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It might just be a question of breeding them up. I think that Dokrings are being intercepted from the one-way road just in the knick of time. I think that they're in tougher shape as a breed. They require above all our patience, commitment, and discipline. People have often asked me where they can find SQ Dorkings. I might give them a name or two, but I don't have much hope for them, because I often get the impression that they don't want to do the work of breeding up. It's as if they want to simply draw on the work of others. I'm sure your current stock isn't perfect, but I think if you were to hatch heavy and cull hard, you'd see some nice improvement.
I just find it strange that I've only heard this on the Dorking thread. Common sense dictates that one would try to find the best possible stock. Even "show quality" stock doesn't reliably produce show quality offspring. So, you would still need to cull hard for your breeding stock. No disrespect meant, but now that we know that people are getting "dorkings" with feathered feet & green legs, should we keep recommending buying from the hatchery producing these? I know my Dorkings aren't perfect, but they're what I have right now. We're going to do some experimantal outcrosses to see if we can improve vigor.
There are very few SQ Dorkings available from anywhere. None of the sources can supply the demand. I don't think there are any SQ WHite Dorkings available at all. Colored Dorkings are near impossible to breed to the Standard. Cuckoo Dorkings, for just being admitted to the Standard, have practically disappeared from the scene. I know of a couple of underground breeders who are said to have excellent stock, but they keep to themselves and, therefore, are not viable suppliers. There are very few national hatcheries that carry stock. They only carry the SG. Of the two primary sources, one is fairly good, one is rather aweful. Then there's Sand Hill. Dorking people fit into the rank of "Beggars can't be choosers" or the very lucky. I could grab at an ideal that is perfectly viable for White Rocks and insist that I'm not going to raise White Dorkings until I have SQ stock, but if I do that, the few that are avaiable will pass me by, and pass from our history.
If we follow the decline of poultry, we notcie that only those breeds that were extremely common at the beginning of the fall are still in any way reliably available today, e.g. certain Rocks, certain Wyandottes, RIR, NH, Buff Orpingtons, certain Leghorns, Black Minorcas, Light Brahmas. They, having greater numbers were able to withstand depopulation more feasably. However, if they were already rarer, e.g. Crevecoeurs, Houdans, La Fleche, Redcaps, certain Hamburgs, most Dorkings, etc..., the chance finding SQ stock of high quality and being able to access it is less likely. Breeders of these breeds may have to resort to beginning with less that ideal stock and using traditional methods of breeding up, if they are to attain their goals.
We began with Sand Hill White Dorkings. Ok.
We have abreeder friend who shared a nice cockerel with us. Definite improvement.
We have been working up from here. All along I have been looking for better stock and following leads, but six years into this game of "Hunt for White Dorkings" I may have just received my first real lead on another strain. Still, I'm very glad to have been working with our original fowl, and the time has not been lost. Our customers, primarily people who now poultry through the plate, have even remarked on the continual improvement of our roasters. Now we trun to other issues such as comb and toes, etc.... If this other strain works out--great. Then we will have two strains. If it doesn't, well, we have several years of hatching and culling into our strain. Last fall a poultry judge and buddy came over to pick up some muscovies and, in so doing, toured the property. He was impressed both with the number of Dorking we breed annually and with their quality--not because they are show stoppers---but because they are showing signs of strong improvement. He could see where they were going, and that pleased me, because I knew whence I was beginning.
"Start with the very best stock you can get" might mean something drastically different if one is discussing White Leghorns than if one is discussing Houdans. The hope for Houdans lies in those who are willing to begin with inferior sstock and work their way up for 10 years. I think that will be the case with our Dorkings, too. Such is life.
