B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[capayvalleychick]

I haven't ever noted the age at which the cockerels start breeding. The 25 week old cockerel that I just put out in the egg layer coop is making the rounds with the hens.

In my grow out pens are 2 age groups, some 25 weeks, some 23 weeks. I'm planning to keep a cockerel from each group. Some have obvious defects or are obviously too small, those have been separated to a cull pen. The one that I mentioned, that was placed in the egg coop, was very clearly my best choice of his group. I'm still waiting on the rest of the 23 week olds to mature before making a decision. I was in that pen this morning, looking them over and rating them in my mind. My husband had walked up and had been watching me. He asked me why I looked so zoned out.

I usually wait until Dorkings are at least 7 months old before deciding which is best, since they mature so slowly. I plan to have my culls butchered at that age. They will be fine for roasting at that age.

I've noticed that the largest cockerels in the bachelor pen are the most dominant. I'm thinking that the younger group probably aren't being allowed to meet their full potential. The last group of cockerels that I grew out were out on pasture. They wore those poor hens out. So this group is in a pen. I don't have any more coops to separate them as they grow out. I need to figure out a better way of growing out multiple cockerels.

Greenhorn, I am so jealous of your beautiful project.

Kim

 

[blessedacre]

I haven't ever noted the age at which the cockerels start breeding. The 25 week old cockerel that I just put out in the egg layer coop is making the rounds with the hens.

In my grow out pens are 2 age groups, some 25 weeks, some 23 weeks. I'm planning to keep a cockerel from each group. Some have obvious defects or are obviously too small, those have been separated to a cull pen. The one that I mentioned, that was placed in the egg coop, was very clearly my best choice of his group. I'm still waiting on the rest of the 23 week olds to mature before making a decision. I was in that pen this morning, looking them over and rating them in my mind. My husband had walked up and had been watching me. He asked me why I looked so zoned out.

I usually wait until Dorkings are at least 7 months old before deciding which is best, since they mature so slowly. I plan to have my culls butchered at that age. They will be fine for roasting at that age.

I've noticed that the largest cockerels in the bachelor pen are the most dominant. I'm thinking that the younger group probably aren't being allowed to meet their full potential. The last group of cockerels that I grew out were out on pasture. They wore those poor hens out. So this group is in a pen. I don't have any more coops to separate them as they grow out. I need to figure out a better way of growing out multiple cockerels.

Greenhorn, I am so jealous of your beautiful project.

Kim

I need to figure out a seperation for the roosters!! My poor husband just finished the "final" touches and I am soooo hesitant to say..."oh by the way I didn't think the rooster thing through all the way and I need seperate housing" I think " I" will find myself in seperate housing ......... 7 months for culling that sounds great. Which is more important feet vs. over all shape? feet vs. coloring? do the feet trumph everything else? if there are 5 toes (per foot) on a decent bird but maybe they do not stick up would that bird be inferior than one with bad shape and color but the feet look good? This whole breeding this is completely new to me......... the only thing I have ever bred was tad poles and guppies.......lol. I know I just made alot of dorking enthusiast cringe . thanks for your feed back

Lisa

 

[capayvalleychick]

I know exactly how you feel. My husband has built me many coops already, but I keep needing more.

Type is most important... body shape & size. That's what most of us are working on, since it's been neglected in the breed. Coloring is last. Feet are relatively easy to fix. Buy an APA SOP if you are serious about breeding.

Best wishes,
Kim

 

[ki4got]

I need to figure out a seperation for the roosters!! My poor husband just finished the "final" touches and I am soooo hesitant to say..."oh by the way I didn't think the rooster thing through all the way and I need seperate housing" I think " I" will find myself in seperate housing ......... 7 months for culling that sounds great. Which is more important feet vs. over all shape? feet vs. coloring? do the feet trumph everything else? if there are 5 toes (per foot) on a decent bird but maybe they do not stick up would that bird be inferior than one with bad shape and color but the feet look good? This whole breeding this is completely new to me......... the only thing I have ever bred was tad poles and guppies.......lol. I know I just made alot of dorking enthusiast cringe . thanks for your feed back

Lisa

size and type ALWAYS first... the only reason i would cull for feet first is if they don't have 5 toes on both feet.

as it has been said over and over... take the order of priority from the SOP. Size, then type, then feet/comb, and lastly color. you could have the most brilliantly colored silver grey, but if he's small and not true to type, then all he is ever going to be is a pretty rooster. I would much rather have a HUGE and properly shaped silver grey rooster with some red bleeding thru on his wings. once your type is set, then color is easier to work on.

 

[Bentley]

I mostly agree with this selection method. However, with my breeds I raise I hatch such large numbers of birds I try to find anything, ANYTHING I can cull for at hatch. For instance my Faverolles and Houdans I do cull for toe arrangement, but then again i will hatch several hundred chicks so i can afford to cull for toes because it still leaves me with plenty to choose form. Just trying to cut the feed bill. I am new to the Dorkings, but if I get even decent production this year i should set over 1,000 eggs form my birds int eh calender year. I will cull for toes at hatch then do 'bottom culling' every week thereafter in which i remove the obvious 'bad birds' until they become adults when i select my new breeding stock for the year. I gave done this with several breeds I raise and have made great progress. However, i have the capacity to hatch very large number of birds too.

 

[elizmartin]

Hello everyone.....I was wondering if there is anyone who breeds them in Western Washington that in on this list. I have a friend who has a mixed flock and is considering a Dorking Rooster in the future because of the white egg potential and their docilness. She has hens who lay various colors and does decorated eggs....Any information is greatly appreciated and i will pass it on.....here or e-mail [email protected].... Thanks, eliz, Arlington, Wa.

 

[ki4got]

I mostly agree with this selection method. However, with my breeds I raise I hatch such large numbers of birds I try to find anything, ANYTHING I can cull for at hatch. For instance my Faverolles and Houdans I do cull for toe arrangement, but then again i will hatch several hundred chicks so i can afford to cull for toes because it still leaves me with plenty to choose form. Just trying to cut the feed bill. I am new to the Dorkings, but if I get even decent production this year i should set over 1,000 eggs form my birds int eh calender year. I will cull for toes at hatch then do 'bottom culling' every week thereafter in which i remove the obvious 'bad birds' until they become adults when i select my new breeding stock for the year. I gave done this with several breeds I raise and have made great progress. However, i have the capacity to hatch very large number of birds too.

the only thing i'd warn against early culling, is dorkings are a slow growing breed. if you cull for size early on, you may be tossing your biggest birds in preference for ones that grow faster but not as large.

 

[4-H DuckQueen]

OK! Thanks a lot! I am in northern Illinois....about half an hour from Wisconsin.

 

[greenhorn]

Thank you Kim. Not really trying to make folks jealous though. Gotta say I have to pinch myself sometimes. Hard to believe we have White Dorkings on the farm now. Not so long ago it was all a dream. When YellowHouse decided to release some birds I knew we needed to jump. You know what they say, when opportunity knocks........ My luck there wouldn't be any available next year or for a long time.

Hate to put the carriage before the horse but felt like we had to in this case. We got a lot of birds but glad we did cause we needed a good selection to start with as with any project. They aren't probably getting optimal space right now but having this big coop will change all that soon. My friends are getting quite a charge out of it. Keep getting asked if I'm trying to put the local egg farm out of business lol.

I'm pretty quiet most of the time, hope that don't come off wrong here. I love reading all the great input. Once I get some Dorking experience under my belt I will become more active. Spend most of my time reading and absorbing everything I can here. Thanks again everybody for your informative posts, this thread has been a huge wealth of information. I'm sure my time for asking questions and offering better input is coming.

Not really sure but lately the Q & A's on this thread have become juicier than I recollect. Love all the talk about selection, have a lot to learn about that when applied to chickens. I think this is going to be a great experience and hopefully we do some good while we are enjoying and feeding ourselves.

 

[greenhorn]

I mostly agree with this selection method. However, with my breeds I raise I hatch such large numbers of birds I try to find anything, ANYTHING I can cull for at hatch. For instance my Faverolles and Houdans I do cull for toe arrangement, but then again i will hatch several hundred chicks so i can afford to cull for toes because it still leaves me with plenty to choose form. Just trying to cut the feed bill. I am new to the Dorkings, but if I get even decent production this year i should set over 1,000 eggs form my birds int eh calender year. I will cull for toes at hatch then do 'bottom culling' every week thereafter in which i remove the obvious 'bad birds' until they become adults when i select my new breeding stock for the year. I gave done this with several breeds I raise and have made great progress. However, i have the capacity to hatch very large number of birds too.

Wow 1000 eggs now that's getting somewhere. I haven't really thought about how many eggs I could actually hatch to end up with the 20-25 26 week old birds per 10x11 coop. 1000 sounds like an awesome number, I know we can't do quite that many. Glad we have folks who are so focused on finding real good birds....

Guess we could start with 50 or more after culling at hatch for obvious flaws like toes... then weed out the lesser quality birds as they arise. Going to need another coop for raising culls for the freezer. Probably will use the egg bird coop for now though....