B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Rockashelle]

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

Hey Joseph!

The cockerels you are referring to are mine. I am going to hang on to them for sure. The bird in the first picture is getting some pretty nice color! It was quite the surprise since I was expecting them all to be SG. I think two out of the six I got are actually SG. Guess we'll see. I can't wait to see what he'll look like in a few months. They are growing in SLOW... or I'm being very impatient!

Overall, I'm wanting to keep the roo with the best "block like" shape and size. I'm still looking for another pullet or two to add to the bunch with size and shape. Anyone know of someone in Washington State. (Seattle, Tacoma, Snohomish area?)

Thanks - Amy

 

[ki4got]

Does anyone have Dorking Hatching Eggs for sale?

i do most of the time, but right now everyone's free ranging and so i can't guarantee they'd be pure silver grey as my red roo is out now, as are several colored and red pullets that are nearing laying. so it'd be a crap shoot what flavor you'd get.

 

[gertsgal]

These are GREAT pictures!!!!

 

[pysankigirl]

Question on temperment: One of my Chicks is turning out to be a roo. wondering to expect if I keep him...What kind of temperment do dorking roosters have?

 

[ki4got]

Question on temperment: One of my Chicks is turning out to be a roo. wondering to expect if I keep him...What kind of temperment do dorking roosters have?

i've got 2 roos that share the free range flock without many problems but junior is definitely a 'junior' rooster and doesn't overstep his 'authority' (much).

i've also got a 'bachelor pad' pen with one adult red roo, 6 3-4 month old roos, and 3 2-3 month old roos... so far so good, the big red guy is defintely in charge and the youngsters don't argue much.

i trust my dorking roos way more than i trust my oegb midget 'speckle' who got into the habit of sneaking up on you... or a few of my cochins who were learning from him... the big guy and junior just walk on top of you just about when you're taking food down. only once has the big guy pecked at me, and it was more like 'hurry up, will you?'

 

[kinslersgram]

What are Dorkings worth? If I found some for sale what would be a "fair" price to pay for them? (as chicks and/or as adults)
thanks

 

[Chris09]

What are Dorkings worth? If I found some for sale what would be a "fair" price to pay for them? (as chicks and/or as adults)
thanks

Dick Horstman a APA poultry judge has Red Dorking for;
Hatching eggs 20.00 a dozen
Chicks 6.00 each

http://horstmanspoultry.com/largefowlhome/reddorking.html


Chris

 

[ki4got]

What are Dorkings worth? If I found some for sale what would be a "fair" price to pay for them? (as chicks and/or as adults)
thanks

it depends on the breeder, quality of the bird, etc.

i paid $40 for a red roo from Craig Russell's line (they didn't have any hens available at the time), $6 each (plus shipping) for sandhill hatchery chicks. i'm selling sandhill pullets for $20 now (2-3 months old). don't have anything from craig's roo for sale yet, as the pullets aren't laying yet, and Rudy's eggs are still in the incubator.

btw, of the 2 colored cockerels i got from sandhill, they're so washed out they look almost like my silver greys, but slightly 'dirty' looking so far... so i might be shopping for a GOOD colored roo with proper hackle striping and decent color. *shrug* we'll see. i've got one other cockerel that may develop decently. i'm waiting for him to color in. from a local breeder that got some eggs from ebay... we'll see how he turns out, but so far he's looking more colored than my sandhill ones... (about 7 weeks old)

edit: meant to add, for chicks, if i can see the parents and like what i see, i might pay upwards of 10-15 each. but that would only be for APA recognized color varieties. $40-50 is about the most i'm ABLE to pay for an adult, tho some might be worth more IMO. again depends on the bird itself.

reminder... a thing is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. so evaluate the birds and determine if you are willing to pay for what you see. if not, then no they're not worth it.

 

[pysankigirl]

my latest dorking chick picture:

 

[Rockashelle]

Cute picture pysankigirl! Love the eyes!