B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[BlackPanther]

How much does Duane Urch sell his Dorkings for?

 

[OSUman]

Im guessing as chicks theyre the same price as all of the others, $7 ea

How much does Duane Urch sell his Dorkings for?

 

[Sydney Acres]

Originally posted by YellowHouse:
"Now, as for live weight, I have of late been discussing all of these issues with a breeder from Canada who's been working with Dorkings for over 40 years. He is adamant that a Dorking isn't a Dorking until he's two years old. Now, on an interesting note, he asserts that there's a window at about 13 weeks when a Dorking will show you what he's destined to become. This makes a bit of sense to me. I'm going to pay close attention this year to feed curiosity."

Yellow House, what are you looking for regarding feed curiosity specifically at 13 weeks, and what does it mean? I would think that a strong appetite would indicate that the bird is going through a growth spurt at that time, and a more measured appetite would indicate that the bird is between growth spurts at that moment. Is there some predictive value in whether a bird is growing more rapidly on that specific week? Or is it more of a behavioral indicator -- their curiosity in seeking out food at that age will likely be the same as an adult, but may wax and wane during the teenage stage, giving a rough prediction as to their ability to forage?

 

[Sydney Acres]

Nice, Jeremy...
How do your Dorkings compare with other heritage breeds in terms of being a 'table' bird? I would not mind trying my hand at 'harvesting' some cull birds. I am a 'white meat' gal (-; I prefer a finer texture as well...I can roast a tasty chicken but I will say my buttermilk recipe iron skillet fried chicken is my family's favorite along with fried okra and sweet corn. Just sayin' (-;

Hi cbnovick,
Is that a buttermilk iron skillet fried chicken recipe for heritage breeds, or for the Cornish/Rock crosses like those in the supermarket? If it's for heritage breeds, any chance you'd be willing to share your recipe????? It sounds delicious.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Originally posted by YellowHouse:
"Now, as for live weight, I have of late been discussing all of these issues with a breeder from Canada who's been working with Dorkings for over 40 years. He is adamant that a Dorking isn't a Dorking until he's two years old. Now, on an interesting note, he asserts that there's a window at about 13 weeks when a Dorking will show you what he's destined to become. This makes a bit of sense to me. I'm going to pay close attention this year to feed curiosity."

Yellow House, what are you looking for regarding feed curiosity specifically at 13 weeks, and what does it mean? I would think that a strong appetite would indicate that the bird is going through a growth spurt at that time, and a more measured appetite would indicate that the bird is between growth spurts at that moment. Is there some predictive value in whether a bird is growing more rapidly on that specific week? Or is it more of a behavioral indicator -- their curiosity in seeking out food at that age will likely be the same as an adult, but may wax and wane during the teenage stage, giving a rough prediction as to their ability to forage?

Greetings Sydney Acres, I meant that metaphorically. I was curious to see if I would see at 13 weeks a clear indicator of what's to come.

I have come to fell that many aspect we ttribute to breed are really attributable to strain. Dorkings are "supposed" to be many things, but what they actually are is what they are in your backyard. I think that it takes up two 2 years for a cock to be fuly mature; this I concede. However, I would not say that one is left wondering up until that point. I have found that our birds here are pretty visible between 6 and 7 months. I do most of my final, pre-breeding season culling at about 10 months.

 

[sandiklaws]

Looking pretty good. I'm glad you're making progress. The white male looks great. Indeed, the pair together in the last picture seems to have interesting type. Breeding some good whites would be nice to see. You'll have them to the Northeastern Poultry Congress. There was a rather good display of Faverolles there this month.

The closest to Fav's you can get in Dorkings--in males--is Colored Dorkings. There is nothing to approach the female. If you breed cross on cross in whigh quantity, you shuld be able to pull some salmon chicks.

My senior hen took best hen at the Congress show, sorry I missed you Joseph

 

[sandiklaws]

Have you tried to find another strain of Salmon Faverolles that you could do an out cross to?

Unfortunately pretty much all of the flocks in this country can be traced back to one major breeder, Dick Boulanger. Dick is a friend and mentor of mine and has wonderful birds and all of my flock carry their blood to varying degrees, but the genetic diversity is lacking in the breed as a whole in this country (only 1 rooster imported in the last several decades), which is why I started my out cross project, and why I was encouraged to do so by both Dick and the current club president.

During my first several years of breeding,I had traced tons of flocks looking for a different line, from back yard flocks to hatcheries to universities... story is the same all over, go back a few years and there is Dick's flock. Faverolles can be a difficult breed even if the diversity is there like in European flocks, so many people do not stick with them when they find they are hard to work with.

The show I just attended was quite probably the biggest in decades for favs, certainly the biggest in anyone's memory who attended- including Dick who has been a breeder of favs practically forever, and although we had a good turnout... the LF salmons were probably less then 20, with all classes combined. I attended the nationals in Ohio and there were only 2 breeders for LF, the Pattersons and someone they were mentoring, all told there were only 7 LF favs represented. The bantams are fairly popular, it is the LF that need help.

 

[greenhorn]

oops

 

[greenhorn]

Wow! That's a crazy amount of breeds.

Is the male in trouble because he's single combed? Some people seem to have OK luck with SC Dorkings up here, but we are RC without exception. I've literally had SG Dorkings drop dead. Sometimes they develop what looks like a neurological malfunction for a day and then done. When we had SC birds, I'd go to bed on really cold night felling bad for the cocks. Now, I just shut them up for the evening and know that all is well.

Same here. Some folks say that frostbite on the SC's don't hurt the birds but I have a hard time buying that. I don't like seeing any of our animals uncomfortable and frostbite is beyond what i feel an animal should have to endure. One of the reasons we went with whites.

Things are going pretty good with our whites so far this winter but we did lose 1 white rooster to a mysterious cause. He was what I considered my 2nd favorite white rooster. Getting nest boxes set up in the breeding coops hope to start incubating in a couple weeks or so. Might even try hatching under some broody hens. Could set up a timer to control light hours. How many hours of light should i give the hens to make them go broody? On the other hand how many hrs of light is optimum to keep dorkings in laying mode? Plan on letting some of the non breeders go broody while we try and keep the breeding hens laying as long as possible.

Have you decided if you are going to do white chicks again this year?

 

[Yellow House Farm]

My senior hen took best hen at the Congress show, sorry I missed you Joseph

She was gorgeous! I took great note of that superb class of Faverolles. Maybe you'll become the foremost breeder of White Faverolles. They need a sponsor, and you have one heck of a start.