B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[pysankigirl]

That's cool, but, perhaps, you might reread what I wrote at some point. You'll find over time that it's probably pretty on.

I was pondering this last night and I think that we have different expectations for the breed. You are trying to reclaim the body type and meat qualities that dorkings once had. I like them for their personalities and history. And because I was a re-enactor for years and was told that birds and eggs in general weren’t as big way-back-when (I’m talking Jamestown time period…1600…volunteering there was where I first saw and fell for dorkings) the size thing doesn’t bother me as much. Back then things were also not as standardized. No SOP’s. No chicken shows. They were just sustenance.

Just thinking. No real conclusions beyond that.

 

[pysankigirl]

I think I can argue a little bit with #5

I have a coop of layers and mixed breeds.. but they are just that.. a mixed collection with no particular breeding in mind.. they are my "collection" if you will. They get fed and tended to..older birds go to freezer camp .. when we decide we need more birds to replace the older ones we either hatch out a batch of mutts or place an order for a half dozen breeds just because we like to see the variety. We have the land and can afford to feed them.. plus the extra eggs go to feed the dogs and are given away to friends who have no intention of hatching them and are just looking for a good meal

However my Dorkings will be my "project" birds.. they will be kept in smaller coops of breeding sets.. carefully culled and records kept.

So just because I have a coop of assorted breeds it does not impact on my Dorking projects at all..
So in essence you COULD call me a collector of mutts..But more importantly a breeder of Dorkings because that's where my dedication lies

I assumed it was fine to have whatever strikes your fancy in your laying flock. But just with your breeding you can’t spread yourself too thin. if you cant have assorted breeds in your laying flock then I am sunk. I want one of every color and breed (okay only the ones that are nice to each other) in my laying flock!

hey...new to chickens! still exploring a bit!

 

[ki4got]

I think I can argue a little bit with #5

I have a coop of layers and mixed breeds.. but they are just that.. a mixed collection with no particular breeding in mind.. they are my "collection" if you will. They get fed and tended to..older birds go to freezer camp .. when we decide we need more birds to replace the older ones we either hatch out a batch of mutts or place an order for a half dozen breeds just because we like to see the variety. We have the land and can afford to feed them.. plus the extra eggs go to feed the dogs and are given away to friends who have no intention of hatching them and are just looking for a good meal

However my Dorkings will be my "project" birds.. they will be kept in smaller coops of breeding sets.. carefully culled and records kept.

So just because I have a coop of assorted breeds it does not impact on my Dorking projects at all..
So in essence you COULD call me a collector of mutts..But more importantly a breeder of Dorkings because that's where my dedication lies

I think what he was referring to is people who are actually BREEDING multiple specific breeds, rather than just keeping a colorful laying flock with one or two breeding pens. the dorkings are my concentration, the cochins and blrw are just for fun, and to have chicks and eggs to sell at the swaps. unfortunately, my breeding pens i designed last year aren't big enough (hindsight) for the dorkings... so i'm having to go bigger. but this time they'll be used for any/all breeds, and also for raising chicks as needed. also it'll be kind of modular, in that i can add more segments or take out connecting walls, if needed.

 

[yinepu]

I think what he was referring to is people who are actually BREEDING multiple specific breeds, rather than just keeping a colorful laying flock with one or two breeding pens. the dorkings are my concentration, the cochins and blrw are just for fun, and to have chicks and eggs to sell at the swaps. unfortunately, my breeding pens i designed last year aren't big enough (hindsight) for the dorkings... so i'm having to go bigger. but this time they'll be used for any/all breeds, and also for raising chicks as needed. also it'll be kind of modular, in that i can add more segments or take out connecting walls, if needed.

Lol.. that's why i said I think i can argue a little bit with it.. cause as it was posted it made it sound as if you have a collection of any other breeds it some how diminishes what you are doing as a breeder of Dorkings.. (even though it was probably meant as you have stated...)

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I was pondering this last night and I think that we have different expectations for the breed. You are trying to reclaim the body type and meat qualities that dorkings once had. I like them for their personalities and history. And because I was a re-enactor for years and was told that birds and eggs in general weren’t as big way-back-when (I’m talking Jamestown time period…1600…volunteering there was where I first saw and fell for dorkings) the size thing doesn’t bother me as much. Back then things were also not as standardized. No SOP’s. No chicken shows. They were just sustenance.

Just thinking. No real conclusions beyond that.

That's totally cool. I did, indeed, mean the bread vs. biscuit analogy. If it's what you want, go for. It's your chicken coop.

From that level of interest, every old breed could be allowed to degenerate to a pre-mid-1850's state for one wanting to reenact unimproved poultry. One could argue that there were some seriously convincing reasons for which the SOP was established and farm animals were improved, but I do, indeed, understand the allure of living at a specific time.

It would ultimately be harmful to the breed to distribute such birds under the name of Dorking because it would not be setting beginners up with a full spectrum of possibility for enjoying their stock. Also, if too much inferior stock is about, folks might lose sight of what an improved specimen of the breed is supposed to be. Indeed, after a while they will reduce to something that looks like little more than a chubby factory Leghorn.

Then, technically speaking, Dorkings are defined as such by the SOP. There wasn't a Golden Age of Dorkings that was somehow perverted by the advent of the SOP. The most important pre-SOP era Dorking was by far the White. Folks were doing what they could in order to have good farming fowl; they just didn't know how to do it. Indeed, one of the early, pre-science problems was that people often ate the biggest, most appetizing looking brids, which obviously left the lesser birds to reproduce. Errors such as these were many, and, there is a distinct reason why, as people came to actually understand the process of improvement, it was zealously adopted, and began an entire revolution in poultry beauty as well as food supply.

It's hard to know how to approach non-Standard colors. The chances of their success are slim, and, as I pointed out, they're not a significant part of Dorking heritage. Were one of the non-Standard colors to become very popular, it would inevitably detract from the well-being of one or more of the more heritage-rich varieties. I also would be one to discourage beginners from taking them up insofar as they are not part of the SOP nor part of the Dorking's heritage of quality. They are simply bi-products of crossing.

I don't mean so much to discourage you, but as you recognized in your original posting, you knew that there was the possibility of "censure", which also means you probably new the answer from the beginning. Insofar as my goal on this thread is to promote Standard-bred Dorkings and to support those establishing a breeding program or hoping to establish a program, it's important to offer a centering, grounding voice.

I'm honestly excited about your Reds and hope you take them to the max, and if the others bring you joy then great. However, if you were really interested in something of that time and having major historical heritage value that actually wasn't about colors in a constructive way, you might consider breeding Games.

I think what he was referring to is people who are actually BREEDING multiple specific breeds, rather than just keeping a colorful laying flock with one or two breeding pens. the dorkings are my concentration, the cochins and blrw are just for fun, and to have chicks and eggs to sell at the swaps. unfortunately, my breeding pens i designed last year aren't big enough (hindsight) for the dorkings... so i'm having to go bigger. but this time they'll be used for any/all breeds, and also for raising chicks as needed. also it'll be kind of modular, in that i can add more segments or take out connecting walls, if needed.

Exactly.

 

[pysankigirl]

...I don't mean so much to discourage you, but as you recognized in your original posting, you knew that there was the possibility of "censure", which also means you probably new the answer from the beginning. Insofar as my goal on this thread is to promote Standard-bred Dorkings and to support those establishing a breeding program or hoping to establish a program, it's important to offer a centering, grounding voice.

I'm honestly excited about your Reds and hope you take them to the max, and if the others bring you joy then great. However, if you were really interested in something of that time and having major historical heritage value that actually wasn't about colors in a constructive way, you might consider breeding Games.

oh, I knew.

And I DO want to do what is best for the breed. I was just trying to explain why we were coming at the problem from different angles. I have OCD tendencies so once someone tells me there's a right way to do something, I cant help myself but to try to only do it right. It's a sickness, really. LOL. I think originally I was just in it for the historical thing, but then I found out that they were being lost and my drive twisted into wanting to save the different genes, but now also the size/form, too.
too many loci and my brain is going to explode!!!!

So the reds will be my focus, once I get any worth getting excited about. (currently not) and I will play with the other colors, keeping them alive in case they are ever needed. so fulfilling my gene preservation OCD.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Ah...the joys of chicken OCD, it can keep you up at night. Dr. Carefoot, a foremost British poultry geneticists says that, for the best breeders, it's an obsession.

 

[ki4got]

Ah...the joys of chicken OCD, it can keep you up at night. Dr. Carefoot, a foremost British poultry geneticists says that, for the best breeders, it's an obsession.

LOL yes, genetics can be an obsession... in any species you have a love of.

genetics for me is like a jigsaw puzzle. it's an ocd thing to be able to put all the pieces in the right places.

 

[dalalune]

Please don’t hate me, but I can’t say no. so I will do reds. But also a couple other colors …I looked up the colors he was talking about and was lost. They are so gorgeous. And it really is all about how typey they are, right? The color is just window dressing so if I breed for typey birds that aren’t the APA normal colors does that make me a bad person?
(bracing for the censure)

LOL! Don't feel so bad! I have some Speckled Sussex hens with no Speckled roo so they are with a very handsome young Red Dorking. I have read about Speckled Dorkings in old writings and am SOOO tempted to incubate a clutch to see what I get....This is why I need to get rid of the Sussex hens....It is tooo tempting to stray from my focus on the Reds

 

[yinepu]

LOL! Don't feel so bad! I have some Speckled Sussex hens with Speckled roo so they are with a very handsome young Red Dorking. I have read about Speckled Dorkings in old writings and am SOOO tempted to incubate a clutch to see what I get....This is why I need to get rid of the Sussex hens....It is tooo tempting to stray from my focus on the Reds

Lol.. who knows.. they might make you a nice dinner should you decide to cross them