B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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Will you ever offer hatching eggs or shipped chicks? I need some more to add to my flock and I'm finding that most other "breeders" aren't really breeding for anything but just to reproduce chickens.

I am looking for something I can work with that won't take me 20 years to get to a usable state.

I'm with you! I was lucky to find a breeder to ship me red Dorking eggs! I'm STILL looking for cuckoo & would love some white. I'm almost desperate enough to order from Sand Hill.

I do promise that when I have a Dorking flock that is to the close to the SOP & reproducing well I will do my part to preserve the breed by actually selling them! Heck... even if they're not "perfect" there seems to be many more people that want them than there are willing to sell them.

I know....don't bother with Sandhill....trust me....been there and done that. I managed to salvage a few from that shipment but I got a lot of waste--single combs, black spots, wrong leg color, etc. I did find a lady on eBay selling eggs last fall which I bought and I ended up with a bunch of single comb BLUE with black legs (wrong breed she sent) and one SC white dorking which I kept. I only have room for one more project at this point so I might end up scraping the Dorkings all together (I've been trying to establish a breeding flock since 2009) and focus my time/effort/money/energy/space on something else.

 

[tgrlily]

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I'm with you! I was lucky to find a breeder to ship me red Dorking eggs! I'm STILL looking for cuckoo & would love some white. I'm almost desperate enough to order from Sand Hill.

I do promise that when I have a Dorking flock that is to the close to the SOP & reproducing well I will do my part to preserve the breed by actually selling them! Heck... even if they're not "perfect" there seems to be many more people that want them than there are willing to sell them.

I know....don't bother with Sandhill....trust me....been there and done that. I managed to salvage a few from that shipment but I got a lot of waste--single combs, black spots, wrong leg color, etc. I did find a lady on eBay selling eggs last fall which I bought and I ended up with a bunch of single comb BLUE with black legs (wrong breed she sent) and one SC white dorking which I kept. I only have room for one more project at this point so I might end up scraping the Dorkings all together (I've been trying to establish a breeding flock since 2009) and focus my time/effort/money/energy/space on something else.

It is so frustrating! My son just turned 11 & they're his birds. He chose Dorkings because they were on the critical breeds list & he's just that kind of kid!

I found the first eggs I ordered for him on ebay also. Seriously, I'm not surprised that they're on the critical list, since it's so hard to find anyone who will sell them. I almost had myself talked into Sand Hill out of desperation, but I'm sure I would regret it. Noah will be showing his reds as a junior in open class & 4-H. His red Dorkings compete against my black Orps & I would LOVE for him to beat me!

 

[tgrlily]

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I would be happy to hatch those cull eggs!! Or give a home to your cull chicks.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Beautiful photos, Renee!

Kim

 

[tgrlily]

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Thanks!!!!

 

[BeccaOH]

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I'm with you! I was lucky to find a breeder to ship me red Dorking eggs! I'm STILL looking for cuckoo & would love some white. I'm almost desperate enough to order from Sand Hill.

I do promise that when I have a Dorking flock that is to the close to the SOP & reproducing well I will do my part to preserve the breed by actually selling them! Heck... even if they're not "perfect" there seems to be many more people that want them than there are willing to sell them.

I know....don't bother with Sandhill....trust me....been there and done that. I managed to salvage a few from that shipment but I got a lot of waste--single combs, black spots, wrong leg color, etc. I did find a lady on eBay selling eggs last fall which I bought and I ended up with a bunch of single comb BLUE with black legs (wrong breed she sent) and one SC white dorking which I kept. I only have room for one more project at this point so I might end up scraping the Dorkings all together (I've been trying to establish a breeding flock since 2009) and focus my time/effort/money/energy/space on something else.

I feel your pain. When I first got into chickens Dorkings were top of my list. Love their history. I got a few bantam eggs and ended up with only roosters. Didn't really want bantams anyway. Found Colored Dorking eggs and ended up with a menagerie that I'm not sure what to do with exactly. Kept a trio. I'd love to have RC Reds (had an egg buy fall through). I also looked at Sand Hill. I do have an order for Silver-Grey from McMurray to come in May. I've put out a lot of money on Dorkings with nothing to show for it so far.

 

[tgrlily]

Quote:
I know....don't bother with Sandhill....trust me....been there and done that. I managed to salvage a few from that shipment but I got a lot of waste--single combs, black spots, wrong leg color, etc. I did find a lady on eBay selling eggs last fall which I bought and I ended up with a bunch of single comb BLUE with black legs (wrong breed she sent) and one SC white dorking which I kept. I only have room for one more project at this point so I might end up scraping the Dorkings all together (I've been trying to establish a breeding flock since 2009) and focus my time/effort/money/energy/space on something else.

I feel your pain. When I first got into chickens Dorkings were top of my list. Love their history. I got a few bantam eggs and ended up with only roosters. Didn't really want bantams anyway. Found Colored Dorking eggs and ended up with a menagerie that I'm not sure what to do with exactly. Kept a trio. I'd love to have RC Reds (had an egg buy fall through). I also looked at Sand Hill. I do have an order for Silver-Grey from McMurray to come in May. I've put out a lot of money on Dorkings with nothing to show for it so far.

I hear ya!! This should not be so difficult!! Still debating ordering from Sand Hill even though I KNOW it's not a good idea. If someone near me wants to share an order, I'll probably do it.

Believe it or not, last year I did not hatch a single girl! What are the odds of that? The few chicks I've hatched so far this year also look male to me. I hope it's just because I wasn't a good hatcher with my little styro-bators. I know I had a temperature spike in the all male batch last summer.

Rex & Petra have straight combs & Pandora is rose combed. When I get my production issues worked out, I'll offer hatching eggs for sale.

The only way to preserve a breed is to share!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
I know....don't bother with Sandhill....trust me....been there and done that. I managed to salvage a few from that shipment but I got a lot of waste--single combs, black spots, wrong leg color, etc. I did find a lady on eBay selling eggs last fall which I bought and I ended up with a bunch of single comb BLUE with black legs (wrong breed she sent) and one SC white dorking which I kept. I only have room for one more project at this point so I might end up scraping the Dorkings all together (I've been trying to establish a breeding flock since 2009) and focus my time/effort/money/energy/space on something else.

I feel your pain. When I first got into chickens Dorkings were top of my list. Love their history. I got a few bantam eggs and ended up with only roosters. Didn't really want bantams anyway. Found Colored Dorking eggs and ended up with a menagerie that I'm not sure what to do with exactly. Kept a trio. I'd love to have RC Reds (had an egg buy fall through). I also looked at Sand Hill. I do have an order for Silver-Grey from McMurray to come in May. I've put out a lot of money on Dorkings with nothing to show for it so far.

I figured my first two chicks cost over $200 each in the amount I spent on eggs...

There is a reason Dorkings are rare, and it makes me all the more determined to get a good sized flock going.

 

[rtroxel]

Guys, I don't feel your pain. Maybe that sounds harsh, but why all the beating around the bush? If you want birds, you have to get a sure thing. This year, I finally decided I was getting some Dorkings. I went to the club website, talked to several breeders there, picked up a few phone numbers and then bought adult birds. Considering I got 10 good/excellent birds for $250 dollars and I didn't even call that many people, I think I did well. Stop messing with eggs that hatch poorly, unluckily, or not at all

. Don't buy chicks from people that you know don't have good birds. I drove to the Shawnee Show in December (13 hours) and picked the birds up on the way home (they were still about 12 hours from my house). For everything you guys are saying about chicks, eggs, etc, and then many of the pics that I see...Wow. Forgive my lack of tact, but many of you are wasting your time (and enough feed money to feed hundreds of Dorking chicks!

). Good Silvers and Reds are available. I've seen pics of pretty good Colored. Yellow House seems to have nice whites and I know there are other whites available. But you can't always expect to get them delivered to your door! Make it happen! Get involved with the club and then you'll get names of actual breeders, not backyard people with 8-15 birds and no extras. Why are people asking for culls from good birds? I promise you that you can get good birds if you look hard enough and are willing to go to get them. If you aren't will to do that, try Rocks. You can find them anywhere.

(Again, don't take this as a browbeating or me being disrespectful. There is a way to get good birds and you all can do it. There are way too many superlatives flying around here! I gotta have this, I need that, I'm almost ready to die if I don't get my Dorking fix....etc.

)

Rudy

 

[Mrs MIA]

Rtroxel, I wish I lived in the lower 48 where I could just drive to pick up Dorkings... Up until a year ago, I'm pretty sure I was the only one in the state of Alaska with them. Lot more expensive when you start adding travel/shipping costs in. I bought my hatching eggs from good breeders, but you know that chances we take with the USPS...

I know you don't mean any disrespect, and I'm smiling as I type this, but some of us don't have the access to great stock other than shipping in eggs or chicks. And now that I'm NPIP certified, I have to purchase ONLY fro NPIP facilities... that limits my choices considerably. Just sayin'.