B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[blessedacre]

Blessedacre!
Never seen that recipe before, certainly a nice range of ingredients.

Your buying a bucket for each part right? So 20 buckets? Using only half of some? (Kelp, DE and peanuts) I calculate that would be only just over 2 big barrels. (55gal barrels/drums I believe you call them in the US?) Checking grain weight and knowing some of these things are heavier than others I'll work on roughly 400 pounds per barrel.
Rounding down to 800 pounds:
1/4 pound per bird per day = 320 days for 10 birds or 213 days for 15 birds (likely amount for much of the year) or
1/3 pound per bird per day = 240 days for 10 birds or 160 days for 15 birds. (likely amount for cold winter weather)
Commercial products will say 1 pound will feed 5 birds but that's calculated for light crossbred layers. Obviously the more they can free range or you can supplement the less grain they will need. Dorkings are great free rangers and love to get out and find their own dinner if they can.

I don't mix my own as getting high enough protein is an issue. I haven't calculated the protein in that mix but my gut tells me it will be lower than I prefer. If they are free ranging and catching their own bugs and getting egg as well that will help to increase the protein %. The thing to remember with that is when you have heaps of eggs and bugs it's great but over winter your likely to have neither of those things if you live in a cold climate. You may want to increase the protein feeds in winter to make up for that.
Oh and don't assume there will be no waste with a whole grain diet. I tried feeding mine whole grains and the stinkers used to only eat the ones they preferred and flick the rest out onto the floor for the mice to get.

Now they are back on pellets till I find another option.
Good luck with your new adventure into chicken keeping!

Thank YOU, Thank YOU!!!! I would have NEVER figured that out!!! I will keep pickiness in mind and maybe purchase small amounts for trial tasting to figure out which one go over well. Although all the listed ingredients would work in the kitchen as well. Thanks again!!

 

[ki4got]

Thank YOU, Thank YOU!!!! I would have NEVER figured that out!!! I will keep pickiness in mind and maybe purchase small amounts for trial tasting to figure out which one go over well. Although all the listed ingredients would work in the kitchen as well. Thanks again!!

if you were thinking about making your own chicken food, aka cooking it, be aware that cooking changes some values. heat can break down some proteins, and cause others to bind with fiber and essentially becoming non digestible, among other things.

you might research and see if there's something you can make to mix the seeds into that makes it more uniform in appearance. I was thinking something along the line of cornbread, but again don't know how cooking would affect the variety of grains in the blend.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Quote:
Yes really, don't eat that roo yet! She may come out of hiding... for 5 or 10 min but just as likely you'll never see her till she appears with her family. Ideally if you can find her and put a cage around her for her safety that would be good but free ranging broodies are notorious for being imposable to find during their disappearing acts. I sure hope she's just hiding somewhere and will surprise you in a few weeks.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Quote:

I had a reply all typed out before and I must not have hit send.

Thankies so much for that link, that's an amazing list! I've bookmarked it so I can find it easily.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Hi all, especially Kim, SoCal Dorkings and RareReedFancier,

thank you very much for your warm welcome.

Due to some technical problems, it will need some time (2-3 weeks) to show you some pictures.

Presently I start breeding Dorking. Due to limited space I can keep only one line of Dorking. But there are 2 breeders in driving distance so there are opportunities of exchange. One of them is in contact with a breeder from Switzerland. I know that also some eggs from the UK have been imported, but the quality was rather disappoiting.

Originally I started with 'Bielefelder Kennhuehner' a German breed from the 1970s. As they do not go broody, I was looking for a broody hen and last year I got a broody Dorking hen (silver grey) together with a few eggs. Somehow I fell in love with the Dorking so I decided to breed Dorking. Dorking are a unique ancient breed, which must be preserved.
One rooster and one hen (both of them silber-wildfarbig, a darker variety of silver grey, also called 'dunkel', dark) developed nicely. From a breeder I got another hen also 'silber-wildfarbig'. The rooster is rosecombed, the hens are singlecombed.
I believe that due to low numbers Dorking varieties are sometimes crossed, especially the red Dorking and the silvergrey Dorking.

Dorking are known in Germany as a broody breed, though many breeder prefer the incubator and don't want them to go broody.
I like the temperament of the Dorking very much, the rooster is very good to the hens and the hens care very good for the chicks. The meat quality must be exceptional.

Now despite of very low temperature (-21C = -6F), the hen is broody again. At the weekend I will candle the eggs. As it is quite early I am not sure about the fertility.

There is also a German-Dorking-Site: http://www.dorking.de/
The site needs some update but has some very nice pictures (also from the dark variety) and information. The breeder list is out-dated, many of them have given up due to the avian flu, due to their age or various other reasons.

Greetings from Germany

Lino

Hi Lino,

Thank you for that link, there are some lovely pics on there.

I'm surprised your hen is broody when it's so cold, brrrr! It rarely drops below freezing here. One of the reasons I chose Dorkings is because they will go broody and raise their own chicks. I never thought I'd get an incubator but somehow I've ended up with two of them.

I looked up Bielefelder Kennhuehner, they are very pretty birds. I'd never heard of them before so it was interesting to learn about a completely new breed.

 

[jgervais]

Its pretty dang cold here in Michigan - do they go broody in such cold weather?

 

[blessedacre]

if you were thinking about making your own chicken food, aka cooking it, be aware that cooking changes some values. heat can break down some proteins, and cause others to bind with fiber and essentially becoming non digestible, among other things.

you might research and see if there's something you can make to mix the seeds into that makes it more uniform in appearance. I was thinking something along the line of cornbread, but again don't know how cooking would affect the variety of grains in the blend.

No I don't plan to cook it. I understand they will eat the corn and wheat berries just fine. You just put the mix into their feeder or throw on the ground.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Its pretty dang cold here in Michigan - do they go broody in such cold weather?

Pretty much if they are laying, they can go broody. It's just not a peak broody time as many hens take the winter off laying but Dorkings are usually pretty good winter layers so it does happen. If you still have snow around I'd look for your hen under something or tucked in somewhere under cover. Think woodshed, under house or deck, in or under any outbuildings. Haysheds are broody magnets too. She could also be under trees or bushes if they give enough protection but you'd be amazed where they can wedge themselves. I sure hope your hen is just hiding out trying to hatch a family.

 

[LilyD]

I am very interested in getting into dorkings I really love the Silver Grey Dorking color. The problem is I cannot find anyone selling Dorking eggs for hatching. Any ideas?

 

[dorkings]

Hi Lily,
We are your neighbors over in NH. I have just started our flock of Silver Gray Dorkings last summer and am hoping to sell eggs for hatching in the future. So please feel free to check back with me in a couple months. We are going to let a couple of the girls hatch some this spring to grow our flock.
All the Best,
Lisa