B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[dorking1974]

Hi Karen
Yes it is possible with breeder stock. Thank you for the information you gave me on the Dorking breeders site. I look forward to learning more breeding information from the Dorking breeders

Thank You dorking1974

 

[Yellow House Farm]

White in the ear-lobes of the Dorkings is problem and has been for a long time. Red ear-lobes & white eggs don't match.

My impression is that the strictness given to a red ear-lobe is relatively new. I came once upon an article written in the 1800's by a gentleman who insisted that white in the earlobes was sign of purity and that all red earlobes was a sign of outcrossing.

Regardless, red earlobes it is....

 

[capayvalleychick]

My impression is that the strictness given to a red ear-lobe is relatively new. I came once upon an article written in the 1800's by a gentleman who insisted that white in the earlobes was sign of purity and that all red earlobes was a sign of outcrossing.

Regardless, red earlobes it is....

If that is the case, I wish that it could be changed in the SOP from a dq to points deduction. I've seen and heard about many Dorkings that are of decent type except for white lobes. Seems a shame to dq an otherwise good example of a Dorking just for earlobe color.

That said, I was surprised to see a Dorking hen at the PPBA show with white lobes that placed BB & BV. I wanted to talk to the judge about it but never could find out who judged the English class.

 

[dorking1974]

In the 1800's red ear-lobes was just one sign some Dorkings being outcrossed with Asiatic breeds. Another sign was a heavier bone Dorking (Color / Dark Dorkings).

 

[greenhorn]

The new GQF MFG 1500 Digital Professional Cabinet Incubator came today while I was gone. Got home and saw the big box on the porch and was pretty stoked. She put together easy and tuned in pretty easy too. The humidity is holding at a perfect 50% and the temp hangs pretty tight to 99.5F. I put in all the eggs we've saved up since we loaded our reptipro. The reptipro is supposed to be hatching Thursday (in 2 days) but we never seem to get more than 2 or 3 birds to hatch when we fill the bator.

I think we are going to start having better luck with our hatches now that we have this new incubator. Now we can finally start loading an incubator every week and not worry about running out of space.

Amazing what you can do when you put your head into it. I hope the breeding goes as well as everything else has. It took a little time, patience and luck and lots of work to get to where we are at right now but everything has worked out as planned. So far so it's been well worth the effort. We really have something started here. Soon we will begin to see the cute little fruits of our labors.

 

[ki4got]

The new GQF MFG 1500 Digital Professional Cabinet Incubator came today while I was gone. Got home and saw the big box on the porch and was pretty stoked. She put together easy and tuned in pretty easy too. The humidity is holding at a perfect 50% and the temp hangs pretty tight to 99.5F. I put in all the eggs we've saved up since we loaded our reptipro. The reptipro is supposed to be hatching Thursday (in 2 days) but we never seem to get more than 2 or 3 birds to hatch when we fill the bator.

I think we are going to start having better luck with our hatches now that we have this new incubator. Now we can finally start loading an incubator every week and not worry about running out of space.

Amazing what you can do when you put your head into it. I hope the breeding goes as well as everything else has. It took a little time, patience and luck and lots of work to get to where we are at right now but everything has worked out as planned. So far so it's been well worth the effort. We really have something started here. Soon we will begin to see the cute little fruits of our labors.

personally i think 50% during incubation is a bit high... i've never had any luck above 20%, usually incubating dry around 10-15%... i only increase humidity during hatching (last 3 days).

 

[greenhorn]

personally i think 50% during incubation is a bit high... i've never had any luck above 20%, usually incubating dry around 10-15%... i only increase humidity during hatching (last 3 days).

hmm everything i've read says 50% is optimal. I'm no pro yet though. One thing i know i do like for sure is an automatic egg turner. The eggs don't get turned here 3 times everyday like they are supposed to when we have to do it by hand.

Anyway thanks for the advice I'll keep it in mind if the the directions don't work out for me.

 

[Rockashelle]

hmm everything i've read says 50% is optimal. I'm no pro yet though. One thing i know i do like for sure is an automatic egg turner. The eggs don't get turned here 3 times everyday like they are supposed to when we have to do it by hand. I like that the temp only varies one tenth of a degree either way too.


For now i'm going to follow the directions and go with a stable and near constant 50% humidity and adjust according to the directions from there. Some experience would be great right now but nothing better than diving in and getting your hands wet for that.....


Thanks for your advice and i'll keep it in mind for later on if the directions don't seem to work.

I try to keep the humidity at 35% during days 1-18. My aircells keep right on track. Monitoring your air cell size on day 7, 10, 18 will give you the perfect picture on whether your humidity is too high or too low. If they are too little, your humidity us too high & if they are too big, your humidity is too low. During lockdown (days 18-21) I bump the humidity to 65%. When chicks start pipping your humidity starts to climb naturally. Some people weigh & measure the percentage of moisture loss which I hear is pretty successful but I hate math and have pretty great hatching rates gauging air cells.

Happy hatching!!!

 

[bethbug74]

Anyone have any hatching eggs available? I'd like to expand my Silver Grey base.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

Anyone have any hatching eggs available? I'd like to expand my Silver Grey base.

i will, but right now they're free ranging with other breeds too... i have to wait for the weather to warm up so i can get my current pens moved and build my new setup too. then i'll have probably 2-3 pens of silver greys (9 hens to split between them, 3 roos to choose from). i'll also have a red pen, and a 'mixed' pen of the leftover girls and extra roos (red & silver grey). but at the rate i've been going, with this weather, it may be may before i have it all set up and going.