What a painful event! I am so sorry for you and your flock! It's a rough world out there in a cold, dark winter night trying to take care of your flock while predators are looking for food. I bet Roxie is good at looking out for you, too.Well, had my first losses of the year. The other night the wind was howling something horrible when it was snowing. (Yuck). Normally I can hear pretty much anything going on outside otherwise. I woke up to what seemed like 5 inches of snow, so I bundled up and headed out to the coop to check on waterers. I saw some random feathers along the way, and since I have a few molting (poor darlings) I didn't think anything of it. I wrench open the coop door (because everything is Frozen...and there are feathers EVERYWHERE. Like someone shot a down pillow inside. I start counting and realize I am missing my Barred Rock, a Sumatra, a Mille Fleur (the prettiest one of course) and two young Sulmtaler roos. The feathers strewn about account for my missing peeps. I step back out and look around. I had been putting something in front of the chicken door, but it had been torn through.
Roxy, (my dear keeper of the chicken kingdom) had already been out sniffing around. She was trailing the several paths that lead away from the coop with a few feathers and blood. I could tell that the birds were carried off, not dragged. So now I am actually boarding up the doorway, complete with heavy sandbags. I'm glad tax season is close, because an automatic door is in need!!
It never gets easier losing a member of the flock. Even though, for the rest of the day I watched the rest of the flock go on about their business, watching the younger ones that haven't seen snow yet figure it all out, and playing frisbee with Roxy until I couldn't feel my toes, I dwelled on the incident. I should have done a better job at keeping them safe, I need to get my fence put up, etc.
Darn it all, I just typed up an entire post on Dorking love and chickies and breeding for personality, and accidentally closed the page before I could post it!
I don't consider them motherless when I raise them, personally.
EDIT: Oh, I forgot. In regards to breeding for personality, it actually does happen! If I remember correctly, there are lines of Delawares bred specifically for rooster personality. It can be done.
So, I poured my heart into a loving few paragraphs about how much I love my Dorkings, and I'm not sure how well I'll recreate that, but here goes nothing. They are the most docile, lovable, hug-able ladies I own. They're such loves, but not pushy about it like some of my other girls, waiting patiently for me to get ready before hopping into my lap. They are so gentle that they make good companions for new or recovering birds coming into the flock, rarely (well, never up until the case of Elly with Crash) getting bossy with anyone over anything. They never flee from me when I want to pick them up, and nothing beats a dual Dorking cuddle when both of them decide they want attention at once.
And those Silver Double-Laced Barnevelders!
@pipdzipdnreadytogo ~ Thank you for taking the time to write (and re-write) about your Dorkings!! As far as your lost post, I have been there so many times! That's so frustrating to spend a bunch of time on a post and have it disappear. Your Dorkings sound perfect! I love having conversations with my chickens (some have more conversational tones than others! haha) Screech is my only chicken who comes up to me and sticks out her chest for me to pick her up. She's like a little kid with outstretched arms, but she has no arms. lol She loves to be pet like a cat.
Where did you get your Dorkings? The problem I've found when it comes to wanting certain breeds is that it's difficult to find what you want! It doesn't seem like it should be so tough. I want a frizzle something and a black cuckoo silkie, so where are they? I see hatching eggs on eBay, and I've thought about paying a member to hatch some, but I don't know anything about eBay sellers. I feel like I'd end up with a ghoulish cross-bred man-eating raptor.
I liked being able to drive an hour and a half to chickenscratchpoultry when I got my English Orps, Adeline and Bonbon. It was great to pick them out.
I guess a big hindrance for me is that I can't order a dozen of this or that. I just need a few more females, and I like variety.
I know it's an advantage to have chicks imprint on you as their mother, but when Bonbon hatched hatching eggs twice, they were such a wonderful experiences. I feel like a city girl, but I had never seen that before and it was so exciting and fun to watch all of the stages.
