B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ki4got]

This is a bummer as I have 2 pens of chicks hatched from egg I got from a person that got their birds from SandHill and mine are turning out a lot like these above. I was wondering what was up with the colors as they are suppose to be reds and coloreds. I think I am going to cull for feet and type with these guys and figure out color later. Several have really good feet and look to be developing good body type. I will have to see what I get in the roosters as to what direction to go with color--lots of work!

I'm running low on space, so i'm selling off most of the 'orangy thing' pullets. i am fairly sure they will never color out properly but might make someone a colorful layer flock. the tannish will stay, there's only 2. same for the anemic sg's. as for the colored girls, they're fairly uniform, so i'll keep a bunch of them for sorting later, but choosing the ones with stippled feathering and light shafting on the wings/back over solid black with light shafting. chalk that one up to personal preference. i like birds with more patterning than solid for my dorkings. and solid rather than pattern for my cochins (not counting my mille fleur cochins LOL). go figure.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

It is cool. They are techinically its. 2 of 15 is fine. Let's hope that the rest grow up nice and strong. The one that is ill, or rather, sluggish, should be culled lest it become a doorway for disease for the strong chicks you have.

Best of luck.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Watch out for color culling too soon. Colors often come in slowly. The "tannish thing" is a bit, well very, off. The orangey one might reamin to be seen. The picture of the colored pullet is nice. Primary fault is the stippling in her feathers, but depending on what you get for colored cockerels, she's certainly a place to begin. It looks like her type is strong--acknowledging that she is young.


The two cockerels in the first photo should be saved at this point. The Colored color pattern comes in slowly. Also, Coloreds are weak in general, as far as color goes. You might find that you have to spend a few, or even several, seasons breeding to strengthen color trends. Remember that it's fair to estimate that coloreds have been on the brink of extinction for untold decades. They were already a great rarity at the turn of the 20th century. 100 years later, it's sort of a miracle that any exist at all. In 1921, John Henry Robinson, one of the best poultry writers of the first half of the 20th century has this to say about the state of Dorkings:

Outside of the stocks of a few leading exhibitors, most of the Dorkings seen here are comparatively poor or very poor type, more suggestive of beefy, low-set Leghorn type that of typical Dorking. True type, always accompanied by good size, is the most important thing to consider in Dorking competition. [...] In the most popular variety, the Silver Gray, one who has not good typical Dorkings should keep away from shows where the breeders of high repute exhibit. So few of the other varieties are shown that almost anything that will pass for a Dorking can win unless the exhibitor happens to run into one of the small strings of good Colored Dorkings occasinally appearing at a large show. White Dorkings of good size, type, and vigor are rarely seen.

At the current point in history--in all varieties of Dorking--stock is lacking in some pretty "basic" qualities. That colored female might be the beginning of a 10 year project that leeds to some of the best colored Dorkings since WWII.

Cheers,

Joseph

 

[ki4got]

Watch out for color culling too soon. Colors often come in slowly. The "tannish thing" is a bit, well very, off. The orangey one might reamin to be seen. The picture of the colored pullet is nice. Primary fault is the stippling in her feathers, but depending on what you get for colored cockerels, she's certainly a place to begin. It looks like her type is strong--acknowledging that she is young.

The two cockerels in the first photo should be saved at this point. The Colored color pattern comes in slowly. Also, Coloreds are weak in general, as far as color goes. You might find that you have to spend a few, or even several, seasons breeding to strengthen color trends. Remember that it's fair to estimate that coloreds have been on the brink of extinction for untold decades. They were already a great rarity at the turn of the 20th century. 100 years later, it's sort of a miracle that any exist at all. In 1921, John Henry Robinson, one of the best poultry writers of the first half of the 20th century has this to say about the state of Dorkings:

Outside of the stocks of a few leading exhibitors, most of the Dorkings seen here are comparatively poor or very poor type, more suggestive of beefy, low-set Leghorn type that of typical Dorking. True type, always accompanied by good size, is the most important thing to consider in Dorking competition. [...] In the most popular variety, the Silver Gray, one who has not good typical Dorkings should keep away from shows where the breeders of high repute exhibit. So few of the other varieties are shown that almost anything that will pass for a Dorking can win unless the exhibitor happens to run into one of the small strings of good Colored Dorkings occasinally appearing at a large show. White Dorkings of good size, type, and vigor are rarely seen.

At the current point in history--in all varieties of Dorking--stock is lacking in some pretty "basic" qualities. That colored female might be the beginning of a 10 year project that leeds to some of the best colored Dorkings since WWII.

Cheers,

Joseph

ok only question i have right now... what cockerels in which picture? the 4 pics i posted were all pullets.

 

[columbiacritter]

I know Dorks develop slower than some breeds. At about what age do they reach full size? Do the hens lay around 22 wks?

 

[ki4got]

I know Dorks develop slower than some breeds. At about what age do they reach full size? Do the hens lay around 22 wks?

i found that mine got to nearly full size by about 4 months old, and started laying around 5 months...

 

[Yellow House Farm]

ok only question i have right now... what cockerels in which picture? the 4 pics i posted were all pullets.

Before your posting, someone else posted two photos of dark colored cockerels.

 

[ki4got]

Before your posting, someone else posted two photos of dark colored cockerels.

oh ok... i only have 6 questionable cockerels growing out, and some sg's from my own line, and haven't bothered posting pics of them yet... 2 reds, 1 for sure sg, and 3 ?? coloreds. they're in the bachelor pen with craig's red roo, about to be joined by some baby roos that are now big enough to not escape thru 2x4 wire. LOL still waiting on some girls to mature for the big red guy. (and/or rudy's eggs to hatch and grow up?

)

speaking of rudy's eggs... WOW! that's what a dorking egg is supposed to look like! my sg's all lay a med/large egg at best, that's practically pure white. these are lightly tinted and HUGE! (well at least to me with my itty bitty dorking eggs and bantam cochins LOL)

 

[ki4got]

ok, i'm located in sw virginia, and slightly overrun with dorkings. i've got 10 pullets i need to part with. 5 red and 5 colored from sandhill lines. they are all between 12 and 16 weeks old.

asking $20 each, or best offer if you take more than 2. PM me if anyone might be interested. there might be a couple more that i missed when i sorted them this morning, but that's what i managed to ID.

 

[kinslersgram]

Does anyone have Dorking Hatching Eggs for sale?