B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Rockashelle]

I have the brooder full of Red Dorking chicks right now straight from the flock pen.  I have not paid much attention to the pullets but see some really good feet already on some little cockerels.  I so wish I had a breeding pen set up so I could move some of my better birds and see who is throwing what.  I am getting up to 6 eggs a day right now and just hate wasting them....

Wow, that's fabulous! I put 14 in but only 6 were fertile. My boys is only 9 mos old so I'm thinking between that, the cold wet weather, & short days all have something to do with the count. However; I had 3 eggs from group 1 and all of them are fertile and 11 from group 2 and only 3 of them are fertile. It is just now day 7 in the incubator and I candled yesterday. Here's hoping I'm wrong on my count. I want to start collecting the next group of eggs already I'm hoping for pullets... More pullets! You'll have to keep me posted.

Any idea what colors Phil and Duane raise? 

I believe they both raise reds if I remember what I've read. Don't hold me to it.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: i talked to phil earlier this year, he didn't have any at the moment but wanted to start back up when he got things sorted out (divorce i think)... duane urch no longer has dorkings.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

duane urch no longer has dorkings.

Did Mr Urch or his employee tell you this? I haven't directly communicated with them, but last year he sold Dorkings through Strombergs, although not directly through his hatchery.

 

[OSUman]

I thought Phil Bartz had some Cuckoo Dorkings, but I don't know for sure.

Dick Hortsman has ads up on the Featherauction site for Silver Gray and Red Dorking chicks.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: yes, i received an email from him this last spring saying he no longer had dorkings.

i can't find the email at the moment, but i did find the email from phil bartz, that because of his situation he lost 30+ years of dorking breeding and at that time could not have poultry where he was... that was in early april this year (2012).

 

[pysankigirl]

wow, that's really sad.

 

[dalalune]

Thanks folks! “Eight years” of Dorkings is (are – grammar? – ugh!) good. I have heard of some of the folks mentioned and contacted a few in the past. Seems like recently, life has dealt several long-time Dorking breeders a tough blow. Karen – were you able to use any of the birds you got from me this spring? I was able to hatch a few here, but got such a late start and lost a bunch to preds. Out of my original stock from Sand Hill, I have managed to get only a couple Red pullets and several Red cockerels. I am waiting to see if the temperaments & type of the offspring will be any better. Glad to see you have acquired some really nice stock! With any luck, maybe we will over-run the east coast with Dorkings in a few years!

 

[RedBugPoultry]

Thanks folks! “Eight years” of Dorkings is (are – grammar? – ugh!) good. I have heard of some of the folks mentioned and contacted a few in the past. Seems like recently, life has dealt several long-time Dorking breeders a tough blow. Karen – were you able to use any of the birds you got from me this spring? I was able to hatch a few here, but got such a late start and lost a bunch to preds. Out of my original stock from Sand Hill, I have managed to get only a couple Red pullets and several Red cockerels. I am waiting to see if the temperaments & type of the offspring will be any better. Glad to see you have acquired some really nice stock! With any luck, maybe we will over-run the east coast with Dorkings in a few years!

 

[ki4got]

Thanks folks! “Eight years” of Dorkings is (are – grammar? – ugh!) good. I have heard of some of the folks mentioned and contacted a few in the past. Seems like recently, life has dealt several long-time Dorking breeders a tough blow. Karen – were you able to use any of the birds you got from me this spring? I was able to hatch a few here, but got such a late start and lost a bunch to preds. Out of my original stock from Sand Hill, I have managed to get only a couple Red pullets and several Red cockerels. I am waiting to see if the temperaments & type of the offspring will be any better. Glad to see you have acquired some really nice stock! With any luck, maybe we will over-run the east coast with Dorkings in a few years!

i ended up keeping 1 pullet from that bunch that turned out nice, but she's a lot darker than what i really wanted to work with... i'm going more for the diluted version of hen I think... not SOP, but more my preference. then again if you read the SOP it makes no mention at all of straw or red or anything besides black and white. so IMO the SOP for colored is describing the European Dark Dorking...

 

[ki4got]

my biggest goal right now, is to get a spot cleared and leveled enough that i can get my breeding pen setup built... it'll have 8 individual pens large enough for 4-5 LF birds each. that way i can rotate roos with hens as needed, plus have room for my cochins and blrw (if the blrw will ever start laying?)

this is a rough draft of my pen setup i have planned...
overall space required would be about 30' square... fortunately our winters aren't harsh, so rasied coops do ok and help keep the birds drier.
each house would be divided, and the space underneath accessible to the birds as well for shelter if it's raining. thinking i may run a tarp down the center of the pen group too. i've got tarps on 2 other pens right now and they stay nice and dry for the birds even in a downpour.