B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[RedBugPoultry]

I would like some opinions on my Red Dorkings I hatched this summer. I have 2 very different types in the hens and roosters and would like to know if I should keep both and work with them or what people on here suggest.... These girls are some of my "dark" hens -- you can see the black on the heads.


Please ignore the black Marans in the middle of the picture. You can see the hen in the back and front--these are my light reds and I think my best girls(is this what a red hen should look like?).




Below is a picture of one of the light red hens (right) and one of the darks (of course on the left). I have to admit the light red hens have the best feet but the worst personalities. They are very bad feather peckers but we free range them a lot and have them in this super big pen to try to deal with that.




Below is one of my best roosters. I have some roosters with neck feathers as light as my light hens and others dark like the dark hens. I believe though with the rooster the good reds are the dark ones and the lighter color is a bit off--am I correct? I am waiting until the roosters are all mature to do any culling so I can hopefully figure out what I want to keep but when I get my camera working again I want to post more pictures of the roosters.




I have only 5 of the light hens, 8 of the dark hens(some have bad feet with the 4th toe almost missing between the 5th and 3rd toes). I have 6 little roosters....

 

[ki4got]

I would like some opinions on my Red Dorkings I hatched this summer. I have 2 very different types in the hens and roosters and would like to know if I should keep both and work with them or what people on here suggest.... These girls are some of my "dark" hens -- you can see the black on the heads.

Please ignore the black Marans in the middle of the picture. You can see the hen in the back and front--these are my light reds and I think my best girls(is this what a red hen should look like?).

Below is a picture of one of the light red hens (right) and one of the darks (of course on the left). I have to admit the light red hens have the best feet but the worst personalities. They are very bad feather peckers but we free range them a lot and have them in this super big pen to try to deal with that.

Below is one of my best roosters. I have some roosters with neck feathers as light as my light hens and others dark like the dark hens. I believe though with the rooster the good reds are the dark ones and the lighter color is a bit off--am I correct? I am waiting until the roosters are all mature to do any culling so I can hopefully figure out what I want to keep but when I get my camera working again I want to post more pictures of the roosters.

I have only 5 of the light hens, 8 of the dark hens(some have bad feet with the 4th toe almost missing between the 5th and 3rd toes). I have 6 little roosters....

I don't know what the SOP calls for, but my red from Craig Russell (roo) is the lighter red. What you have there are reds with and without the mahogany gene IMO...

i would say ignore the color and select based solely on size and type. if you want the darker ones down the road then you can head that direction (or lighter). Mahogany is a dominant trait, so breeding light to dark you'll probably get 50/50. I have similar variations in the red hens I have from sandhill who will be going with my red roo once they start laying. then we'll see from there what passes along. i would say though, keep all the girls unless they are lacking in size or type, and keep 1 of each color roo (best type/size). then you can decide with the next generation if you would prefer to work with the mahogany reds or the 'bbr' type reds.

as far as foot conformation, i would do away with anyone that doesn't have 5 distinct toes on each foot. toe length/angle can be worked with later.

primary importants is given to size and overall type first, then foot/comb conformation, then color last since it is the easiest to work with (again, my opinion). then again i love playing with genetics and have a pretty good understanding of the color genetics now, and will be solidifying that more as my colored assortment matures.

 

[RedBugPoultry]

I don't know what the SOP calls for, but my red from Craig Russell (roo) is the lighter red. What you have there are reds with and without the mahogany gene IMO...

i would say ignore the color and select based solely on size and type. if you want the darker ones down the road then you can head that direction (or lighter). Mahogany is a dominant trait, so breeding light to dark you'll probably get 50/50. I have similar variations in the red hens I have from sandhill who will be going with my red roo once they start laying. then we'll see from there what passes along. i would say though, keep all the girls unless they are lacking in size or type, and keep 1 of each color roo (best type/size). then you can decide with the next generation if you would prefer to work with the mahogany reds or the 'bbr' type reds.

as far as foot conformation, i would do away with anyone that doesn't have 5 distinct toes on each foot. toe length/angle can be worked with later.

primary importants is given to size and overall type first, then foot/comb conformation, then color last since it is the easiest to work with (again, my opinion). then again i love playing with genetics and have a pretty good understanding of the color genetics now, and will be solidifying that more as my colored assortment matures.

Thank you for your time on this! My birds are Sandhill birds so I guess the two colors differences are common with them. I am going to take your advice and cull the couple of hens with very poor toes and grow out and see what I get with the rest. I am going to grow out the rooster for now and decide who I like the best there and keep at least 2 of these boys. I really like these birds and I am excited to work with them!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Thank you for your time on this! My birds are Sandhill birds so I guess the two colors differences are common with them. I am going to take your advice and cull the couple of hens with very poor toes and grow out and see what I get with the rest. I am going to grow out the rooster for now and decide who I like the best there and keep at least 2 of these boys. I really like these birds and I am excited to work with them!

My Sandhill RD pullets also have both a lighter and darker version. One of them is essentially Colored Dorking in appearance, and two of them are the darker, mahogany red, with the rest the typical lighter red.

It's interesting that you also had a severe feather picking problem with your Sandhill RDs. I've never had a problem with any other breed that I've brooded in the past, but by the time these chicks were 4 weeks old it seemed as if they were hunting each other for food, in the form of blood feathers. No one was growing tails, and the less-predatory of the group were terrorized (although still participated when the opportunity arose). No form of environmental enrichment and no amount of space seemed to help. I switched them from their 18% protein (plant-based) chick crumbles to 1/2 chick crumbles and 1/2 game bird starter (30% protein, all plant-based). That slowed down the problem, but not enough. From there I increased the protein level by making 5-10% of their diet kitten food (36% protein, mostly from chicken). The problem stopped within 2 days (except in one mean cockerel that still does it for fun). Once they reached 9 weeks old I weaned them back down to 100% chick crumbles again to slow their growth rate, and by 10 weeks old continued weaning down the protein level by adding whole oats to the diet. At 14 weeks they're now on 1/2 chick crumbles, 1/2 whole oats, plus an acre of free range forage, with no return of the feather picking issues (except for the mean cockerel, who I hope will be roasting size in a month).

Assuming that there are no environmental or crowding issues, I get the impression that some people believe feather picking to be an inherited behavior trait, and others believe it to be strictly dietary. I wonder if it's not a little of both. I think it's naive to think that every breed has the same nutritional needs, given that the scope of poultry breeds is so wide. In breeds that were developed/perfected in England over past centuries, where it was common to feed chickens fish scraps and to allow them to free-range, does it seem logical that their "ideal" diet would be the same as breeds that were developed over the last 50 years to have the best feed conversion ratio under high-density factory farming management? All the research is done for the commercial birds, and that's what the formulated diets reflect. They're an excellent foundation to obtain micronutrients, but I have difficulty believing that they're perfect for all breeds. Especially after working with these Dorkings for the first time. They've retained much more of their "feral" chicken instincts than any other breed I've raised, so why not some of the "feral" nutritional needs also, which would include a need for some animal protein? (If they had teeth I think they'd be bringing down the squirrels. I had to pull a mouse out of a 14 week old rooster's mouth the other day; he had pecked it to death but it couldn't quite fit down his throat whole. I found him near choking with a tail and hind feet sticking out of his mouth, shaking his head to try to dislodge it!)

Have other people had feather picking issues with their RDs? Where they Sandhill RDs, or from another source? How did you solve the picking issue, or did the chicks just outgrow that behavior?

--April

 

[ki4got]

Quote: interesting observations, I raised 27 red & colored directly from sandhill, 15 - 2nd generation sandhill colored and 14 - 2nd gen sandhill reds (yeah, WAY too many chicks all at once, but sandhill sent them a month early). they spent the first 3 weeks entirely crowded to the gills in the brooders inside (3 units 2'x4'x16" tall) and then went outside into a 4x8 pen with attached house. still way too crowded, but it's what i had available on short notice. after a week out there (with heat lamp in the house) i started letting them out in the afternoons, and within a week they were free ranging all day and going back to bed at night. to this day i have NO idea how they all managed to crowd into the house before i moved them to the horse trailer coop.

but even with all the crowding we had no problems with picking or bullying. then again, i also only ended up with 8 cockerels out of the bunch, NONE of them worth keeping. i did lose some to "natural" causes, such as being stepped on (3) or kicked by a horse (2) or drowning in the 'pond' (aka kiddie pool everyone drinks from) (3).

as for feed, everyone starts on a 20% chick starter made at a local mill, and continues with the same once they start free ranging, offered free choice in the afternoon/evenings. I pull the feeders overnight and put them back at lunch time.

 

[blessedacre]

Good Morning,
Wanted to share a few pics of my dorkings. They are 9 1/2 weeks old now. I made them a sweet treat and they are LOVING it. I was wondering how old are they when they beging to mate?? The roos are TRYING and a BIG emphasis on the word TRYING to crow. I actually thought one had been left out and was dying or being eatin at the time. I rushed out to the yard and he was stranding at there pretty as you please "crowing". At what age do you cull dorkings?? I will put the ones I cull in the freezer. Is it 19-20 wks like other birds or can I let them get alittle bigger without risking extra toughness?
The Austrolorp was the free "gift" from Murray McMurry when I ordered the dorkings. He will be culle, right now he is the top guy. I do plan to keep 2 of the roosters for breeding. I will post better pics close to culling time for YOUR input on who should stay and who should go.



This guy is my prettiest (I think) but he is not nice to my hens

. He has the best feet and the darkes coloring of feathers and his comb is the redest.



enjoying some apple cider vinegar water

same guy as above

just trying to get some "ME" time

It's funny to me that my buffs and dorkings (all in the back ground by the bushes) do not mingle at all. they function as two completely different groups, with the buffs (all ladies) ranking highest, for now.

they got the treat spinning pretty fast.

thanks for letting me share.
Blessings to everyone

 

[ki4got]

Good Morning,
Wanted to share a few pics of my dorkings. They are 9 1/2 weeks old now. I made them a sweet treat and they are LOVING it. I was wondering how old are they when they beging to mate?? The roos are TRYING and a BIG emphasis on the word TRYING to crow. I actually thought one had been left out and was dying or being eatin at the time. I rushed out to the yard and he was stranding at there pretty as you please "crowing". At what age do you cull dorkings?? I will put the ones I cull in the freezer. Is it 19-20 wks like other birds or can I let them get alittle bigger without risking extra toughness?

i culled some around 5 months that i wasn't pleased with, for personality or overall shape/size/etc, but if you want to grow out for meat then by all means hang onto them... the big guy is still growing at well over a year old, the younger roo is 10 months... i think by 6 months tho, you should see which ones are the best/worst. IMO 20 weeks is a bit young still, since the dorking is a slow growing breed to begin with.

as for breeding, the roosters will be ready way before the hens, so make sure the girls have plenty of room to escape the boys. i prefer a separate pen when i can.

edited to add... i WILL NOT keep a mean rooster. no matter how gorgeous he is.

 

[3riverschick]

The Austrolorp was the free "gift" from Murray McMurry when I ordered the dorkings.
He will be culled, right now he is the top guy. I do plan to keep 2 of the roosters for breeding.
==============================
Hi,
I am pretty sure I read from a reliable source that the submissive roos won't grow as large physically as the
dominanat roo because of their social status. You might want to check that out. If you aren't planning to breed
the Austrolop, you might want to take him out of the social equation to give your Dorking boys room to thrive socially.
Best,
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[greenhorn]

We finally got some weather good enough to pour the floor in our new Dorking breeding coop. Going to order the steel siding today, should have done it days ago just tough trying to keep up sometimes....

Have about 3 more hours of work on the rafters etc. and have to set a few more poles for the 2 36" doors then we can start covering this building once the materials get here...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I've been a lurker for quite some time on this thread and I'd like to ask a question. Last fall I received some SG's from McMurray Hatchery. The cockerals are not at all living up to my wishes, hope they taste good! Thankfully, I have one young rooster that I obtained from a breeder that I'm fairly pleased with. My question is this: I'm noticing that several of the pullets have wry tails. Of course, they are the biggest and stockiest of the group... How hard is it to breed out - or should I simply cull them?

On a brighter note, I got reds from Dick Horstman that I'm pretty pleased with!