B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Yellow House Farm]

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?

I shall be doig chicks again. It will be day-olds this year. I have a bit of reasearch to do first. We've had a ton of requests. If we can get these birds to people ready to work with them hard-core, we could see some great progress. On that, cull as hard as you can, and be picky. I think we'll see some progress, and the blood lines are diverse.

PS: THis last cold snap was a doozy. Even ome of our RC birds got hit a bit. The SC birds would have been dead on the floor.

 

[cukooformarans]

I shall be doig chicks again.  It will be day-olds this year.  I have a bit of reasearch to do first.  We've had a ton of requests.  If we can get these birds to people ready to work with them hard-core, we could see some great progress.  On that, cull as hard as you can, and be picky.  I think we'll see some progress, and the blood lines are diverse.

Yay! I hope I am able to get some!!!!!!!!!

 

[cukooformarans]

Oops! Double post!

 

[greenhorn]

I shall be doig chicks again. It will be day-olds this year. I have a bit of reasearch to do first. We've had a ton of requests. If we can get these birds to people ready to work with them hard-core, we could see some great progress. On that, cull as hard as you can, and be picky. I think we'll see some progress, and the blood lines are diverse.

PS: THis last cold snap was a doozy. Even ome of our RC birds got hit a bit. The SC birds would have been dead on the floor.

Great news about the day olds. I'll send you a private message soon. I do have one really nice rooster I'm going to put my best hens on right away. Just got the new nest boxes made for the breeding coops and can't wait to start collecting our first white Dorking hatching eggs. So far the Dorkings have done a great job in keeping us supplied with eggs for cooking. The eggs are delicious and large size now that the pullets are getting some age. Breeding shouldn't hamper our cooking supply much since we are only going to be using the best couple hens for that.

This year I need to work on getting some rooster coops set up. Still thinking about how to do it so their water won't freeze over the winter. Would like to keep at least 20 of the best prospects. Maybe they will get along better this year since they will have more area. Always something to improve upon isn't there....

Glad we put that 1 inch foam insulation and OSB board over the walls in the new coop. It stays fairly decent in there. Didn't bother to even open the doors to their runs through that nasty cold blast. Got down to below zero. Our black SC rooster has even done pretty well so far. Have to say the insulation looks like it's paying off already.

 

[sandiklaws]

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.

They say the same about dogs in regards to seeing eventual type. In dogs it (the "window") can vary from breed to breed and line to line... would hazard a guess that it would be the same in poultry

 

[sandiklaws]

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.

Thanks, she is just one generation removed from Dick's breeding, but I have many of her daughters here. I was so thrilled she won her class. Glad you got a chance to give them a look. They were all related fairly close, as most of us got our start from Dick... except for the cock bird that took his class- He was from Cackle Hatchery! Exciting to see because he had a superior tail set to any of the birds there, including my own.It was such a thrill to see them all together there, and I have some eggs from a friend that happens to have birds from Cackle- happened to get them a week before the show and have 7 in lock-down due tomorrow. She has been working with them for 3 years so they are hopefully going to be as nice as that roo.

As for the whites, I am passing that boy along to the owner of the white fav hen that took the junior class. Hopefully he will be able to help get them going again between that hen and whatever hatches from her current eggs which were sired by the roo that took 1st (same exhibitor)

 

[bethbug74]

I'd really like to get some day-old Silver Greys from reputable lines. I currently have a pair and would like to expand my genetic base intelligently. If anyone has any, let me know. Thanks!

 

[SandiDent]

We have our Silver Grey Dorkings coming from Murray. McMurray, they have the reds too. They are not ready to ship until April but they ship live chicks and stand by them to be healthy and thrive.

 

[gadgetgrl]

Has anyone ever bought Dorkings from flip flop farm? Just wondering if she is reputable.

 

[ki4got]

We have our Silver Grey Dorkings coming from Murray. McMurray, they have the reds too. They are not ready to ship until April but they ship live chicks and stand by them to be healthy and thrive.

mcmurray has red dorkings now too? i hadn't heard.

i'm getting 5 more sg pullets from them for curiosity sake, plus some bantam cochins (gold laced is nearly impossible to find).

edit: just got off the phone with McMurray, no, they don't carry red dorkings...