I always love reading what everyone is saying on this thread.
I think that all of us raising Dorkings have adjusted to the reality that they are a work in progress. It's going to take a good while, but I'm sure we're going to get there.
I haven't made the final culls for 2012 pullets yet, but I've been handling them a bit each night. There are certain girls that are showing some nice bulk. At this point, that's one of my key selection points, namely, that the females feel dense--dense and thick. The color is looking good this year.
Yup Roger Tice and Ed Hart have retired. Ed is off to Florida to enjoy a deserved retirement. Ed has been such a resource of knowledge and experience. I already miss knowing that he has stock. This, though, illustrates why we need to have these birds in as many hands as possible. We all have to retire at some point. Moreover, it reinforces, to me at least, why we need to be foucsed on specific colors, eac representing a sub-community in the wider Dorking community.
A buddy of mine, an excellent breeder of poultry here in NH, just returned from England. He and a few others went to England to tour the poultry shows. He, not a Dorking breeder himself but a mentor and encourager of our program at YHF, was excited to share news of the Dorkings there. He was clearly impressed, especially with the Silver Greys, although he also said that the Reds were strong. I guess I should say that he is not only an excellent breeder but also a judge, and he was in the company of some two of the most respecte judges in the US poultry community. They were all impressed. The Dorkings were low to the ground, and he stressed repeatedly how HUGE they were.
We're certainly not there, but we shall be eventually.
I am looking forward to this up-coming season. I think we're going to move to all natural brooding. I just like it better. I like the results of hen-reared chicks. There are several difficulties with artificially brooded chicks that, I find, are reduced or totally absent with hen reared chicks. Also, the amount of money we spend monthly on brooding is criminal. On a certain--and real--level, we'll have more intense work in brooding, having to do the multiple waterers, etc.., yet well have better results in finished product as well as save hundreds and hundreds of dollars. What's great is that our emerging strai of whites are exceptional broodies. They have a nice broody temperament. They're not numb like silkies but are calmer than the OEG hens. They also cover a fair number of chicks on account of their size. Moreover, they accept adoptees willingly. It's bizarre to think that this is only a few months away.
