Anybody raise Dorkings?

[Rillowen]

Im just starting to get into dorkings, so i don't know a whole lot. I believe the 5 toes thing has very little to do with leg/foot problems though.... I think.

 

[Rillowen]

Ok, I had to go look it up. Extra toe casuing leg problems, not so much aside from ingrown toenail or getting caught. Dorkings though... apparently their extra short legs and hips make hip problems more common, and the low barge shape with more weight adding to the short legs means jumping is hard on them, so low roosts and nesting boxes, 2 ft preferably. This is good to know since I'm about to redo our coop for a bunch of dorking chicks...

 

[LaurenRitz]

My Dorking crosses have short legs, but they roost in the rafters with everyone else. No foot or leg problems with the adult birds. They're a multi-generational Dorking-Sussex cross.

Most of my birds are big. I attribute their comfort with high roosting to being put up there as chicks so they had the chance to "impact train" their muscles and bones. (Not well edited--they start coming down at about minute 7)

Good to know that they're prone to these issues. Do you have references I can look up? It sounds like these issues tend to affect adults more than chicks?

 

[Slothinc]

You are doing great with her PT! I hope she makes a miraculous recovery - are you giving her vitamin B? Whenever I hatch a chick with leg issues I give vitamin b complex liquid, a few drops at a time, a few times per day. Sometimes it can help, but sometimes it doesn’t.

 

[Rillowen]

My Dorking crosses have short legs, but they roost in the rafters with everyone else. No foot or leg problems with the adult birds. They're a multi-generational Dorking-Sussex cross.

Most of my birds are big. I attribute their comfort with high roosting to being put up there as chicks so they had the chance to "impact train" their muscles and bones. (Not well edited--they start coming down at about minute 7)

Good to know that they're prone to these issues. Do you have references I can look up? It sounds like these issues tend to affect adults more than chicks?

I would think so, it was talking about how their shorter legs cant shock absorb their heavy weight as much, when I went back to find the reference i read it from in the wee hours this morning I couldn't find it though, so idk. Sorry!

 

[LaurenRitz]

You are doing great with her PT! I hope she makes a miraculous recovery - are you giving her vitamin B? Whenever I hatch a chick with leg issues I give vitamin b complex liquid, a few drops at a time, a few times per day. Sometimes it can help, but sometimes it doesn’t.

I put it in her water. We'll see. I suspect it's genetic or related to her mother's diet, since both legs have the same problem.

 

[Project Blue]

Next time you go to the grocery store peruse the produce and bread section. I'm struggling to remember what was tied with a thing I think would be ideal to brace the hips together. There's a wide white stiff band used, I think, closing bags in the bakery section. Not the usual twist ties, but wider and stiffer. I've also used pipe cleaner stems with great success with foot and leg issues, but I think they are too narrow and flexible for the hip area.

In the past I had a few Dorkings. They were heavy set calm very likable birds. I had no health issues with them but only had a couple. I'm surprised they are not more popular as they seem to have a lot of good traits.

Were there bigger badder chicks with the Dorking chick? I did have a chick get one leg pulled out of the socket and then it rapidly calcified. I didn't fix that one fast enough, but it grew up to be a beautiful rooster, with a grotesquely twisted leg. He used that leg a little and got along ok with a little extra care on my part. Lift your chick up letting the legs dangle and do the same with a healthy similar chick. You might get a better idea where pressure is needed.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Her legs are turned sideways, hocks straight out to the side, and the feet of course also twisted off center but perfectly in line with the hock. If I gently twist the leg it lines up perfectly to the hip and she shows no sign of pain. It just doesn't stay that way.

She was the second hatched and was lying down right from the start. Hatch was fast, about an hour for the zip. I didn't see the pip at all, so no idea how long the full process took.

The legs do not dangle at all. They're always pulled tight up to her belly. The video on the first page shows it pretty clearly.

I just put the other chicks in the outside brooder, so I'll soon know whether she is eliminating.