B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ki4got]

VOILA!

I found out what the heck was going wrong with my hatches... dern hygrometer is wonky. Cleaned out from the last attempted hatch and ran it dry for a few days and it actually read "0%" in a basement that hasn't seen less than 55% humidity since I don't know when. So apparently I've been drowning everything

...anywho at least I know what the culprit is now and I'm glad not to have drowned any fertile dorking eggs. I've been blessed with broodies lately so I got one clutch due this weekend and I'll probably get another next weekend. The upside of course is that the broodies will do all the work of raising the fuzzy-butts for me. How is everyone else's experience with dorkings and broodiness? Often? Rarely? Fair-to-middlein'?

J

i dry incubate during the summer but have to add a bit of humidity in the winter. i keep it about 20-25% then up to 50-60ish for hatch. during the dry months, i use those rubbermaid disposable 1/2 cup containers, and cut a small hole in the lid, about 1/4:" across and just keep it full all the time. it's just enough to keep the eggs fron being too dry. i fill it about 2 times during an incubation. so not really a lot of water but without additional water it seemed that my hatch rate was nonexistent, even with my mutt eggs. i just hate putting water in the tray underneath, it gets nasty looking with our hard water, so i use disposable plastic containers during lockdown too but put a piece of wire mesh over the bowl to keep chicks from drowning in it. trial and error has taught me what works the best for my situation.

meant to add, none of my sg have gone broody yet. and after having a very WILD bach of broody babies, i think i'll let her do all the incubation but i still want to have hands on babies.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Greetings! Several on this thread had inquired about chick availability. We have updated our website concerning started hatchlings.

Best,

Joseph

 

[greenhorn]

Thanks Joe,

Best news I've heard all year! Mailed my check yesterday, can't wait to start getting some of your white dorking chicks.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Awesome! We're excited for the adventure of our first season of shipping. We've sold locally for quite some time, but shipping adds something new.

You're the first on the list, and the orders are coming in. It will be interestng to see more whites out and about.

 

[greenhorn]

It sure is going to be cool seeing the whites out and about, especially when they are going to be in our own back yard, woohoo! It sure is awesome to be involved with such a rare and wholesome breed.

We plan on dedicating our farm to just a couple rare breeds so we can really focus on a quality breeding program. We have plenty to learn but I now feel we have a solid foundation to start with. I know you have put lots of serious dedication into your whites and I not only feel honored but blessed to have this opportunity.

Your work with the white dorking is very honorable and it's quite noble of you to share. Thanks again Joe!

 

[ronott1]

Great Ron, i would have hoped for a better fertility rate than that but since you mentioned that the post office did their best to scramble the air sacs before delivering them I guess that is probably a good fertility rate. Best of luck and I hope they all hatch for you.

Hi Emma,

This morning at 6:30 was day 21 for the SG Dorking eggs from your chickens. The first one hatched last night at 8:00. The second one hatched at 10:00 and the third one hatched over night. The last three don't have any pips but there is still hope, especially since you told me yours often hatch on day 22. I have convinced my self that I see a couple of those eggs rocking a bit.

If I only get three I will be happy

Bye,

 

[flowerchild59]

Yellowhouse, what type of comb do your white dorkings have????????

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

Yellowhouse, what type of comb do your white dorkings have????????

i believe white dorkings only come with rose combs...

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Our White Dorkings are rose combed. Some are split single, but we cull away from any single, and certainly wouldn't sell singles. There's a photo I posted earlier which shows their combs. You can see them, too, on our website.

Cheers!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

It sure is going to be cool seeing the whites out and about, especially when they are going to be in our own back yard, woohoo! It sure is awesome to be involved with such a rare and wholesome breed.

We plan on dedicating our farm to just a couple rare breeds so we can really focus on a quality breeding program. We have plenty to learn but I now feel we have a solid foundation to start with. I know you have put lots of serious dedication into your whites and I not only feel honored but blessed to have this opportunity.

Your work with the white dorking is very honorable and it's quite noble of you to share. Thanks again Joe!

We're really pleased to get them out. We were at a place of dilemma. We're perfectionists and wanted to strengthen some of their fancy points first. However, at this point they have a strong pool of biodiversity on account of important intra-Dorking outcrosses made a few years back. The result is that they're full of vigor. If folks start raising them in different locals, they'll be developing different lines but all within the same strain. This means that stock can be shared back and forth with less risk of the catastrophic results that can often come from outcrossing. With a sound breeding program that maintains biodiversity, you shouldn't have to bring anything in for untold years. Hopefully when, and if you do, you can just come to us and vice versa. The trick is not bringing any blood into the mix that isn't already there.