B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Kilsharion]

I had typed up quite a long response, as well. However, in my old age, I am finally learning discretion. Imagine that.

Regardless - each of us is entitled to our own opinions. Each just as valuable as the other - only worth what energy we spend on them. So - happy times - yay Dorkings! **goes upstairs to watch her brooder and relax**

 

[cukooformarans]

I am letting my red dorkings out in the yard for the first time today! So cute!

 

[pysankigirl]

The spreading around of mongrels just makes mongrels the practice of folks who aren't thereby beginning with good stock. If folks come to your place and walk away with mutts, they're getting common refuse. What does that serve and how does it benefit them?

This is kind of harsh. just because a bird isn't a purebred bird, doesn't make it "refuse" to most people. Reuse and recycle, not just throw things away. They can still lay eggs (or be fattened to eat if it is male.) Most people today are not going to breed...they aren't even allowed to have roosters alot of time. so they are not looking for "stock" to start breeding with. they just want a nice hen. best to have a purebred dorking, yes, but not worthless otherwise.

Personally, I am not going to kill my "culls" unless there is something wrong with them. I will give them away to people who will use them for meat or eggs. Or even sell them if they are older and I have put alot of feed money into them, to try and recoup that expense. occasionally oops birds happen. And I am told you do have to breed quite a few birds even if they are "pure" to get something that you want to breed...so not every bird is destined to produce offspring or win at a show. but that doesn't make it worthless.

The BYC Dorking club should be for Breeders and Dorking owners alike. And if some of the owners eventually transition into breeders, then I think that is great for the breed. the gene pool (for both birds and owners) needs to be as wide as we can make it. I don't want the people who arent as fanatical to be run off. Ownership is like a gateway drug. you have to try them out before you get hooked. and the more people try dorkings out, I think the more will find out that they like them.

just my opinion so take with a grain of salt.

 

[ki4got]

i'm sorry but it just trips my trigger, when someone starts playing the 'holier than thou' card...

the dorkings are fine and wonderful, and the perfect LF bird for me. but it doesn't seem anyone else in our immediate area is interested. the majority of birds sold in this area go to homes where they are allowed a limited number of hens, no roos. so they want the most colorful flock they can manage.

in the mean time, i've had to deal with fire destroying one pen, trees landing on others. i don't have enough level ground to do what i want where i want with my new pens, so they're being assembled in my driveway until we can get some trees taken out and the ground leveled. maybe once that's done, then i'll be able to set up these YOUNG BIRDS that were hatched last year (late summer into early fall), set up how i want them.

so yeah i'm selling mutts... i'm not selling them off as dorkings, unlike some farms i've seen, who will sell anything with 5 toes that vaguely resembles a dorking as purebred.

so if i'm a bad breeder because i like to hatch any eggs that come along, and pass them along to others who will enjoy them, then i must be. but i'm honest about what i am selling, and when i have birds penned up to produce pure eggs, i am breeding for the improvement of the line.

but until such a time, i don't see how it's anyone else's business what i do or why. that is between me, my chickens and my customers.

 

[BlackPanther]

Quote:

i just typed up a long detailed message, justifying what i'm doing, but you know what? i don't NEED to justify myself to you or anyone else.

my dorkings are mine and i love having them around. yes i want to improve the breed, but that will have to wait until my breeding pens are done.

until then, i sell mutt chicks (keeping the pure) to people who want birds that will either lay eggs or can be eaten if they crow. and that in itself is paying for the materials and feed to keep these precious dorkings around...

AND: to those breeders who currently grinding their teeth.

I fully approve of this!
YES, we need breeders to keep these rare breeds and quality in them around.
But you know? Just because you're not a breeder doesn't mean you should be disqualified from having them! If you had to be a knowledgable breeder to have a rare breed, there wouldn't be very many about! People wanting to have them, even if they aren't set up to do breeding themselves, give those breeders some commercial return; and that in turn gives the breeders some funding to continue their project!
Really, if nobody wanted Dorkings, how many breeders would stick with it for very long unless they truly loved the birds?

So... If some of us like the Dorkings, but, like me and ki4got aren't really set up for all that, are we going to be forbidden to have them? I should certainly hope not...
We don't need the best of quality breeding stock, but that doesn't mean we should buy rubbish. If people want to make an effort to keep them going and try to improve on them, that's great. And if others see these interesting and beautiful birds that we've got and decide they want some too, doesn't that help the Dorkings? Because once their interest is aroused, they might just decide that they want to seriously breed Dorkings! And if nothing else, it keeps something of a market alive for these birds.

So, all that to say, yes, breeders are great. We need breeders. We respect and appreciate breeders. But we love Dorkings too, even if we are not breeders, so please don't rail at us for liking the same breed... I understand that it can be frustrating and upsetting to you if you seriously breed and somebody else is making seemingly random matings within a breed or crosses with others. But hey -- different people exist. And while some of us, personally, may not be able to see the attraction to them -- obviously, someone likes these, or they wouldn't be selling! I'm sure the purpose of having the Dorkings was not to create mutts, but that their owners genuinely liked the Dorkings, and want them to stick around! In the future, they may even be able to take their stock and start that breeding that you want them to do. But if you discourage them from having Dorkings, that may never happen!

Encourage good breeding, and grit your teeth when somebody does something you consider to be 'bad' -- you can snarl to yourself all you want, but please don't make them feel guilty about liking a rare breed -- of course you can point out what isn't neccessarily good, and definitely give help where you can! Really, really try not to get angry. Since you don't own the birds, it's out of your hands. Keep working on your own birds, rejoice in your triumphs, and share your enthusiasm! You could inspire others to get into it themselves!


So... um.... yeah... long post. If you don't necessarily like some of the things I've said, I'll uh.... just... go hide under a chair...

...and hope you don't yell at me too badly...

 

[pysankigirl]

I was thinking about this while I was cleaning and there seems to be a belief by the "serious" breeders out there that there is only a certain amount of room for dorkings and if you take up some of that room with a chicken that is inferior in some way then you are taking room away from that good birds. Like a sponge that only has room for so much water. But if you allow people to have some fun with a breed...(trying to make "colored" work and breed true, for example.) What happens is the sponge actually gets bigger. Having dorkings is more fun, so more people actually WANT to do it. And not only do they have the project birds, but they also have the standard colors and are working on them as well. For the breed it is a win because there is a larger gene pool for future dorking owners and if people are having fun, they indroduce more people to the breed and they get their start.

And not everyone had been doing this for a bazillion years, either. I have owned chickens less than a year. Landing on new people about not being serious enough is going to chase them off. People need to start somewhere and if having a free-ranging flock is a way to start, then great! I know alot of us have plans for building separate pens, breeding coops and the like but just haven't gotten there yet. And someone with alot of enthusiasm who could become an asset to the breed can be chased off

Let's face it, none of us are in this for the money. Most of the time we are just trying to convince our spouses that we are not spending too much on this hobby and waving a $50 bill under their noses every once in a while helps us be allowed to have dorkings at all.

if you don't have to do this you are darned lucky!

 

[ki4got]

i never said i was a 'serious breeder', but i do plan to breed. silver greys and reds, with a colored project on the side.

my cochins came first though, and i will always make room for them. the dorking is pretty new to me though, comparatively. I hatched my first dorkings from shipped eggs in the fall of 2011. then i bought a trio. i only started hatching from that trio last summer. my sandhill birds and other chicks i hatched grew out and finally started laying last fall. NOW they're starting to lay again.

and if i ever get the *bleeping* coop done then i will actually be able to set up the trios/quads i want to, so i can do my best to improve my own lines. but until i win the lotto, can miraculously move without pain, or it builds itself, i have to muddle along as i can each day and hope to finish it before winter sets back in. LOL

i started this coop project back in November. then one thing after another and i'm still working on it. but today was our first 70+ day and i've gotten some more work done, pieces cut, etc. soon i'll start assembling it. but before then we also need to move an existing pen (can't do that alone) cut down some trees and see about levelling an area roughly 30' square.

I'm not doing this all for the dorkings, i'm doing it for ME. and like pysankigirl says, we also have to show the hubbies that the chickens aren't a financial drain all the time. heck, i hatched out more than 50 chicks in the last 3 weeks, and all he asks is do i need more shavings or feed when he stops by to fill the propane. i consider that lucky by any standard.

 

[Totalcolour]

Quote: Everyone has the right to breed how and what type wish BUT: the purebred gene pool of QUALITY birds is NOT increased by breeding "BACKYARD" chickens of unknown parentage. Unless you keep them separate for the breeding season, there is NO WAY you will know absolutely certainly which are purebreds and which are not.

Ok, not trying to step om anyone's toes - I just hope that those who breed mixres, don't sell the chick as purebreds, no matter how gorgeous they are.

 

[Totalcolour]

I'm not doing this all for the dorkings, i'm doing it for ME. and like pysankigirl says, we also have to show the hubbies that the chickens aren't a financial drain all the time. heck, i hatched out more than 50 chicks in the last 3 weeks, and all he asks is do i need more shavings or feed when he stops by to fill the propane. i consider that lucky by any standard.

Well nothing wrong with that; I keep a spreadsheet to gather data on how much I make and one thing is certain

ALL MY PUREBRED CHICKS SELL FOR TWICE THE SALE PRICE OF THE CROSSBREEDS!
LEES WORK LESS TIME, MORE INCOME!
I guess I'm lucky I can separate them.

 

[Kilsharion]

Everyone has the right to breed how and what type wish BUT: the purebred gene pool of QUALITY birds is NOT increased by breeding "BACKYARD" chickens of unknown parentage. Unless you keep them separate for the breeding season, there is NO WAY you will know absolutely certainly which are purebreds and which are not.

Ok, not trying to step om anyone's toes - I just hope that those who breed mixres, don't sell the chick as purebreds, no matter how gorgeous they are.

Nary a one on here that has talked about any of their mixes has once said, nor implied that they sell them as pure dorkings. As a matter of fact, they have made it quite clear that they impart full details about the parentage of such hybrids.