Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[galanie]

That's curious. One of the reasons I was thinking of going to Delaware is that they are supposedly more heat tolerant than most other true dual purpose breeds. From my research the Naked Necks are the best but OMG I wouldn't be able to stand looking at them.

 

[BlazeJester]

I've also heard that Delawares are more heat tolerant than most, which is why I'm looking for them (I also couldn't deal with ugly naked necks!!!).

Are you sure you are not dealing with parasites? Chickens are great at disguising illness until it's too late.

 

[capayvalleychick]

The purpose of my post was to find out from the breeders, whether or not the Delawares seem to be particularly heat sensitive or not.

Kim

 

[galanie]

And mine as well. I'd also like to know from people that have them if they seem more heat tolerant than other breeds.

 

[desertmarcy]

My Andalusian boys are ALL in 4x4 pens plus they have an attached outside yard that is probably 6x6. They can see all the girls and they can see each other outside. The can see each other when they're on their perches but they can't reach each other. Chickens are flock critters and solitary confinement goes completely against everything that they are. If they can see other birds they should be fine but if they can't, in my experience, I believe you're asking for trouble.

Hi Lacy Blues, thanks for your comment. I posted that a while back and just popped into this thread, I don't always read it, and I was surprised to see a comment to my post. Anyway, back to the post. Each unit has solid walls at the bottom 4' or so. IF the birds are able to get up on the tall roost, which mine are not doing right now, they still can't see the bird in the next cage since the guy who built this unit had put up sight shields on the sides on the perch so there wouldn't be any fence fighting. I could easily take those down. At the time I thought it was a good idea. They are just small 1.5' X 1.5' or so pieces of coroplast. I have only 4 of these pens in use right now, and except for the Delaware, there are two birds in each one. One pen I took out the divider and made a double and have 1 hen and 1 cock in it. One pen has 2 Orloffs and they are getting along--I think. The last pen has 2 young cockerels, but I expect those are not going to get along before long and I will need to separate or cull one of them. I have heritage breeds that I will be working with and will want to keep extra cockerels of those, plus at times I want to remove the males from the females. So you think just seeing another bird is enough? I am not sure how I can accomplish that with this setup. I am concerned about keeping the males all by themselves. I don't want to be cruel either. I am planning another layer pen for extra hens that end up not making the cut for breeding that would be adjacent to one row of these pens, so those birds will see the others, but there is a row of pens on the inside of a hallway, and they won't see anything. Boring!!

 

[desertmarcy]

Are any of you raising Dels in a hot climate? I lost another to the heat yesterday. I don't understand why white birds would be so heat sensitive.

Kim

Yes, I am. I have 1 cockerel and 7 hens presently. I haven't noticed any more problems with them than my other breeds. It hasn't been excessively hot here this summer, though---I think the hottest it got was 106. 108 and higher gets really tough on all the birds. I have a mister system in my main poultry house that I turn on when it gets really hot and the pens that don't have it get sprayed down with a hose. They also have a place they can retreat that is 100% shade.

 

[wekiva bird]

The purpose of my post was to find out from the breeders, whether or not the Delawares seem to be particularly heat sensitive or not.

Kim

Mine are still here. The 1st of july in columbia S.C. the heat index was 120. Ice in water, fans runing an ac in the main coop but the Dellies are all out side looking for bugs and etc.

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote: I don't find the Delawares any more heat sensitive than any other breeds I have. It has been triple digit hot here for weeks, and mine are doing fine. I have plenty of shade and keep their waterers filled. I do nothing extra..... shade and water, that's it.

 

[gjensen]

Kathy, though we have had the mildest and most wet summer in my memory, I have had the same experience. No more, no less.

I live outside Columbia SC, and we have not had a single day with a 120 heat index. We did have a few near 115, but that was shortlived and this summer. April was beautiful.

If I had to run AC or misc. for my birds, I would start over and find new ones. Fresh air, shade, and cool water is all mine will ever get. I have never lost a bird to the heat, though someone right down the road lost several this year.

The post was concerning Delawares tolerance of heat, and I have had an intelligent person tell me that theirs was the least tolerant. In my conditions I have not been able to tell the difference among the breeds I have kept.

Normally heat is a concern here, but other than two weeks, it has not been this year. This morning and yesterday it felt like fall.

 

[WalkingWolf1]

I don't find the Delawares any more heat sensitive than any other breeds I have. It has been triple digit hot here for weeks, and mine are doing fine. I have plenty of shade and keep their waterers filled. I do nothing extra..... shade and water, that's it.

Same here. We have 4 young Del hens and they handle the heat 'bout like the others here. Like Kathy, we have dealt with extensive heat this summer (coastal Louisiana). We make it a point during the summer to limit how much feed the flocks get. The birds have many acres of pasture with clover still available this late in the summer. All of the birds here are foragers and are given light rations in the evening. Having ample water available is essential. We found that the flock utilizes multiple watering locations better than just one or two that are large enough to accommodate all the birds. We feel survival here is directly dependent on keeping excess weight off of the birds.