Dorking

i have 2 Dorkings I've read a lot about the breed they say that they go broody a lot which means you dont have to have an incubater to hatch chicks but i want to have that expereince of hatching little dorkings and watch them grow I love there extra toe and there short legs they say they lay a creamished colored legs not sure I've not had them long enough to know that I love that you can sex the chicks by color so far so good i just love them

I have and love silver ameraucanas but they are flighty...bought 2 silver dorking pullets last week and LOVE how friendly they are!

This is an ancient breed of chicken that was developed from birds believed to have been brought to Britain by the Romans. It is a true foundation breed with important influences in many of the other British, French and American breeds. IN Britain, the Dorking was prized their ample delicate light flesh and ease of breeding. They can be fully self-sustaining as they are vigorous breeders and setters. Hens lay large chalky white eggs. Their downfall is that they, like most heritage breeds, take a little longer to reach peak dressing weight and maturity. They also do not do well in over-crowded cooping and are at their best when free-ranging. The breed, as a whole, has been largely neglected in the US. Good, sound breeding stock can be very hard to come by. Luckily, there is a core group of dedicated breeders in the US and around the world that are determined to preserve this important breed and promote its use as a quality meat bird for niche markets and backyard flocks.

I love the beautiful tail and plumage of the Silver Grey Dorking and their history but my girl is pretty cranky and would peck at me anytime I go over to change the food or water, sometimes I would even get attacked as soon as I enter the enclosure before letting anyone out in the morning. Overtime she has gotten used to my presence and has stopped attacking me but still tries to peck at me occasionally. She will run at strangers and family members in attempts to peck at them so anytime someone comes over to visit me I need to move her back into the enclosure. In the beginning I have considered getting rid of her but now that her attitude has come down a bit I find her manageable.

i have a silver gray dorking and is named Lily. she is very pretty and cute but she is stupid. when the girls are enjoying a treat in their primary run, everyone but lily goes through the door. she goes tries to go through the chicken wire! she doesn't give up either. she is also very hot tempered. one afternoon i saw her stand straight up and her neck feathers were flared up. another time, she and my golden campine were looking at each other through the chicken wire. their neck feathers were flared up. Overall she is okay.

I love Dorkings. I just have the one at the moment, a silver-grey pullet who just started to lay 2 weeks ago at the end of autumn. There is no doubt she will lay through winter, and is consistently giving me eggs every two days. Egg size is on the small size for now, but I expect it to pick up in size as she gets older. The eggs are a lovely creamy white colour.
They are great foragers, not over flighty, integrate well with a mixed flock, not aggressive and quite friendly - although I don't handle my birds much.

These birds are a bunch of dorks! No, seriously, they really are. Dorkings, that is.

They're great birds - very friendly, lots of personality, non bird-aggressive, good foragers, usually get along with everyone, great layers of decent sized eggs.... But they're dorks. I'm serious! They're kinda weird, a little too enthusiastic about everything, sometimes a bit socially inept and tend to be easily distracted... but hey, we love them all the more for it! They're also extremely hardy - they do well in SoKY climate, where winters can get below freezing with horrible wind chill and snow/ice, and summers over 100 with humidity so bad you can't even breathe.

Only bad things one can possibly say about these birds is that they get dirty really easy, and sometimes, they're a bit loud.

Oh my beautiful little fat girls with the short legs! They looked so adorable running to greet me every time I went near the coop. Their stubby little legs would swing wide to get some speed...smiling just remembering. Unfortunately, one evening we found our neighbour's dog in our chicken yard with our four beautiful Silver Dorkings dead...one in each corner. I was so devastated I sat in my coop and cried over them. One day I will have lovely Dorkings again. One day.

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!

I have about 24 silver gray dorkings. I got most them the summer of 2014 from McMurry hatchery. I get the rest last summer from Dick Horstman, and ended up with four large hens, four bantam hens and two bantam roosters. The bantams are great, but the roosters crow all the time. Ever tried to find bantam dorkings for sale? Impossible. I raise these for breeding purposes and my birds look real good, especially the bantams. I have had some success breeding the bantams, but didn't had any large roosters until 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 straying too far.

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 almost musical crow. The roosters comb is prone to frost bite in as warm as zone 6.

They will go broody (which is a good thing because it means the natural tendency hasn't been bred out). Can be used as surrogate mothers if needed for hatchlings from other breeds.

They are not for someone who wants a high egg production bird. We keep other dual breeds who are known for having more eggs for that purpose.

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 quality of the breed for future generations to enjoy and appreciate. I highly recommend this breed to anyone who wants to participate in a breeding program to protect this breed and continue its legacy into the future.

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.

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.

a calm great dual purpose bird.. I had them in the UK and am thrilled I found them here in the USA

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).