B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ki4got]

Keep this Dorking thread going folks!

I decided to get on the bandwagon and help to improve this magnificent breed.

So if anybody has laying Dorkings now and does not hatch them at the moment I am on the market for eggs, since down here in Fl we are hatching birds year around.

Please decent stock, Sandhill acceptable, no Ideal or other mass producers (Ideal etc) stock.

Just shot me PM what you've got.

Thanks

dick horstman has nice reds, mary wetterstrom has sg and reds, yellowhousefarm has whites, and i'm working on red and sg, with colored as a side project... (google them for contact info)

unfortunately, with my free ranging flock, i'm not finding many eggs right now. once i set up another pen to keep them in, it should get easier to find eggs. then once my incubators are full, i'll have eggs available, and will post here about it too.

Hi, fellow Dorking enthusiasts!
I have been reading on Dorkings > 1 year, tried a batch of non-standard-colors Dorkings and would like your input on making the final choice between rose-combed white OR single-combed silver gray Dorkings.

As I see it, the whites have the advantage of being a single solid color (supposedly easier/better for a new fancier to breed properly,) and the comb should be less prone to frost damage. The silver grays were the variety I wanted for over 35 years, (I did not know other varieties existed) but I don't care for the many photos I have seen of dark/rust colored hen breast feathers, and breeding the color pattern properly sounded difficult when I read an OEG article on the silver duckwing pattern.

Could any or all of you chime in on the relative historicity/availability/quality of these 2 varieties?

Thank you,
Angela
btw, the anticipated relocation this winter means I get to build my dream chicken house-probably this summer-which I can then populate with a pair or trio of my "chosen" chickens.

when i lived in Maine, my 'coop' was part of the horse barn (unheated) and we never had a problem with single combs... the key to preventing frostbite is minimizing moisture in the bedding. if there isn't much moisture in the air, it won't condense out onto the combs.

i personally prefer the single comb over rose, and much prefer a patterned bird to a solid color. then again, we have nice virginia red clay as the basis for all our dirt, and white does not stay white for long. LOL doesn't matter what species. i've got pinto minis and a white standard poodle, sold off all the white cochins. they are/were all a uniform beige. interesting to note tho, the sg roos do tend to keep their nice silvery white hackles/saddle. but i also don't think they dustbathe as often as the girls do.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

If I may, YHF, can I rephrase the mating system you just described to see which parts I do/don't understand?

Start with 2 trios, call the males A and B, call the females red, yellow, blue and green. Assign male A to females red and blue, male B to females green and yellow. Mark each egg/segregate them in the incubator, and mark the chicks immediately so the parentage will be certain. Each pullet is assigned to her mother's color group, ad infinitum.

Do you then send the red cockerel to the blue hens, and the blue cockerel to the green hens, green cockerel to the yellow hens and yellow cockerel to the red hens?

Each original cock stays with his 2 original color groups. Now, this is the part I am a little murky on..when do you add in another 2 males? And when do you cull out the original birds?

Thanks,
Angela

Well, the first part is spot on, but hopefully you have some up-and-coming cockerels that are strong enought o replace your prior cockerels. The hens always stay in their clan, but the males born of a female clan are never in that clan. You can change males yearly, just making sure they're not over their mother's clan.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Hi, fellow Dorking enthusiasts!
I have been reading on Dorkings > 1 year, tried a batch of non-standard-colors Dorkings and would like your input on making the final choice between rose-combed white OR single-combed silver gray Dorkings.

As I see it, the whites have the advantage of being a single solid color (supposedly easier/better for a new fancier to breed properly,) and the comb should be less prone to frost damage. The silver grays were the variety I wanted for over 35 years, (I did not know other varieties existed) but I don't care for the many photos I have seen of dark/rust colored hen breast feathers, and breeding the color pattern properly sounded difficult when I read an OEG article on the silver duckwing pattern.

Could any or all of you chime in on the relative historicity/availability/quality of these 2 varieties?

Thank you,
Angela

btw, the anticipated relocation this winter means I get to build my dream chicken house-probably this summer-which I can then populate with a pair or trio of my "chosen" chickens.

Well, by all means, if the SG are what floats your boat; then, that's the way to go. I actually love the whites. They are stunningly beautiful en masse. The white is so pure with white feet and beaks. The red of face just stands out. I love the rose combed birds. They're great. A ciascuno il suo-to each his own.

 

[OSUman]

Does anyone know of anyone in or around IL with White Dorkings?

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Does anyone know of anyone in or around IL with White Dorkings?

The 2012 Breeders Directory of the Dorking Breeders Club lists a breeder in Lee's Summit, Missouri and a breeder in Sorrento, Illinois. I am not sure if it is okay to post that info here, but if you pm me I will send you the contact info I have for either/both breeders.
Angela

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Thank you, ki4got and YHF, for your input.
Ki4got, I am moving to the Texas Panhandle, with an average annual precipitation of 19 inches, relative humidity of ~ 20%, so excess moisture will never be a problem. I spent my childhood there, and only remember 1 or 2 frost bitten combs (after very severe blizzards) in my entire childhood. Also, the dirt is sort of grayish-brownish, and didn't really stain anything, although the "white" chickens were sort of off-white.
YHF, those white Dorkings of yours were the first all-white birds I have ever even liked, and I thought yours were absolutely beautiful!! They are the entire reason I put white Dorkings on my short list. If I had seen a picture of them in the McMurray's catalog in grade school, I might have dreamt of them rather than the silver-grays for the past (clears throat) years. And, like many things re-evaluated in adulthood, the Silver Grays are not quite as fabulous now as I thought they were then (though still worthy of consideration!)
Any other opinions?

 

[imtrying]

Keep this Dorking thread going folks!

I decided to get on the bandwagon and help to improve this magnificent breed.

So if anybody has laying Dorkings now and does not hatch them at the moment I am on the market for eggs, since down here in Fl we are hatching birds year around.

Please decent stock, Sandhill acceptable, no Ideal or other mass producers (Ideal etc) stock.

Just shot me PM what you've got.

Thanks

i'm looking for reds, as well. haven't found any yet. rather sad.

 

[countrygoddess]

i'm looking for reds, as well. haven't found any yet. rather sad.

On the Dorking Breeders site (a post from a couple of years ago, though--sadly, the site hasn't been active in a long, long time) there is a guy named Roger Tice who has Reds. Or did two years ago, anyway. He lives in Oklahoma. Message me and I'll give you the phone number he posted. There are 36 people listed as breeders of Dorkings in the ALBC breeders directory, but it doesn't specify which color. Craig and Ruth Russel are listed in the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities breeders directory as having Reds. I've got their number, too, if you message me.

 

[countrygoddess]

I had a thought yesterday. Tell me what you think...

I read on here all the time people who are disappointed with the Dorkings they get from hatcheries, or they are disappointed because the stock they get from breeders is subpar in some way. People request chicks and hatching eggs, but specify that they want good stock. Here's the thing, though: aren't we all interested in Dorkings because they are disappearing, and because they are disappearing the available stock is not so great? Aren't we all interested in Dorkings because we want to improve them? Conserve them? I got chicks from McMurray. No, they aren't perfect, but that's why I have them. I want to be a part of bringing this breed back to its former glory, but because it's a rare breed, that will take some time. We have to start somewhere. Now, clearly, I'm not saying take in Farmer Brown's half Silver-Gray/half Easter Egger and turn it into 100% Dorking. I guess eventually, the Easter Egger can be bred out, though, if you think about it. If we could all get Dorkings from hatcheries and breeders that are already SOP or even a generation or two from it, then what are we all doing here?

 

[Jwhip]

Ed Hart from Sorrento ILL no longer has Dorkings. I was told they all were purchased by Sandhills. I have Ed's strain of whites. There has been a lot of interest in the Whites (which is great). I just hope people understand that they are a work in progress. A few breeders like YHF and others have really helped the breed. I'm just a newbie. Rome wasn't built in a day.