B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Illia]

Quote:
I think I'm shocked. Murray McMurray, like most hatcheries, normally sells some very poor examples of a breed, but wow, those are actually quite nice! I'm no Dorking expert or anything though, but, they're nice enough to get me tempted into getting some. How much do they weigh though? That's what is often boils to, and what is often way off. (under what it should be)

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Quote:
So, the ideal Dorking type is a cinderblock. When you look back over the bird from the shoulders to the tail, it should ressemble the top of a long sinderblock--to the greatest extent possible. Thus it is squared off near the pope's nose. Tapering in this sense means that starting from the shoulders, the back tapers into a bit of a triangular tip at the pope's nose, which is not the ideal in a Dorking, but is required in a Game.

I found MMCM SG Dorkings to taper a bit--not too bad--but a bit. However, they're generally long of back. The whites tend to be rather square but are, in my experience, shorter of back.

 

[lceh]

I haven't weighed these birds but I may in another month or so and see how they stack up. The "cinderblock" image is a great help; I think I'll put the two nicer girls in the breeding pen this spring along with one of the blockiest second-tier females. Hopefully our male's fertile, otherwise all our plans will be for naught!

Illia, if you want to order Dorkings from McMurray I've learned by experience that you need to get your spring order placed by December or so, even if the birds won't be coming until April. They sell out quickly.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
So, the ideal Dorking type is a cinderblock. When you look back over the bird from the shoulders to the tail, it should ressemble the top of a long sinderblock--to the greatest extent possible. Thus it is squared off near the pope's nose. Tapering in this sense means that starting from the shoulders, the back tapers into a bit of a triangular tip at the pope's nose, which is not the ideal in a Dorking, but is required in a Game.

I found MMCM SG Dorkings to taper a bit--not too bad--but a bit. However, they're generally long of back. The whites tend to be rather square but are, in my experience, shorter of back.

ok thanks! now it kinda makes sense... but they're supposed to be long bodied, short legged, right? i'm just trying to picture it in my head and i'm failing tho... think i'm trying to picture a cinder block with a head and tail tacked on. and you lost me about the 'pope's nose' thing... any pics to show what you mean?

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
I had a reminder on my calender to check almost daily for when they started taking orders last year.

I agree, the birds are not ideal, but workable. I am drawn to pullet #2 as the best of the two, and you're right about the feet on your roo. However, when I WAS getting chicks, I had quite a few with very nice toe separation out of the not-so-perfect ones, so there is hope. I do like his comb, though it's still early... they will all change quite a bit in the coming months.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

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My experience with them is high fertility.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Quote:
So, the ideal Dorking type is a cinderblock. When you look back over the bird from the shoulders to the tail, it should ressemble the top of a long sinderblock--to the greatest extent possible. Thus it is squared off near the pope's nose. Tapering in this sense means that starting from the shoulders, the back tapers into a bit of a triangular tip at the pope's nose, which is not the ideal in a Dorking, but is required in a Game.

I found MMCM SG Dorkings to taper a bit--not too bad--but a bit. However, they're generally long of back. The whites tend to be rather square but are, in my experience, shorter of back.

ok thanks! now it kinda makes sense... but they're supposed to be long bodied, short legged, right? i'm just trying to picture it in my head and i'm failing tho... think i'm trying to picture a cinder block with a head and tail tacked on. and you lost me about the 'pope's nose' thing... any pics to show what you mean?

Pope's or parson's nose, aka uropygium, the fleshy knob off the rear from which the tail exits.

 

[texaschickmom]

Hi all you Dorking fans! I live in NE Texas and am really interested in this breed after reading how wonderfully friendly they are. Backyard Poultry had a great article on them a few months ago. Are there any breeders in Texas? Louisiana? Oklahoma? Thanks for your help!

 

[DaveK]

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I have always believed that the Dorking breed was fortunate enough to have a Standard both here and in England that fostered utility. In other words a good utility Dorking is also going to be a good exhibition Dorking. There's a reason for those cinderblock bodies. Same for Houdans but that's off topic. Dorkings do respond to good breeding and selection when numbers are part of the picture. Joe is exactly right in his belief that some wonderful stock could be produced with a bit of work. It just takes raising chickens. Rudy Troxell seems to be on the right track with his reds. Though speaking of reds; if we are going to adopt a red Dorking as one of the basics which red Dorking? The black red or red duckwing male exists as separate varieties with at least three different female colors. The partridge bred or stippled ones like Leghorns, the wheatons or as the English used to call them "clay" and the mahogany red with black spangling that is described in the British SOP. Craig Russell would argue on behalf of all of them and since they are legitimate color varieties that have and still do exist I would agree. Dave

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I agree with you and Craig. Why limit them? Currently only the stippled pattern is in the SOP. Yet the others, especially the British SOP pattern, possess historical relevance.

Having said that, I worry. There are so few good Dorkings out there at this point, that there may be a value in rallying around "our best bet". Rudy's/Roger's Reds may be the top birds around. I have a sneaky suspicion that there may be a few other flocks in reclusion, but their inaccessibility makes the irrelevant.

I know that the other Reds have existed in the States. I don't know that they still do. If they don't, I don't know that it's time to resurrect them. Perhaps when Dorkings start winning best in class, we could try to solidify these other varieties. Sometimes I fear the whites are going to take me twenty years!