CSU - Chicken State University- Large Fowl SOP

[3riverschick]

Quote: Well that's why I asked. I have read different conversations in the old books about line vs inbreeding.
But this was the first time I had read a strident call for yearly outcrossing for a entire breed. Thanks for the clarification.
Best,
Karen

 

[Arielle]

Don Schrider had great sucess with the Buckeye by combining several lines using the rotational method. 4 lines as I remember. It is now know as the ALBC line.

I expect when that first information was written the dorking was already a very old breed and enough good breeding stock was available to follow the advice of adding new blood every year.

 

[aveca]

Maybe that was written back when there was enough good, standard bred Dorkings available. Now, that is not the case, and I think if you followed that advice, you would be asking for trouble.

FWIW Here is something, written to me a couple years ago, by Phil Bartz, a breeder of Dorkings:

"The biggest killer of good "lines" is not staying with those lines by right away putting this line with that and ending up with more junk than you can imagine. Why? You have just made hodge podgegenetics and unknowns that have laid dormant for years can reveal themselves in huge percentages even though both lines didn't show any signs of having issues. You slowly introduce new male or sometimes females to your current breeding line by small pen matings of what you hope to accomplish by the intro with your line and then see what happens. It will take three years to know any sure continuation of successes of the cross to continue breeding true to that improvement staying put. You stick with your main line and when you feel comfortable the cross is worth the risk then you can switch to keeping this new intro improvement as your main "line" while always keeping a few of your originals just in case you ever need to go back to that or use it for vigor improvement crosses back into the "new improved line" five to seven years down the road."

good advise..I wonder why so many strange anomolies crop up when ,mixing in what might seem like decent stock.. I thought I might need an outcross in a line but thinking different of it now..I will try to work out a couple things within the group..I would think if bringing stock in, it would be to fix a stubborn issue ..example..tail tenting needs fix..isnt presenting anything better in the line.. my question would be , say a line of dorking had stubbs or high percentage being hatched missing 5th toe on one or both feet..otherwise nice birds..how would you correct that? bring in the new blood? it seems common sence.

 

[pysankigirl]

Where are all the Dorking pictures?
Alright, I am new to chickens, but I will post and hopefully learn something.

So this is my only adult boy, Mongo He was about 9 months old in these photos. The thing I know is bad about him is the white in his earlobes. but I think his comb is nice and his toe placement is good (not that you can see that from the photots ...LOL)
He is a red Dorking (obviously) but the girls I have with him in these photos are obviously not.
I think they might be considered more"colored". But don't think their coloration is quite right.

 

[kimberly35042]

Quote: YES - the one on the left and the bottom are the same. He does at times appear to have a lazy tail, but I don't think it is that way all the time. I nabbed him this morning while he was eating and felt his back, but it just felt like a chicken body. I didn't really feel an obvious hump in his back. They all have really fluffy feathers right now -- not sure if that will change with adult feathers, but that could give the appearance of a hump I guess.

If anyone has a suggestions, please let me know. I'm chomping at the bit to see if the famed dorking is as tasty as he looks. But I've been told to wait since they mature slowly.

But back to the original question - the angle of the tail. Any thoughts here? Is his angle correct or the ones that are more upright?

 

[kimberly35042]

And a red hen while we wait on more pics:

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: This hen has a lot of shafting in her feathers. Is that correct for Red Dorkings? I read somewhere how to get rid of light shafting in the feathers but can't remember where. Can anyone help with that? Looking at the grey pantaloons, could she be a cross between a Red and another color Dorking? I don't know.
Thanks,
Karen

 

[capayvalleychick]

This hen has a lot of shafting in her feathers. Is that correct for Red Dorkings?

That is on my long list of questions for Walt. I know a Dorking breeder who says that she needs to rid her Dorkings of shafting. I searched through the SOP - both the Dorking description and the general information about shafting. I cannot find anything specific to Dorkings that mentions shafting. My SGDs also have the same shafting, so I need to know.

 

[kimberly35042]

I'll be honest, at this stage I'm more concerned about the type over color. She does seem to have some sort of dark modifier for sure compared to some young red pullets I have. I"m pretty sure she was ordered as "red" from Sandhill, but that could mean anything. Lays a nice white egg though and very proficient at ranging the property with enough "heft" not to be hawk bait.

 

[fowlman01]

That is on my long list of questions for Walt. I know a Dorking breeder who says that she needs to rid her Dorkings of shafting. I searched through the SOP - both the Dorking description and the general information about shafting. I cannot find anything specific to Dorkings that mentions shafting. My SGDs also have the same shafting, so I need to know.

Are you sure this Dorking person is a breeder? The red female should have golden or or bright yellow shafting. Page 97 of the APA Standard. Picture on pg 110 showing the shafting. Shafting is a fault on many breeds, but not this time.

Check the SOP to be sure of the information you receive.....there is a lot of bad info online.

Walt