What color is an 8-week old Delaware?

[featherfriendlyinIowa52]

I have what is supposed to be an 8-week old Delaware. It is brown with a bit of straw coloring and black tips. I hatched the egg from an ebay purchase. I can only find pics of new chicks and older chickens. The breeder (when questioned by me) told me the chick is supposed to be brown at this stage. I'm leary of this as I've read comments from Delaware owners that they should not have any brown on them (whether this applies to full grown chickens and not 8-week old chicks I don't know). Your answer will decide for me whether I take the breeder up on his offer to send me free eggs for the shipping costs. Thank you for any help you an give me.

 

[Cetawin]

A purebred Delaware should be white with black markings, yellow legs...no exceptions! No brown markings ever on a pure Delaware. Here is a pure Delaware at 6 - 7 weeks old.



Delaware girls 8 - 9 weeks old....you can see their backs...they are white birds with black.




It sounds like you have a mixed breed bird. A picture would greatly help but a brown chick of any age is not a Delaware. The seller needs to be reported if they are telling you Delaware chicks are supposed to be brown.Also, there is a Delaware thread in the Breeds section and you can click through it for tons of pics of Delaware babies, youngsters, juveniles and adults....there are no brown pure Delaware chicks I promise you. Here is the link to the Delaware thread...mine are even on the first page as babies....browse through the thread and you will see no brown Delaware chicks other breeds in brooders with them yes but not the Dellies

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/249618/show-off-your-delawares-pic-heavy/0_20

 

[speckledhen]

A Delaware is black and white, at any age. No brown on a Delaware, period. The "breeder" is not telling you the truth. If there is brown on those birds, they are some mixed breed, not a Delaware. Mine are from a good reputable breeder who had been working on bring the breed back from extinction and improving them. I have hatched from the same breeder twice, but her two batches were not from the exact same parents, as she had rotated her stock and continued improvements between those batches. Even the first Delawares I had before those, which came from a friend's McMurray hatchery pair, and which I sold, were black and white, no brown at all.

Could you please post pictures of these chicks you have that are supposed to be Delawares? In the meantime, here are some pictures of good quality Delawares for you to check out.

About two weeks old, black markings on wings:



Batch of Delaware chicks, no brown anywhere:



4 Week old Dellie Cockerel-at the shoulders, that is bare skin showing, no brown feathers:




Older Delaware Chicks:



7 Week Old Delaware Cockerel-those markings are normal for a male and clear out, but they are pure black, no brown on that bird, nor should there be:



Dellie pullet I used to have at 9 weeks of age:

 

[ZenHens]

I can only reiterate what others are saying. I have two eight week-old Delaware pullets (my sweet, sweet girls) and they are both white with light speckling of black on one and even less on the other. I've had them since they were pretty fresh out of the eggs and they never had a drop of brown on them.

 

[GhostRider65]

I have hatchery Dels, and there is no brown, they are white with black even as there feathers came in and turned out like this

these are about 12 weeks, hatched 5/25 and these were taken 8/19


My roo at almost a year.....