Good reminder, thanks. I did favorite a site that has a page with Urch's contact information and a list of the birds he sells. What I'm going to do is wait a bit to see how my hatching goes before I order more eggs. If I get a really low hatch rate then I'll buy chicks.
A question regarding the varieties and combs....which variety is most associated with the traditional characteristics as written in Storey's Illustrated guide to Poultry Breeds (my main reference book on breeds). They say the birds are good foragers but don't scratch much, calm, lay a fair number of eggs, and are hardy, including cold-hardy hens (single combs freeze I know). Those are all the best characteristics in a bird IMHO. Dorkings made my short list along with javas, buckeyes, and hollands. The quality meat is just an added bonus. Of those breeds however, I've only had buckeyes. Has anyone had some of these others and could compare them? Of the birds I've had orpingtons and faverolles are my favorites because of personality. Does the dorking have a sweet personality like that?
The SGs, Reds, and Colored Dorkings should have single combs, and the Whites should have rose combs, according to the SOP (The American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection, which is how birds are judged in shows in this country --other countries have different standards). However, some people are breeding single combs on whites and rose combs on the other colors, which are still good utility birds but not in the SOP.
As far as their characteristics, I agree that they are excellent foragers, but how does a bird forage well without scratching? Mine are excellent foragers and professional scratchers -- I don't have to do any weeding, but also have little landscaping left in their yard. They are quite tame, calm, lay well through the winter, and have very thick feathering without being "fluffy," which protects them from the cold quite well. I don't live in an area where frost bite is an issue, but if you do than a single combed rooster might be problematic. I have been told that single combed hens still do well in very cold weather with minimal shelter because the combs are relatively smaller, and they are able to fully bury their heads in their feathers at night (the rooster may try, but that huge comb always sticks out). (However, I have no personal experience with this, so it may be only a rumor. Check with people in the northeastern states to see it that's accurate.)
I have not had Buckeyes yet, or Faverolles, but I have had several Buff Orpingtons. If I don't count the insane one (truly, she wasn't right), my Orpingtons were extremely quiet, calm, affection-seeking cuddlers, but also rather sedate by comparison. And while they loved to free range, I didn't get the impression that they could survive even a single day in the woods behind my house. My Red Dorkings, on the other hand, are what I consider REAL chickens by comparison. They are also quiet, calm, affection-seeking cuddlers, but definitely not sedate. They have genuine survival instincts. They are active (but not at all with a flighty temperament), always on the go, curious, independent, thinking birds that can run like pheasants and fly like wild turkeys, love to go on expeditions into the pasture and woods, roost in trees when they need a rest or the weather's bad, are predator savvy, and could probably survive in the woods for quite a while before starving or being eaten by something. The roosters are very attentive to the hens, and my boys are so busy on guard and escort duty that they often don't have time to eat enough, so I have to give them extra food every morning and night to keep weight on them. All of my hens will try to fly up on my arms or shoulders to cuddle when I go out to their flock (lots of pros and cons to that, but it's a behavior that I usually enjoy and have never tried to stop), so the breed can be made very tame if desired. Of the six roosters that I started with, two were/are extreme cuddlers and never once got aggressive, one was unacceptably aggressive on a weekly basis, two tested me a few times before deciding it was a bad idea, and one rooster (the flock leader) is a very sweet boy when he's away from his hens, but he gets very jealous when his hens run to me and occasionally tries to challenge me under those circumstances only. I put up with it because he's never done anything to me that required more than a bandaid, his conformation and size are the best of the group, and I know he will protect his hens when needed. He's got the right idea, it's just not fine-tuned yet. But he's only 10 months old, so hopefully judgement will come with maturity. Overall, I think Dorkings are the total package. But you may be getting a biased opinion from everyone on this thread -- we wouldn't be here if we weren't already hooked.
