The Dorking Breeders thread

[misfit acres]

Hello! New to this sight & new to Dorkings! Love them!!! Looking for Dorking breeders, prefer Silver Grey, but open to all to get some chicks for next spring. We have a few from a hatchery & they aren't really exhibition quality. We are located in northern Indiana. Thanks!

 

[Chestnut]

Got some pictures this morning of the other cockerel. I tried to get the two of them together but the younger is more skittish and wouldn't let me get close.

The other just for side by side.

 

[Chestnut]

This is the closest I could get to having the two of them together. Ignore the mixed flock they are the laying flock and the kids' birds.

 

[Chestnut]

Do you have the SOP to help you select properly?
I don't have Reds, but I think the hackles need to be redder, rather than orange. If your male has white in lobes and the hens do, also, you will be establishing white lobes in your offspring and it will be doubly difficult to get rid of. The photo is too small to tell much, but it sounds like your other male may be better. I'm not a judge JMO.

I have a copy of an older SOP and from what I read dorkings are allowed 1/3 splash of white in lobe. Not that I would breed towards having that much but I think the amount in the first bird is acceptable. My plan is to mate with both birds to the two best pullets I have come spring. Then I will select from their offspring. What I'm trying to do is develop the eye for what I want. Seeing some of the examples on here I can tell both birds could be bigger, have longer backs, more chest. The first bird seems to have a longish neck but that could be because it's extended. Their colors are closer to SOP then the hens I have but from what I understand what is acceptable "red" color is very subjective, with English strains being darker than ours? As you can see in the last pic its not quite as golden as it looked in the earlier shot due to lots of sunlight.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

Well, it depends on the bird. If I have young chicks (less than 3 days old) without a hen I just spend time with them, handle them (keep warm while handling), talk to them, touch them everywhere gently so that they bond to me. I continue working with them as they grow, handling them every day, and they learn to trust me. When they're young they follow me everywhere, fly up on my shoulders or hand, beg to be picked up and carried (that's not always a plus -- one got injured two years ago while scurrying underfoot). If you patiently teach them to trust you and work to maintain that trust, then they will be incredibly tame. They do grow up and become independent, so they don't continue begging for attention their whole life. But I can walk up to any of my free range birds and pick one up, pet it, trim and file toenails on the cocks to decrease breeding stress on the hens, and relax on a lawn chair with a towel on my lap, a few birds on the towel and my hands nuzzled under their warm wings. When those really tame and trusting hens brood their own chicks they have no concerns about me handling the eggs or the infants, and the hens teach the chicks to trust me.

All that being said, not all birds will tame down. There are some who will always be anxious, high strung, flighty, or aggressive. They hatch out of the egg that way, will never tame down 100%, and appear as if they don't have their neurotransmitters balanced properly. They still grow up and otherwise appear normal, may even meet the SOP and win shows. But their personality just isn't quite right, and their reactions to stress aren't normal. I cull those birds. I don't criticize those that don't, but for me a good bird has to have more going for it than the SOP. It needs to be a bird that I enjoy, that isn't inappropriately aggressive, that doesn't terrorize the flock, and contributes to the flock in some way.

Once the young cockerels start to feel their hormones, it is very important that the boys are never allowed to be aggressive to you. Most of them will try it at least once. Maybe not in a serious way, but they are testosterone-fueled little boys that haven't figured out how to handle the hormones, so they test their limits. If you watch how the older but sweet roosters handle the young boys, you'll see that no transgression goes unanswered, and rules are set down early. Boys with firm rules are more likely to grow up to be polite adults, regardless of the species.

The difference between the hatchery birds and the private breeder birds is a matter of stock selection. Every hatchery and breeder is different, but many of the big hatcheries do mass breedings with no stock selection. An example I read about recently was in Rhode Island Reds, where there were 600 hens and 100 cocks put in one large breeding pen, and the most aggressive cocks got to pass on their genetics. Do that for a few generations and you've got very poor quality, really mean birds. Private breeders don't always do pair-mated pedigrees, but there is usually some level of favorable selection done. When private breeders have young children that help with the hobby, good personality and tame-ability are often factors in that selection, as no breeder wants their children hurt.

Currently I have 13 cockerels and 5 pullets, all 16-19 weeks old, which are test breedings out of 5 different hens, all sired by the same cock. Of those chicks, two are high strung, anxious, more aggressive than appropriate, and will never fully trust me no matter how much I work with them. Those two chicks are from my least desirable hen, who is also a bit too anxious and was difficult to tame (but as a pullet, she was easier than her hormone-filled cockerel offspring). My best cockerels are out of my best hens, and the difference between them isn't subtle. Active selection of breeding pairs and appropriate culling by a breeder makes a huge difference in the quality of the flock.

So it's part genetics and part upbringing. It's not for everyone, but if you like bonding to your birds, the effort is worth it.

Oh WOW! Thank you Sydney Acres!! I will definitely be referring back to this.

 

[Bluefield]

Most of my sgd do not roost with the other chickens. They sleep on the floor or I find them outside the coop in the barn between round bales of hay. Is this a Dorking trai or a hatchery thing.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

I wondered the same thing. I use Gray because that's how the APA spells it.

Ah...I did not know that.

 

[gjensen]

Quote:
I agree to not cross lines for the sake of crossing them. It is my opinion that it takes some time to know what you have, and how much variability there is to select for improvement. Crossing lines for no intelligent reason is mindless. On the other hand, sometimes it is a good idea to do so. I like that you are trying yours three ways. It will give you a chance to know what you have. Perhaps the cross will provide you enough variability and vigor to make good progress.

 

[nanclapper]

Hello! New to this sight & new to Dorkings! Love them!!! Looking for Dorking breeders, prefer Silver Grey, but open to all to get some chicks for next spring. We have a few from a hatchery & they aren't really exhibition quality. We are located in northern Indiana. Thanks!

Welcome! It can be hard to find exhibition quality, wishing you luck in your search. I started with my small flock of Silver Grey's 18 months ago and have really enjoyed them.

Nancy

 

[nanclapper]

I wondered the same thing. I use Gray because that's how the APA spells it.

Yep, the APA would use Gray since that is the spelling primarily used in the US.