Delaware chicken
An American chicken breed with barred Columbian plumage.
The Delaware is an American breed of chicken developed in the state of Delaware in the mid-twentieth century. It was initially known as the Indian River and briefly held importance in the American chicken industry before being superseded by the common industrial Cornish Rock cross. In the twenty-first century it is an endangered breed, kept for meat, eggs, or showing.
Quick Facts
- Maleweight
- Large fowl: 3.5 kg / 7.72 lb, Bantam: 975 g / 2.15 lb
- Femaleweight
- Large fowl: 2.8 kg / 6.17 lb, Bantam: 850 g / 1.87 lb
- Skincolor
- yellow
- Eggcolor
- brown
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- The Delaware has only one plumage variety, sometimes called 'barred Columbian': it resembles the Columbian pattern, but the primaries, secondaries, hackles and tail feathers are barred rather than solid black.
- The comb is single and five-pointed; the wattles and earlobes are all bright red.
- The beak is a reddish horn color, the eyes a reddish bay, and the shanks and feet yellow.
History
George Ellis, working in Delaware, took the occasional light-colored birds that popped up from crossing Barred Plymouth Rock roosters with New Hampshire hens—a standard broiler pairing in the early 1900s—and selectively bred them into a new breed by 1940. He originally called them Indian Rivers but later renamed the breed after his home state. The Delmarva Peninsula, where this breed originated, supplied chicken to the whole East Coast via companies like Perdue Farms. The Delaware quickly became the region’s top broiler bird, shaping the broader industry. The American Poultry Association added it to the Standard of Perfection in 1952, with the bantam version following in 1960. Starting in the mid-1950s, commercial farms switched to the White Cornish-Rock cross, which soon dominated the industry. This shift caused the Delaware’s decline, though it hung on in some places into the 1960s. Today it is an endangered breed. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy rated it ‘critical’ in 2010, then ‘threatened’ in 2013, ‘watch’ in 2021, and ‘recovering’ in 2024. A 2015 census recorded a total population. The Delaware is listed on the Slow Food Foundation’s Ark of Taste and is found only in the United States.
Use
The Delaware chicken matures quickly and is a hardy breed. Its feathers have white quills and shafts, and its yellow skin results in a clean-looking carcass. Hens lay large to jumbo brown eggs and can become broody. Unlike common commercial meat birds, the Delaware thrives in free-range settings. Its temperament is calm but not typically friendly, though some individuals can be. A bantam version exists but is rarely seen.
More in Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy
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