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The color on our pullets is pretty good, the color on the cockerels needs more work. Regardless of color faults, people have been doing pretty well at shows with this line. They’re nice solid birds and judges seem to appreciate seeing Delawares with decent type.

Check out the United Delaware Poultry Club’s Facebook page. There are now several lines of Delawares that have been worked on for long enough that the breed is generally improving. Different breeders focusing on different goals. So it’s possible to get a head start on one’s own goals. Here are...

I don't know how to just spot quote your post, so please forgive the chilunkiness here. For cooling down, I'm not loving the black weed barrier much. I'm trying Aluminet next. For keeping big diggers out of the coop area: consider the gauge of the wire. The thicker the wire, the longer it...

For those greenhouse coops we dug a trench around them. We extended the hardware cloth down into the ditch. We put drainage pipe in the ditch. Then we backfilled with river rock. That goes all the way around. (We also put a bed of sand inside the coops for extra drainage, just in case.) Then the...

Hi! I don't get on here much since the site updates, and can't find my way around any more. The only breakin we've had is a raccoon that managed to pry a cattle panel door open. We have several ways to avoid that now. If you don't want anything digging under a "loose" coop, set it on sections...

I believe since this conversation started Purina has updated its Flock Raiser formula to for sure be adequate with Niacin for the ducklings. And there are now the brewers yeast poultry supplement products available off the shelf for backyarders, too. That's nice as dealing with duckling water is...

Oregon Delawares, find us on Facebook

This sweet thing got a nice note on her card at the poultry show today. Our youth partner is doing great with the Delawares.

The coloring of juvenile feathers and adult feathers aren't necessarily the same in Delawares. In general, the juvenile males in my line will have more black or gray barring scattered around their bodies than the females, but not always ... and in my line males feather more slowly than the...

Sometimes I can tell by combs super early (by two to 3 weeks), but it's more of a comparative thing. Then by stance/body type. Then by how/when the tail is forming (females get tails in some of their youth frathetings, while males have silly tails until after their last youth molt) ... Feather...

I think it means he has a long back. But I'd take a flat wide tail over a high pinched tail every single time. That bird was older ... I butchered a couple cocks and a LOT of cockerels a few days ago and had some in that general weight range, though I'm pretty sure that one was a cock (nearly...

It's tough to find Delawares with deep chests. It's best if you start with non-hatchery birds that already have the deeper chests, and then evaluate your breeders very carefully so they don't lose the deep chest. Longer keels (should extend well beyond the legs) helps with good breast meat...

One of the Oregon Delaware Cockerels from 2016 and some older hens

Just a chubby hen using a flower pot as a nesting box. Silly girl.

You're smart to make a comfortable place to watch the birds. Just keep them off the furniture so you're not sitting in poo. My chicken coops are outside my kitchen window. I have so much fun watching them while I work at the sink. Lately some of the hens have been coming to the office French...

I think the hatchery leghorns I had were noisier for no reason. My Delawares get noisy if there is a predator ... they are very alert. They forage pretty far, but seem reasonably smart about it. We have a lot of hawk pressure here, and once my Delawares are over 3.5 to 4 lbs the hawks don't seem...

If I remember right, the yellow legs are recessive and therefore partially sex-linked. Meaning a male can show yellow legs but also carry the white-legged gene. Females will show the white. So if you have white legs showing up in your flock you have to do test matings of the males to be sure to...

Also, choose your priorities wisely ... focus on your flock's strengths to not lose those, and cull for structural issues before all else.