B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Totalcolour]

Dorking Eggs/chicks/chickens wanted​

Hi all. I live in the Puget Sound area (Olympia WA) and I'd really like to start a Dorking flock. (Well, since I'm British, it sounded like a good idea). Sadly, I don't know any breeders. Can any of you help me - do you know any breeders in this area?

 

[capayvalleychick]

Dorking Eggs/chicks/chickens wanted​

Hi all. I live in the Puget Sound area (Olympia WA) and I'd really like to start a Dorking flock. (Well, since I'm British, it sounded like a good idea). Sadly, I don't know any breeders. Can any of you help me - do you know any breeders in this area?

Emma at Poultry Palace is in WA. http://www.freewebs.com/whidbeypoultry/

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
so long as the yolk is intact.. they can hatch... edited to add: and as long as they are still inside their shell with no major external damage.. don't want anyone to think that a broken open egg will hatch just fine (and I know there is a smart*** out there somewhere who will misinterpret that)

damaged air cells are no biggie.. you just have to incubate upright for at least several days before tilting or turning the eggs

I have had eggs that were cracked that still hatched (though they also stand a very good chance of being infected with nasty bacteria).. and I have had eggs with battered bubbly air cells hatch just fine.. But once that yolk is scrambled there is no hope for the eggs.

 

[ki4got]

My goal is to hatch out about 300 Dorking chicks this season. Off to a slow start...

I have a friend who incubates the eggs for me. He's a BYC hatchaholic - multiple incubators, an impressive set up with all kinds of the latest equipment. He's always hatching something, for the past year or so, so he's experienced. He gets some almost 100% hatch rates on eggs shipped cross country.

I gave him 52 eggs to start. All 17 Delaware eggs were clears. He set 35 Dork eggs. 20 clears and early quitters. 15 made it longer but then another quitter. 35 set and 21 no goes. 14 clears and 6 quitters out of 35 set.

Four hatched last night and there are 2 more so far with pips.

Any ideas as to what the issue could be with the small hatch rate? It's not inbreeding depression. I had combined several lines in the past, only recently started to line breed. I may have had too many hens with a young cockerel. My next hatch will be from a trio to see if that helps.

What can be the cause of quitters?

Thanks. Cross your fingers that the rest will hatch!

besides inbreeding (and outcrossing to a line then crossing back isn't really enough to fix that since most are from the same lines anyways), i'm also convinced there might be a lethal gene involved... my hatch rates with dorking x something un-dorking (free ranged eggs including buff orp, blue laced red wyandotte and easter eggers) is 100%. pure dorking eggs i have quitters about halfway thru. not as many as i used to. and i think it's mostly within the sg lines...

have you tried crossing sg roo over red hens? that'll give you sg hens to use with your sg roos, and see if it improves... it seems to have helped my lines a bit in the last year. I'm going to keep back a golden cockerel this year, from a red/sg cross, and see how he does over sg hens. that will give red hens sg hens, sg and golden roos ... (same hen results if bred to a red, but 50/50 red/golden cocks). I'm thinking this might also help increase size in my sg's, and type in the reds...

once my breeding pens are done, i'll also have pure sg, pure red, and a mixed pen, to compare results with, but the hens from last year's cross (red hens sg roo) i'm getting a lot better growth in the eggs. we'll see how hatch rates go. they're due in about a week.

 

[Totalcolour]

Quote:
Much appreciated!

 

[BlackPanther]

so long as the yolk is intact.. they can hatch... edited to add: and as long as they are still inside their shell with no major external damage.. don't want anyone to think that a broken open egg will hatch just fine (and I know there is a smart*** out there somewhere who will misinterpret that)

damaged air cells are no biggie.. you just have to incubate upright for at least several days before tilting or turning the eggs

I have had eggs that were cracked that still hatched (though they also stand a very good chance of being infected with nasty bacteria).. and I have had eggs with battered bubbly air cells hatch just fine.. But once that yolk is scrambled there is no hope for the eggs.

LOL about the egg outside the shell! Thanks, that's very helpful. By the way, I love your signature

Just a bit confused about the upright, though -- people tell me to store eggs points down, but it always bothers me just a little (just a little teeny bit, nope, not OCD or anything... well, maybe just a little...

) when the points aren't pointing upward. So should the air cell be on the top for incubating?

 

[capayvalleychick]

besides inbreeding (and outcrossing to a line then crossing back isn't really enough to fix that since most are from the same lines anyways), i'm also convinced there might be a lethal gene involved... my hatch rates with dorking x something un-dorking (free ranged eggs including buff orp, blue laced red wyandotte and easter eggers) is 100%. pure dorking eggs i have quitters about halfway thru. not as many as i used to. and i think it's mostly within the sg lines...

have you tried crossing sg roo over red hens? that'll give you sg hens to use with your sg roos, and see if it improves... it seems to have helped my lines a bit in the last year. I'm going to keep back a golden cockerel this year, from a red/sg cross, and see how he does over sg hens. that will give red hens sg hens, sg and golden roos ... (same hen results if bred to a red, but 50/50 red/golden cocks). I'm thinking this might also help increase size in my sg's, and type in the reds...

once my breeding pens are done, i'll also have pure sg, pure red, and a mixed pen, to compare results with, but the hens from last year's cross (red hens sg roo) i'm getting a lot better growth in the eggs. we'll see how hatch rates go. they're due in about a week.

Thanks for your reply. Sometimes I feel invisible around here.

My Dorking flock truly is not inbred.... I've got McMurray & Sand Hill & Jeanne Fingar & Ideal & Superior + Craiglist finds and some people have given me... divided into 2 breeding groups and bred to become my own.

I do seem to remember a discussion of a lethal gene... dumpy gene, maybe? So that may be the case. But it sounds like I'm the only one having an issue this year.

I did not intentionally cross Red with my Silvers. The Sand Hill birds threw all kinds of color at first, so they were probably crossed varieties. Now I have that worked out to different shades of gray. I sure don't want to introduce other colors ever again. Although, that photo that I showed you awhile back... Brutus, who looked like a SGD. He produced large hatches. Unfortunately his pullet chicks all came out Red or Colored and the cockerels were just a jumble of colors. I sold those all as meat producers and am not using him any more. I just want to stick with Silvers.

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures, though.

 

[yinepu]

Quote: if you are incubating upright the pointy end goes down.. so yes.. air cells (large end) facing up

 

[ki4got]

Quote: yes ALWAYS point down... the air cell needs to be on top for the chick to develop normally. especially if air cells were damaged during shipping, keeping them imobile for a few days after incubation has started (no more than 3-4 days) will help them heal as much as they can. if you use an auto turner, then you can start turning after a few days. ifyou turn by hand, i'd put them in an egg carton and tilt it 30-45 degrees each way several times a day. if you lay them over, the air cell will never stabilize and can damage developing blood vessels if it moves too much.

if you put the air cell down, it may try to relocate, and a chick trying to hatch at the small end of the egg usually doesn't do so well. just had to rescue a shrink-wrapped upside downer...

it's ok, it is very weak from struggling to hatch for an extra day.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I don't think the silver greys are even close to overly inbred. I think it boils down to a vigor issue and needs to be a point of selection. I think it requires working with multiple cocks and working with those that have the best average results for both fertility and hatchability.

Use a good breeder pellet with them and try to observe them when they copulate to make sure that the males are actually making consistent and thorough connection.