Delawares from kathyinmo

[finnfur]

Top picture - mid pullet on right - I like her .

 

[finnfur]

Zanna - daughter of my wife's friend bagged this one and she said ask your hubby if he thinks its worthy of a mount ????

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Top picture - mid pullet on right - I like her .

The big one on the right is one of the mommies.

 

[Zanna]

Quote:
How adorable!!! He says mount it, its a trophy

 

[Zanna]

Quote:
How adorable!!! He says mount it, its a trophy

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

If we want to achieve/keep the "rich yellow" legs the breed calls for, we're going to have to breed for that. And at the moment it seems that means prioritizing a bird with better leg color over a bird with better feather color ... because those two things SEEM to be inversely related. Meaning whiter body feathers on a my birds here means paler legs.

I gather we've tested one lovely hen (and by "we" I mean @Zanna ... looks just like a Delaware is supposed to, except she has paler yellow legs) with 4 different cockerels/cocks, and she passes those pale legs on. I am NOT sure if we've done a 3rd generation test on the paler legs/better feather color, so am wondering if that's even worth it, considering.

I'm going to post a new thread in the genetics area of BYC asking about leg color. I'll post a link here when I have it. Meanwhile I'm going to do a little reading.

I have this queued up to read:

http://www.genetics.org/content/20/6/529.full.p

Maybe this is the kind of thing @1zooman12 can help us untangle? I gather the Y (Yellow leg) gene is dominant. But I have zero clue what that really means. Or if that thinking is still the accepted theory.

I'd love to have a judge's opinion here ... @fowlman01 ... how yellow must a leg be before you'll consider it "rich yellow?" From what I understand, one of @capayvalleychick Kim's lovely hens/pullets would have placed better at a show if it had the "rich yellow" legs of the breed's description. But I don't know what color that bird's legs actually were.

So ... there seem to be at least three interrelated levels of considerations: getting legs yellow enough to show (Breed PR is for sure one of my goals), getting legs yellow enough to breed (my primary focus), and what goes on with yellow legs at the genetic level to make legs "rich yellow" (probably need to know this for success in the first two considerations).

 

[caychris]

Not sure what Breed PR means

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Not sure what Breed PR means

It means Public Relations for the Breed.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I think I like this article better: https://scratchcradle.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/gms10-skin-and-shank-color/

I particularly like some of the illustrations.

So, @Zanna , the awesome hen with the paler legs, are they "dusky white" or "straw?" And boy am I surprised to see that "willow" is a greenish yellow ... I'd have presumed a white with gray overtones!

Note the lack of "rich yellow" in the illustration.

 

[Zanna]

I think I like this article better: https://scratchcradle.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/gms10-skin-and-shank-color/

I particularly like some of the illustrations.

So, @Zanna , the awesome hen with the paler legs, are they "dusky white" or "straw?" And boy am I surprised to see that "willow" is a greenish yellow ... I'd have presumed a white with gray overtones!

Note the lack of "rich yellow" in the illustration.

Wow, I am just not sure......... Being she will be 3 in April and has been a very good layer she has lost some of the original pigment she had. I don't think I could even venture a guess. Will try to dig up some pics later.