Member Reviews: Dorking

they are fabulous and once they get laying they lay well. i believe there are quite a few different colours like cuckoo, red, white and some of them have a pea comb, i have the silver-grey type.

Very nice hens that lay big white eggs.

Hi  Does anyone know where I can view the Dorkings with color pics AND the name of the variety? The Whites I can get, but what/ where is the Colored Variety? Is SIlver Grey like the Silver penciled Rocks? Even Feathersite pics were not showing quality Dorkings and the Dorking Club here in the states had NO-repeat NONE in so far as pics to variety. Nice pics-pretty birds-but which is which? Thanks!  

Hoping to start a small breeding flock this summer.

I received my first flock of Dorking chicks in April and haven't been disappointed.  They are docile and sweet, gorgeous, and taste wonderful.  The hens lay 4-5 eggs per week and the only time during the winter that laying stopped was when the temps dropped down to -11 at night and 3 during the day for a week.  Within 2 weeks, they were all back to laying their medium- large shell-pink eggs.  The cockerels have a lovely, throaty, smooth crow which is a pleasure to hear at at the crack of dawn and so far none have been aggressive at all.  My flock is allowed to free-range during the green times of year, and they do a great job feeding themselves while not...

We have had this breed for going on six years. A clutch accidentally fell into our lap when the person who originally bought them was selling them because they are not a production egg laying bird.   When we found out how rare they were, we decided to breed them as a hobby, but soon realized finding new blood lines difficult to locate. We continue to look and would love to someday see some new lines coming from Europe again.   Generally, the roosters are very gentle with their hens (there is always the exception, but those are not bred). They've made great alpha males keeping the aggressive roosters from other breeds in line.  Many of the roos have an...

I have had dorkings for 11 years and find them to be a great breed.  They are wonderful mothers to chicks they are able to hatch, they are able to mate on their own and they are extremely friendly. They lay a beautiful cream colored egg and are supposed to be good meat bird but being a vegetarian I do not kill my birds.They lay eggs into the winter and go broody consistently enabling me to give away my incubator.   I have them on my educational farm and am able to bring out any of my birds and let 30 children take turns petting them from waddles to tail with the patience of Job.  I love my birds and find their history incredible and I am blessed to be able to continue the...

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...

These birds are great, but with the rarity of the breed, it is hard to keep hardy gene's.

From the moment I decided I wanted to get chickens, I wanted to raise Dorkings. I love history, so the rich lineage of Dorkings intrigues me. They are amazing birds in their looks and usefulness. I happen to love their short legs and unique extra toe. I currently have Silver Grey with some Reds on order. This spring my Dorking hens have produced better than many of my other hens. The only small thing I don't like are white eggs, but they do add variety to my sale cartons.