Bielefelder X Delaware Broiler Sex-links, AKA Delafelder Breeding Project

[SweetieChicken234]

So, I started weighing the chicks when they were just a week old. Around week four, I did my first cull—selling some off as barnyard mixes—and kept the chicks (both pullets and cockerels) that were showing the best weight gain and feather development. After that, I weigh them every four weeks. My goal is to have them ready for the outdoors by four weeks old, which means prioritizing those growth and feather traits. I'm basically taking a 'bottom-up' approach to improving my flock, focusing on getting the cockerels to around 5-6 lbs by 12-16 weeks—that's my ideal butchering age—instead of worrying about their full adult weight. Once I’m consistently hitting that target, I can start thinking about things like feather color and other cosmetic stuff. This first go-round has been a huge learning experience. I had a decent plan to start, but I’ve definitely had to tweak things as I’ve gone along—you know, learning as I go!

I wanted to compare my Delaware chicks from the breeder to your big birds. Right now they are 10 days old and my biggest boy was around 105 grams yesterday. My pullets are all around the 90 grams range. These are chicks that the males are around 6lbs by 12 weeks. Females are a little below that. That's what the breeder said. I am very interested in comparing their weights right now to your weights.

 

[AZHomesteadPoultry]

I wanted to compare my Delaware chicks from the breeder to your big birds. Right now they are 10 days old and my biggest boy was around 105 grams yesterday. My pullets are all around the 90 grams range. These are chicks that the males are around 6lbs by 12 weeks. Females are a little below that. That's what the breeder said. I am very interested in comparing their weights right now to your weights.

so at 14 days it looks like my cockerels were an average of 222.54 grams, and the pullets were on average 209.79 grams. fed 24% dumor meat bird food

 

[SweetieChicken234]

so at 14 days it looks like my cockerels were an average of 222.54 grams, and the pullets were on average 209.79 grams. fed 24% dumor meat bird food

Wow!! Was this the Delaware enhanced broilers or the mix chicks?

 

[AZHomesteadPoultry]

Wow!! Was this the Delaware enhanced broilers or the mix chicks?

That's the mix. I don't have much on my Delaware flock yet, but I have a new batch arriving next week, so I'm excited to compare. From what I've seen with chicks I've hatched versus purchased, home-hatched chicks are always bigger and more robust since they get immediate access to food, water, and warmth, compared to a two-day trip in the mail."
The first Data point I have for my last hatch of Delaware's is at 8 weeks with a flock average weight of 808.67 grams.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

That's the mix. I don't have much on my Delaware flock yet, but I have a new batch arriving next week, so I'm excited to compare. From what I've seen with chicks I've hatched versus purchased, home-hatched chicks are always bigger and more robust since they get immediate access to food, water, and warmth, compared to a two-day trip in the mail."
The first Data point I have for my last hatch of Delaware's is at 8 weeks with a flock average weight of 808.67 grams.

This is fantastic data and I absolutely agree home hatched chicks will absolutely do better. My chicks hadn't eaten til they were 3 days old. They went from California to Florida. I was so anxious the whole time thinking some would die and it seems they would have by the next day. My breeding plans will have to wait a bit since I'm going to be plenty busy this year so I will take data and record as these chicks grow, weed out my low weight males and just let the birds chill for awhile. These chicks from a breeder are so much different than my hatchery Delawares and I could see it the second they arrived in the mail..

I will likely start my culls by 8 weeks of the smallest males. If I have any underweight pullets I may sell those. We will see what happens. Delawares are my favorite and I'm very interested in all things Delaware.

 

[AZHomesteadPoultry]

This is fantastic data and I absolutely agree home hatched chicks will absolutely do better. My chicks hadn't eaten til they were 3 days old. They went from California to Florida. I was so anxious the whole time thinking some would die and it seems they would have by the next day. My breeding plans will have to wait a bit since I'm going to be plenty busy this year so I will take data and record as these chicks grow, weed out my low weight males and just let the birds chill for awhile. These chicks from a breeder are so much different than my hatchery Delawares and I could see it the second they arrived in the mail..

I will likely start my culls by 8 weeks of the smallest males. If I have any underweight pullets I may sell those. We will see what happens. Delawares are my favorite and I'm very interested in all things Delaware.

I absolutely love Delaware's! such a good looking bird. I really need to break down and find a good breeder to use instead of the Broiler version. they are stellar at what are bred for, meat they lay decent but they need lots of food and calcium to keep their legs, and eggs strong. they also get a lot of attention from the rooster since they're not fast hahahah. If I could find a good strain of fast growing pure Delaware's i'd probably switch it up. all that being said the Broilers have been good to me and their really beefing up my crosses.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

I absolutely love Delaware's! such a good looking bird. I really need to break down and find a good breeder to use instead of the Broiler version. they are stellar at what are bred for, meat they lay decent but they need lots of food and calcium to keep their legs, and eggs strong. they also get a lot of attention from the rooster since they're not fast hahahah. If I could find a good strain of fast growing pure Delaware's i'd probably switch it up. all that being said the Broilers have been good to me and their really beefing up my crosses.

The breeder I used did an absolutely fantastic job on this line of Delawares but she's going out of business. It kills me. She obviously knew what she was doing and was working on this line since like 2011. I begged her to send me these chicks before she fully retired. I told her to charge me extra. Whatever. I need these chicks and they are so worth it.

Lol they get a lot of attention from the rooster!! Yeah they must be total chunks. I can't get over the weight on your mixed breeds at 2 weeks. That is just unbelievable.

I just had to raise up my heat plate to the top level because these chicks are too dang big! They are only 10 days and normally I don't raise it this high til around 4 weeks. I've never seen this before. Also interesting.. it's 64 degrees in here and these chicks are out and about in the brooder. Normally my hatchery chicks and my home hatched chicks would be freezing at this temperature. This is all so different to my experiences with Delawares from hatchery lines.

Attached is some of the weights on my chicks today at 10 days. Males first and then the females..I have 1 male that is really pulling ahead. He seems to be able to gain massive amounts every day. This is exactly the genetics I'm looking for. A good male is so important.