B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[tgrlily]

Quote:
Geez... sorry that it's tough for me to hear someone is culling eggs because they're medium. I'd gladly hatch them. They're supposed to lay a "medium to large" egg. My personal hatching issues are because I totally suck at hatching in little styro-bators... so I just bought a sportsman.

I know that both Tori & I have belonged to the yahoo Dorking group for a couple of years. Neither group is very active... there are actually many more recent posts about Dorkings right here on BYC. I posted that I'm looking for cuckoo on the yahoo club awhile ago & heard nothing. I suggested a census and a database on the yahoo group so people can find the Dorking varieties they're looking for. I have searched the official club forum for "cuckoo" and found a reference to an old breeding article that suggested they were a cross with Dominiques. I just posted a wanted ad there. Do you know anyone who has white or cuckoo that is willing to sell chicks, eggs or breeding stock?

Uhhhh... if I need a Dorking fix, I'll go out to the Dorking pen & carry Akasha around a bit. Or go to one of the brooders & play with a Dorking chick. I don't need a "fix" badly enough to drive 13 hours each way. Other than the chickens, I have a husband, a son involved in sports & theatre, a diabetic daughter in college across the state who is also in theater and I run my own business. Mail order or a reasonable drive just works better for me.

I personally see nothing wrong with expressing our frustration with how difficult they are to find. As I've been saying... as soon as we've built up our breeding stock, we'll share. Gladly. The reason we have Dorkings is because Noah wanted to help save the breed. I think that's such an admirable concept at such a young age. Well, you can't save them by hoarding them. Is it wrong to think that?

BTW... I pack eggs really well & have no problem shipping to Alaska.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Quote:
No disrespect here, but I think you are wrong. I've been trying to raise Silver Gray Dorkings since 2005. My first flock was from McMurray. That was my first attempt at having purebred chickens and I didn't know the difference between hatchery and breeder stock. I joined the Dorking Club right away and discussed my birds with Phil Bartz. Fortunately, the birds I had were good ones, probably Urch line. What I didn't do was use an incubator to reproduce my Dorkings. I have many heritage breeds and I value the trait of having stock that raise their own young. I kept hoping for them to go broody, which they never did. I asked Club members at that time if anyone would sell me stock. No one would. I'm in California, which was too far for anyone to ship to me. Finally, in 2009, I gave in and ordered hatching eggs from a reputable breeder. I couldn't afford to drive to Montana. Out of 2 doz. eggs, I got 1 rooster with faults. Again, I tried contacting breeders in the Club, breeders in the ALBC directory. No one has SGD breeding stock or even chicks. I never got anything out of the Club, so I stopped paying dues. I'm still on the Yahoo group and am mostly ignored. I stayed in contact with Phil and begged him for breeding stock. He told me that he would find me some. I waited and waited. I bought SGDs off Craigslist out of desparation. I ordered from Sandhill and got some off colored Dorks that did go broody. So I finally have the broody Dorkings that I want but with all kinds of color & misc. faults. I also bought a roo from someone who got one of the last SGD shipments out of Superior Farms. He also has color faults. BTW, Dick Horstman's SGDs are also from the last of Superior's stock.
This year, I decided that I was going to do everything in my power to get some SGDs that are as close to the SOP as possible. I've been working on this EVERY DAY. I have literally contacted every single person in the USA that I can find that has SGDs, that are not hatchery stock. THERE ARE VERY FEW. I even researched importing from England, which I can't afford, and Canada. The breeder in Canada won't go to the trouble it takes with the paperwork. Phil Bartz is no longer breeding. Roger Tice doesn't return phone calls. Duane Urch is sold out (every year I try). There is not a breeder in the US with quality SGDs, not related to mine, not hatchery stock, that has breeding birds or chicks to sell me right now. I do have one person willing to sell me some breeding SGDs this fall. I've been in contact with Craig Russell and he is the one breeder that I can find who will sell me good SGDs. So now, I just have to save enough money to get myself to the show in Indiana this year and I will finally have some SGDs.
So, as far as the Silver Grays go, it is not easy to find good stock!

Kim

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

Quote:
No disrespect here, but I think you are wrong. I've been trying to raise Silver Gray Dorkings since 2005. My first flock was from McMurray. That was my first attempt at having purebred chickens and I didn't know the difference between hatchery and breeder stock. I joined the Dorking Club right away and discussed my birds with Phil Bartz. Fortunately, the birds I had were good ones, probably Urch line. What I didn't do was use an incubator to reproduce my Dorkings. I have many heritage breeds and I value the trait of having stock that raise their own young. I kept hoping for them to go broody, which they never did. I asked Club members at that time if anyone would sell me stock. No one would. I'm in California, which was too far for anyone to ship to me. Finally, in 2009, I gave in and ordered hatching eggs from a reputable breeder. I couldn't afford to drive to Montana. Out of 2 doz. eggs, I got 1 rooster with faults. Again, I tried contacting breeders in the Club, breeders in the ALBC directory. No one has SGD breeding stock or even chicks. I never got anything out of the Club, so I stopped paying dues. I'm still on the Yahoo group and am mostly ignored. I stayed in contact with Phil and begged him for breeding stock. He told me that he would find me some. I waited and waited. I bought SGDs off Craigslist out of desparation. I ordered from Sandhill and got some off colored Dorks that did go broody. So I finally have the broody Dorkings that I want but with all kinds of color & misc. faults. I also bought a roo from someone who got one of the last SGD shipments out of Superior Farms. He also has color faults. BTW, Dick Horstman's SGDs are also from the last of Superior's stock.
This year, I decided that I was going to do everything in my power to get some SGDs that are as close to the SOP as possible. I've been working on this EVERY DAY. I have literally contacted every single person in the USA that I can find that has SGDs, that are not hatchery stock. THERE ARE VERY FEW. I even researched importing from England, which I can't afford, and Canada. The breeder in Canada won't go to the trouble it takes with the paperwork. Phil Bartz is no longer breeding. Roger Tice doesn't return phone calls. Duane Urch is sold out (every year I try). There is not a breeder in the US with quality SGDs, not related to mine, not hatchery stock, that has breeding birds or chicks to sell me right now. I do have one person willing to sell me some breeding SGDs this fall. I've been in contact with Craig Russell and he is the one breeder that I can find who will sell me good SGDs. So now, I just have to save enough money to get myself to the show in Indiana this year and I will finally have some SGDs.
So, as far as the Silver Grays go, it is not easy to find good stock!

Kim

if you work this hard at it you will eventually have a good flock of them... i hope you will shear them once you do... and then ill just buy from you

its really hard to get good stock in some of the rarer breeds... ive been trying for 3 years to get LF white Cornish and maby ill get some this fall...

 

[rtroxel]

As I mentioned, there was no attempt on my part to be disrespectful. I'm sorry that your tone here indicates that you were offended by what I said and that you felt I was speaking directly to you. I didn't want to do that. I apologize. I applaud your son's desire to raise rare breeds. When I was 17, I drove to Pennsylvania to get some Sultans that were so inbred that I could only keep them going for a few years before an owl ate my last servicable rooster. They were the only decent ones I could find and after that, I started a different project. I know what it's like to look for and get rare breeds. I brought Partridge Wyandottes back from near extinction by driving 12 hours to get a rooster and then sell in the 80 chicks I hatched to everywhere from WA to OH to KS as adult birds. Today almost every Partridge Wyandotte breeder in the US can trace his stock to me. I wish I could have done the same with the Sultans. Honestly, I was only suggesting that all of you looking for rare breeds try to build relationships with breeders and get adult birds shipped to your houses if you can't drive. Chicks and Eggs (especially) are almost unknown quantities! The cost of express mail is only a little more than shipping eggs at $1-2 a piece. I just did the research (for a person interested in peafowl) and shipping express to Alaska for a #20 box is about $120. With the box and birds, we are talking about $200-250 for a pair or trio of adults. From a reputable breeder, I would personally take my chances. I found a pair of silvers in Iowa that were from show stock originally that will be a good starting place. I'll cross the reds and silvers to get the type and work backward for the silver color. Does Ed Hart no longer have whites in IL? Yellow House, don't you sell adult birds?

Well, in any case, I'm planning on hatching 100+ Reds this year and if you all want some, let me know. They just started laying last week and when I get my breeding pens set up and my eggs hatching, I won't be keeping them to myself. There would be no point in having them if that were all I was going to do with them.

Quote:
Geez... sorry that it's tough for me to hear someone is culling eggs because they're medium. I'd gladly hatch them. They're supposed to lay a "medium to large" egg. My personal hatching issues are because I totally suck at hatching in little styro-bators... so I just bought a sportsman.

I know that both Tori & I have belonged to the yahoo Dorking group for a couple of years. Neither group is very active... there are actually many more recent posts about Dorkings right here on BYC. I posted that I'm looking for cuckoo on the yahoo club awhile ago & heard nothing. I suggested a census and a database on the yahoo group so people can find the Dorking varieties they're looking for. I have searched the official club forum for "cuckoo" and found a reference to an old breeding article that suggested they were a cross with Dominiques. I just posted a wanted ad there. Do you know anyone who has white or cuckoo that is willing to sell chicks, eggs or breeding stock?

Uhhhh... if I need a Dorking fix, I'll go out to the Dorking pen & carry Akasha around a bit. Or go to one of the brooders & play with a Dorking chick. I don't need a "fix" badly enough to drive 13 hours each way. Other than the chickens, I have a husband, a son involved in sports & theatre, a diabetic daughter in college across the state who is also in theater and I run my own business. Mail order or a reasonable drive just works better for me.

I personally see nothing wrong with expressing our frustration with how difficult they are to find. As I've been saying... as soon as we've built up our breeding stock, we'll share. Gladly. The reason we have Dorkings is because Noah wanted to help save the breed. I think that's such an admirable concept at such a young age. Well, you can't save them by hoarding them. Is it wrong to think that?

BTW... I pack eggs really well & have no problem shipping to Alaska.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Geez... sorry that it's tough for me to hear someone is culling eggs because they're medium. I'd gladly hatch them. They're supposed to lay a "medium to large" egg. My personal hatching issues are because I totally suck at hatching in little styro-bators... so I just bought a sportsman.

I know that both Tori & I have belonged to the yahoo Dorking group for a couple of years. Neither group is very active... there are actually many more recent posts about Dorkings right here on BYC. I posted that I'm looking for cuckoo on the yahoo club awhile ago & heard nothing. I suggested a census and a database on the yahoo group so people can find the Dorking varieties they're looking for. I have searched the official club forum for "cuckoo" and found a reference to an old breeding article that suggested they were a cross with Dominiques. I just posted a wanted ad there. Do you know anyone who has white or cuckoo that is willing to sell chicks, eggs or breeding stock?

Uhhhh... if I need a Dorking fix, I'll go out to the Dorking pen & carry Akasha around a bit. Or go to one of the brooders & play with a Dorking chick. I don't need a "fix" badly enough to drive 13 hours each way. Other than the chickens, I have a husband, a son involved in sports & theatre, a diabetic daughter in college across the state who is also in theater and I run my own business. Mail order or a reasonable drive just works better for me.

I personally see nothing wrong with expressing our frustration with how difficult they are to find. As I've been saying... as soon as we've built up our breeding stock, we'll share. Gladly. The reason we have Dorkings is because Noah wanted to help save the breed. I think that's such an admirable concept at such a young age. Well, you can't save them by hoarding them. Is it wrong to think that?

BTW... I pack eggs really well & have no problem shipping to Alaska.

Renee, put me on your list...

It's still too cold here for shipping eggs in, but another 4-6 weeks and I would be interested.

 

[tgrlily]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Quote:
Geez... sorry that it's tough for me to hear someone is culling eggs because they're medium. I'd gladly hatch them. They're supposed to lay a "medium to large" egg. My personal hatching issues are because I totally suck at hatching in little styro-bators... so I just bought a sportsman.

I know that both Tori & I have belonged to the yahoo Dorking group for a couple of years. Neither group is very active... there are actually many more recent posts about Dorkings right here on BYC. I posted that I'm looking for cuckoo on the yahoo club awhile ago & heard nothing. I suggested a census and a database on the yahoo group so people can find the Dorking varieties they're looking for. I have searched the official club forum for "cuckoo" and found a reference to an old breeding article that suggested they were a cross with Dominiques. I just posted a wanted ad there. Do you know anyone who has white or cuckoo that is willing to sell chicks, eggs or breeding stock?

Uhhhh... if I need a Dorking fix, I'll go out to the Dorking pen & carry Akasha around a bit. Or go to one of the brooders & play with a Dorking chick. I don't need a "fix" badly enough to drive 13 hours each way. Other than the chickens, I have a husband, a son involved in sports & theatre, a diabetic daughter in college across the state who is also in theater and I run my own business. Mail order or a reasonable drive just works better for me.

I personally see nothing wrong with expressing our frustration with how difficult they are to find. As I've been saying... as soon as we've built up our breeding stock, we'll share. Gladly. The reason we have Dorkings is because Noah wanted to help save the breed. I think that's such an admirable concept at such a young age. Well, you can't save them by hoarding them. Is it wrong to think that?

BTW... I pack eggs really well & have no problem shipping to Alaska.

Renee, put me on your list...

It's still too cold here for shipping eggs in, but another 4-6 weeks and I would be interested.

You are at the top of my list!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Renee, put me on your list...

It's still too cold here for shipping eggs in, but another 4-6 weeks and I would be interested.

You are at the top of my list!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I hear, through the frustration, an encounter with the hard reality that rare means rare. I understand completely. It is so darned frustrating, and it took more than a little time for us to develop what we have. Moreover, they're still in need of so much work.

We don't ship because we're currently not NPIP, and I don't know that we're heading that track. I am more than a little suspicious of unelected regulatory bureaucracies. That doesn't mean though that people can't come get stock.

This year, we're not selling chicks. I'm going to raise every single chick that I reserve as worth raising. However, I'll only be reserving a certain amount as breeders, and I would share the rest with those who know what it is that they're buying and who are willing to put the time into breeding them up.

As far as top SOP quality Dorkings, well.... I'm not sure they exist in grand number. Ed Hart is a good source for eggs. Join the Dorking Breeders Club. Jim Parker is the secretary. Get Ed's contact info and give him a try. He has some nice stock. He sent me a cockerel four or five years ago that was very nice.

I think that in the current Dorking climate, we have to be:

1. Creative with how we come by stock.

2. in it for the long hall because we might need to invest several years' breeding into approaching the SOP

Lastly, and I've caught a lot of flack for this on BYC before, but.....

Once you've found your seed stock, I think it necessary to limit your breed and variety choices if you're going to make strong progress in a reasonable amount of time.

If I were in a situation, subjective statement here, where I could only raise 100 chicks and I wanted to make progress in the breed within a reasonable amount of time, I'd raise only one variety of one breed.

I do think that Rudy is right in saying that the surest bet is finding a breeder from whom you can get breeding stock in the fall. Chicks are variable and eggs are a crap shoot. Someone on here mentioned getting an order from Sand Hill and only reserving a trio, which, to me, sounds about right. If you get a trio out of 25 chicks you've done well.

Let's persevere! I know it's tough. If we go NPIP in ayear or two, we'll start selling chicks, perhaps. Until then, we're only a car ride away.

 

[Urbanfarmerkc]

Quote:
I'm so happy you said what you did about NPIP... I want to think it is a good idea and I finally got all the stuff sent to me to look at. I just haven't been able to get myself to go for it. I think it is an unofficial registry of chickens and I do NOT trust the government... They scare me...

 

[rtroxel]

I've never been NPIP but I was a certified tester. The only reason to be NPIP for me would be ease of showing and getting my own paperwork done. 99.99% of flocks (or higher) are pullorum/typhoid free in the US. If you show, you are going to pick up MG, MS, CRD, etc. no matter how careful you are, unless you never mix the birds you show with your other birds and probably would need to keep them on another location. I would say, be certified testers unless you want to ship chicks. Then you can test your own and test anything you bring in and that makes you de facto NPIP. Doesn't it? That's my methodology.