The Delaware Chicken

I've always been interested in preserving rare breeds of livestock. Those of us who advocate localized small scale agriculture and economics must give some thought to how we can be good stewards of the livestock breeds that have been devoloped and handed down to us from past generations. Many of these breeds that were the bread and butter of localized agriculture have been all but forgoten by modern, specailized industrial ag. One of John and Noahs projects for the next year is to choose a breed of chicken to preserve and husband. Little John insisted that the breed be of the setting varity, and that narows the pool of canditates a bit. He brought over a catolog the other day and asked "Do these chickens set on there own eggs, dad?" The chicken was a Delaware. I did some research and she will set. John wants to keep a breeding flock of Delawares. We did some digging and found out that they were once one of the most popular broilers grown on the east coast. They were replaced by the cornish rock cross in the 50s and have fell out of favor with growers. They are good layers of brown eggs as well as fast growing meat birds. This is what the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has to say about the Delaware......

Delawares, originally called "Indian Rivers," were developed by George Ellis of Delaware in 1940 and were used for the production of broilers. The breed originated from crosses of Barred Plymouth Rock roosters and New Hampshire hens. A few off-colored sports were produced that were almost white with black barring on the hackles, primaries, secondaries, and tail. This coloration is very similar to the Colombian color pattern, but with the barring substituting for the black sections. For about twenty years the Delaware and the Delaware x New Hampshire cross were the most popular broiler chickens on the Delmarva Peninsula, because of the Delaware’s ability to produce offspring with predominately white feathering. This is an advantage for carcass appearance since white feathers don’t leave dark spots on the skin when feathers are growing in. Both the Delaware and the Delaware x New Hampshire were replaced in the late 1950's by the Cornish x Rock cross (solid white) that has come to dominate the industry.Though its economic dominance was short lived, the Delaware still makes an excellent dual-purpose bird. It has well-developed egg and meat qualities, and a calm and friendly disposition. The breed is noted for rapid growth and fast feathering of the chicks. Cocks grow to 8 pounds and hens to 6 pounds.Delaware males may be mated to New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red females and produce chicks of the Delaware color pattern. Delaware females mated to New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red males produced sex-linked offspring; the males having the Delaware color pattern and the females having the solid red color of the sires. Chicks from this second cross can even be sexed by their down color when hatched.

Status: Critical


While not a very old breed, the Delaware seems like a fine dual purpose bird that should be saved. It would make a fine "homestead chicken" and might fit the bill for those looking for an alternative to the cornish rock crosses.