Well I have had 4 dorkings for three weeks got them at the local feed store(I was shocked too). All 3 hens have 5 toes the rooster has 4 with 2 spots that look they might have been supposed to be toes. These guys are awesome. I catch moths at night with a butterfly net as a chicken treat. None of the other birds stand a chance of getting a moth those little dorky boogers get 90% of the catch. What I do is turn off all of the lights except a bell light located about 18in off the ground and as the moths circle the lights the little chickies get all excited and jump up and grab em highly entertaining. well I had to seperate the dorkings from the eggers during moth time because not a single egger would get a bug. The dorkings are'nt mean just very fast, impressive, my little dorking rooster theodore grabbed a moth on the fly a good two feet off the ground while it was in flight. All but the rooster dont mind being held.
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The White, Silver-Gray and Colored varieties were accepted into the American Standard of Perfection in 1874. Although the Red is the oldest variety, it wasn't admitted until 1995.
Before the Civil War, the Dorking was one of America's most common farm fowl, but now the Dorking is quite rare.
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User Reviews: Dorking
Cons: Long maturing time, shallow gene pool
These birds are great, but with the rarity of the breed, it is hard to keep hardy gene's.
Cons: very scarce, needs work to improve size and conformation.
I'm new to the breed but totally love what I've seen so far. They are calm, friendly, easy going birds who seem to prefer free ranging but do well cooped too. 4-5 eggs per week per hen seems to be average (so far), and they are prone to broodiness, making excellent mothers.
I now have Silver Grey adults and 'teens', a few colored hens, and red and colored chicks. There seems to be a lot of color variation in the colored, but I think with patience and careful breeding that can be minimized somewhat.
Every day they remind me why I love these calm friendly birds, and every day I dream for more. My goal is to have 3 quads of each color going (1 roo, 3 hens).
a calm great dual purpose bird.. I had them in the UK and am thrilled I found them here in the USA
Article: Dorking
Breed Details: Even though above it says that dorkings are single-combed, the White variety has a rose comb. The Dorking has three unusual characteristics. They have five toes instead of the usual four, six points instead of the usual five, and they have hair feathers extending from their thighs. The Dorking also has a bantam counterpart. Dorkings are said to bear confinement well, but my hens prefer to free-range, and Dorkings love to forage. The Dorking is a dual-purpose breed, meaning they can be used for both meat and eggs. The Dorking has white skin, which is the popular color of skin for meat breeds in Europe, and the meat is exceptionally delicious! The Dorking is a beautiful, dignified, ancient part of our history, blessing us with their presence on our farm! The Dorking breed is in the English Class. The following weights are taken from the American Standard of Perfection: Standard Weights: Cock-9 lbs. Cockerel-8 lbs. Hen-7 lbs. Pullet-6 lbs. *Note* I am awaiting pics of Adolescent stage and chick stage Dorkings to put in those sections. Hope it's no problem! |
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