B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[elizmartin]

HI All, i have 2 hens from Sandhilll, a black and a rosecomb red. I am not knowledgeable to know their quality or lack of but they came and remain healthy. I just do not have a rooster to go with. At some time in the spring would love to purchase some eggs from someone with the thought of growing a roo. I don't know of anyone publicly raising Dorkings near me (north of Seattle, Wa.)... Sandhill has been real good with service, thou i have had to wait an extra year once because of their losses. I would order again. The more varieties you order at one time the harder to fill. They write they only hatch what is asked for since they don't dispose of extras as other hatcheries do.
Thanks,eliz

 

[Oregon Blues]

Are the Dorkings in Britain high quality?

I might look into it to see if it is true that I can import them into Canada. It would be easy enough for me to fly them into Vancouver and then drive them over the border. Also maybe about importing birds into Canada from the EU.

The quarantine is what is stopping me.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Birds in Europe? Well, one never knows. However, I've searched the web again and again, and I've never seen anything that leads me to believe that theirs are superior to ours.

I think a LARGE order from MMCM would be a great way to start a flock....beggers not being choosers and all...

As a whole I think it's pretty safe to say that there aren't any really good Dorkings left anywhere. If someone shows up with a big surprise, well great, but in the interim, I've given up on finding stronger birds than we have here.

I think that Sand Hill and MMCM Dorkings are comparable. I'm not really a big fan of the non-Standardized colors sold by Sand Hill as I think they distract and divert precious energies into birds that aren't ever going to amount to much. If we all stay focused on the traditionally strong varieties.

Our whites are getting there, but they're still quite variable in size and type. They're vigorous and healthy, though.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
but mmcm only has silver grey, right? while sandhill does have the other colors too. that's why i was asking about their birds, with other colors being so rare, i would worry that they're not pure strains maybe? or maybe i'm just a worry-wart...

 

[greenhorn]

Quote:
I'm no expert but it seems we have a very limited genetic pool of dorking blood in the USA. Even if the birds in the UK are in no better shape than the birds we have here I think it would still be good to have some diversity. Maybe injecting some new blood into our old and tired dorking lines will help improve size, vigor and the issue of infertility. I was reading interviews with Craig Russel and Jim Marland in a book called "Dorking Poultry, Fowls & Chickens and it seems the gene pool is very limited in the USA.

Something about 10 years ago a rolling breeding program worked for dorkings but now days crossing a father to a daughter leads to inbreeding depression quickly. Something that happens due to the lack of being able to bring new blood into the line.

I truly respect what you are doing with the whites Yellow House. They are crazy difficult to find, but if you and sand hill are the only breeders in the states with whites it still seems sad to me. If I correctly recall you used SH whites in your line so those 2 lines aren't really very diversified from each other. I also read most of our red and gray dorkings are all from the same basic lines. I think it's necessary to start bringing in new blood before it's too late.

Keep up the good work with those whites, I really want some. If I can get some whites from the UK or Canada I'll let you know if interested (So far I've only found 3 breeders in the UK with whites). I'm not far from Ontario, Canada if we can do this I'm totally game to drive over and get some birds if we can find somebody to intercept them and if it's legal to do so. If you aren't interested it's cool too. For me and others who haven't dove into a breeding project yet it seems like it may be worth the time to try and find something "fresh" to work into our lines. If it makes a mess it shouldn't be a big deal when starting from scratch. Might be worth the hassle if we get some vigor out of the deal.

Here is a link to that book: http://www.cafepress.com/erinrac.27220649

 

[elizmartin]

Quote:
Ok, good thought, what do you consider the standardized color variety,,, what about combs??? I'm just curious because at one time i wanted to do the blacks and Rosecomb Reds. I had been told that the blacks are crossed to others for diversification because the pool is so small. I don't have the standards book here....are just the silvers represented...????Thanks in advance, eliz martin

 

[Bentley]

I am all for a Dorking club of sorts. I have raised chickens for many years but my experience with Dorkings is new and I am taking this project on very seriously.

 

[X2Farm]

I just thought yall would enjoy this pic. I was sitting here, waiting for the hot water to build back up for a shower, when my 5yo DD races out the front door. A few minutes later, she comes back in with this...one of my Dorkings! This guy was hatched from eggs I recieved from Ed Hart a few months ago. He was none too impressed with being scooped up from the coop and brought into the house

Although, I guess he's not too flustered.. she took him to her room to watch Lilo and Stitch and I aint heard him peep

After a feed fiasco, I'm down to 6 dorkings. 2 Coloreds, 2 Cuckoos (One is a SC) and 2 Whites

And it looks like all are boys, too

My intentions are to focus on the Whites and Coloreds, once I have enough stock for breeding

 

[greenhorn]

Quote:
Hi X2Farm. Do you know if Ed Harts' birds are related to Sand Hill or Yellow House birds? Thanks for that post. I am so trying to hook up with as many different lines of whites as possible before spring. I'll probably be lucky to end up with one lol. Got my nose to the grind stone though.

 

[Tracydr]

Hello. I just started reading this thread. I'm hoping to get Dorkings in about a year, probably after we move to a place with more land, maybe OK. Only one more scorching AZ summer, I hope.

I'm leaning towards Red Dorkings. Sounds like I need to start looking for them now? I'm interested in a rare DP type. Will probably also raise dark Cornish. For my layers buttercups and colored leghorns and my pets, OEGBs. Actually, I guess buttercups would qualify as my pets, too, since my two Buttercup hens follow me around almost as much as my OEGBs, they just don't let me pick them up. They Banties think they're little parrots or something, always looking for a ride on my arm. I would be very interested in getting some Dorking bantams. In fact, I'd love to find some hatching eggs for Bantams next spring if I have a broody to put them under, which is highly likely. How hard is it to find Red Dorkings Bantams?