the EE scratching for yummies. She then tried to half-heartedly mimic the EE, gave up, and decided she'd just take whatever the EE had.

Buckhunter, those are some nice looking birds! I love the second picture, where she's looking at the camera like, "Who, me?"

 

[DeannaOR]

Your girls are beautiful, I love the black Australops they are sweet, and yes my Del girls can be nasty sometimes too lol but sweet to us! A gentleman came and took all the Roosters today! Now I will put my Australops with the Del girls in the big coop finally, Cleaning the two coops was a job.

Our brooder we call Fluffy Butt shes so white and fluffy! We have decided to not get anymore Delawares, the Hawks like them to much and easier for them to spot they dont mess with the Australops I think that they think they are crows

You know, I gave my guy heck for picking out the Delaware..teased him about picking hawk bait. Then I turned around and got 7 Appenzeller Spitzhaubens! So I guess the huge run we are building just got a whole lot more expensive because it will have to be covered. Not just for predator reasons, but the Spitz like to fly and roost in trees. I best be keeping my trap shut.

 

[DeannaOR]

DeannaOR, love the pictures. The Delaware I had was buddied up with an EE, and they stuck together like glue. It's kind of funny that you say your Dellie is the mischievous one - I think mine was kind of like that, too. She was the bolder of the two, but not always the most independent girl. I sat there one time and watched her observe the EE scratching for yummies. She then tried to half-heartedly mimic the EE, gave up, and decided she'd just take whatever the EE had.

We got 7 chickens at the Spring Swap to start our flock. I picked an adult EE and a Partridge Rock, and a pair of Lemon Cuckoo Orpingtons that were about 12 weeks. Scott picked out the Australorp, the Delaware and a Cuckoo Marans. The Orpingtons, Delaware and Australorp were all about the same size. The Marans was quite a bit smaller. When we put them all together the Orpingtons picked on everyone..even the two big hens. The Delaware picked on the Marans. The Australorp and the Marans stuck together like glue. The Marans would hide under or behind the Australorp for protection...and she let her. At night the two of them would huddle together in the corner on the roost...usually the Marans under the Australorp. The Delaware would reach over the Australorp to peck at the Marans. I felt horrible for her. When we got 3 little Dorking mixes we had them in quarantine and decided to put the Marans in with them, because they were sized more alike. Thats when the Delaware and the Australorp became best buds. The Marans is now best friends with the Dorkings and everyone is happy. (Until it's time to put them all together) Maybe the Delaware was jealous and just wanted the Australorp for her BFF.
The Delaware also like my tom turkey...she sticks pretty close to him quite a lot.