B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[pysankigirl]

OMG the roo in that last picture reminds me so much of Spike...(sniff) I miss the little bugger. yeah, he attacked my friend, but he never attacked my husband or I and in his little pea brain he was trying to defend his girls against an intruder. and he was always on watch and trying to find them food. and as soon as friend stood up to him, he backed down. I think he was just learning.

oh, well. I am learning too. next time I will take signs of depression alot more seriously.

pictures are great!!! so clear!

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: regarding post 2807:

 

[ki4got]

Quote: regarding post 2807:

This is such nice set-up. Really like what you've done making one coop into 2. Where will your window be in each coop? Couple of ideas there. Could be above the nest boxes or over the doors which lead into the yards. I do worry about security and windows. Made mine out of chicken wire or hardware cloth sandwiched between layers of Plexiglas. Screwed to the outside wall with a picture frame molding around it. Can't be opened but I know it is secure. Also mounted a 18.00 wall-mount solar light from Lowe's outside the window and shining in. That way the birds always have a bit of light at night and if anything scared them, they could see each other and weren't in the scary dark.
Was reading some classic poultry lit the other night and discovered that peaked roofs need a cupola for ventilation and shed roofs can get by with a window which opens in the wall on the high wall side. Found that really significant. We have three coops here of different designs. The one which has given me no trouble with ventilation issues is built like an old fashioned livery barn. It has a cupola running from end to end. Solid ends on the cupola, with hardware cloth over the side openings. Put sliding Plexiglas over the hardware cloth. I can open or close the Plexiglas, so change the ventilation according to the weather. I cut the solid ends of the cupola into the plywood when I cut the ends of the coop.
The shed roof coops I have seen , both vintage and modern , have the ventilation window (which can open) over the nest boxes. ( see website fior "Horizon Structures" chicken coops)
The coops where I have had humidity and ventilation problems all are peaked roofs with those metal ""Ventilation grids" mounted high up on the end wall (the end without the prevailing wind).

Best Regards,
Karen
Waterford English Sussex
western PA, USA

actually, i won't be having windows... IMO not enough room since the nest will be on one side, divider down the middle, entry to the pen and then the access door... but it's going to have wire floor, and the way i do my roofs creates automatic venting (using 1x6 fence boards spaced about 1/2" apart under the roofing allows the air to circulate without being drafty) so no worries about ventilation. all my raised coops have wire floor and if needed i simply spread some hay over the wire and add shavings in the winter. easy to clean since it stays nice and dry from the bottom up.

in addition, i've found the dorkings seem to prefer a darker place to lay than a well lighted one. and the only time they are likely to be in the coop is while either laying or sleeping. the rest of the time will probably be outside in the pen or under the house. i also do not feed or water inside the house, but out in the pen with covered feeders.

re: lighting, i prefer not to provide additional light. my girls are currently laying about as well at the peak of the short days as they did in the middle of the summer. with the added benefit, they're not going broody on me. LOL

you seem to be picturing much larger houses than i plan to build... overall size is 4x5, which gives each pen a 2.5 x 4 roosting space with est on the side. I'll have one long roost down the center.

funny as can be re: roost space... went to tuck everyone in a bit ago. the horse trailer (no longer road safe) has 4 8' long roosts and 2 6' ones perpendicular to the others... but for the most part everyone tries to hang out on 2 of the longer roosts for some reason. so much so, that i had a couple double deckers going on... my bantam blrw were each snuggled up between the legs of a silver grey girl. and everyone else was packed so tight it was hard to tell where one left off and another started... but it's their choice, i guess, who am I to argue. it's not like they're short on space. even that one roost with double deckers and crammed birds had about 3' left over on one end with only 2 girls hanging out there. go figure.

on the plus side, since there is very little vegetation left in the yard to hide eggs in, everyone's now laying in the nests... i could wish they'd do that year round.

 

[RedBugPoultry]

oh. got a couple quick pics today at lunch. LOVE LOVE LOVE my new camera... with the zoom lens, talk about 'reach out and touch someone' 8)

merlin insisted i show him off too.


Thing2 napping


the 'wimps' who didn't want to get their feet muddy (i guess)...

Karen, this may be a dumb question but how do you put the wording on your picture? And they are really clear-- very nice camera!

 

[ki4got]

Quote: thanks. early christmas gift... it's a Canon EOS Rebel T3, and i used a 75-300 zoom lens

as for the text, i use Paint Shop Pro for most of my basic photo editing.

 

[rnoffke]

Hello Fellow Dorking Enthusiasts,

Wondering if there is anyone who raises rose comb colored dorkings who'd be willing to trade or sell some hatching eggs this Spring?

Thanks.

 

[ki4got]

Hello Fellow Dorking Enthusiasts,

Wondering if there is anyone who raises rose comb colored dorkings who'd be willing to trade or sell some hatching eggs this Spring?

Thanks.

if you read back a bit, i posted that Sandhill will be offering their rose come coloreds this year... I've got an order in for them to be delivered any time after march 25th. so we'll see what i get as an estimated delivery date.

last year i mailed in my order, they said june, i got them the first week of april. LOL

 

[rnoffke]

Thanks much for the post. I'll check them out.

 

[Rocky Maley]

Dumb ? I am intersted in Dorkings. I raise and show Bantams and am wonting to start showing a LF breed and am contaplating dorkings. So my ? is in the APA site under axcepted colors there is clored dorkins is this any other coloe other than the other axcepted colors.
2nd ? is how shows dorkings in this threas

Rocky

 

[ki4got]

found this and thought it bears posting, since there's been a lot of question regarding what a colored dorking is supposed to be...