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.
Dorking Reviews
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
Cons: medium eggs (white)
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 may sale cartons.
