B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[capayvalleychick]

I have hatched out about 40 dorking chicks this spring and decided the sex isn't even worth worrying about at this point.

I wasn't worrying about it. Simply sharing information, since so many Dorking people are convinced that you can sex them at a day old. I knew from experience that it's not always accurate and thought some photos would be interesting.

We are having a hard time finding someone who might be willing to ship some chicks to us, it seems that people only ship eggs.

Contact Joseph @ Yellow House Farm. Maybe he know someone in your area. Otherwise McMurray Hatchery or Dick Horstman might work for you. Also maybe Mary Wetterstoem - find her on the Dorking Breeders Club or Dorking Facebook page.

I just put 34 SG Dorking eggs into the incubator!

Thanks Ron!

 

[PineTopFarm]

I read a 2010 article in Mother Earth News that said in the 1950's Dorkings were outcrossed with Welsummers. Does anyone know the outcome of that or if those lines exist today? I'm not perusing it just curious about how that worked out.

 

[Totalcolour]

I read a 2010 article in Mother Earth News that said in the 1950's Dorkings were outcrossed with Welsummers. Does anyone know the outcome of that or if those lines exist today? I'm not perusing it just curious about how that worked out.

You said you had perused the article, so I'm not quite sure what you aren't "perusing"?

 

[cukooformarans]

I think maybe pinetop meant pursuing??

 

[cukooformarans]

Lol

 

[ki4got]

Quote: actually, she said she'd read the article... and my understanding is that she's not likely to follow suit but curious if there is any current relevance to the article...

 

[countrygoddess]

pursuing? oh, yeah, i see cukooformarans already said that. =)

 

[Sazbaby]

Finally got around to taking a picture! These are the surviving SG Dorking chicks from McMurray, just over a week old. I was quite surprised at how many of them died- none of the other breeds had any losses, just the dorkings... thought it was interesting. Anyhow, I ordered half males and half straight run, and unfortunately didn't look terribly closely at head coloring on the ones that died, so I don't know what I started with, but out of these 8 remaining, I'm thinking 3 girls, 4 definite boys and one uncertain but probably boy... (top right in the first picture) Anyone else care to give input? I included some side shots of the chicks in the same arrangement in the tub, a couple definitely have less eyeliner... Wish I had ordered more, after losing so many!!!

So I've been watching these guys as they feather out their chests, they are a little shy of 3 weeks old, and it never ceases to amaze me how much they change even just from day to day! Two or three days ago I could only be sure of 2 girls and 1 boy, and now today I'm fairly certain that there are indeed 4 boys and 4 girls. The two additional girls are interesting though, their chest feathers aren't really looking that typical "salmon" color but rather a light cream color- definitely no black to it, but closer to off-white than pink/salmon/brown or whatever you want to call it. The boys aren't feathered completely black but seem to have almost black and white stripes/partial black feathering. It's different from what I was expecting. I'll try to get a picture up in a few more days and see what everyone thinks...

I also bit the bullet and ordered a few Red Dorkings from Sand Hill, since I was needing Delawares anyway, and I expect they received my order/payment early this week, maybe Tuesday? But I have yet to hear confirmation from them... I know their service is typically slower than a big hatchery, but I at least expected some sort of notice that I was on the books? I should call, but their hours are so restrictive, and I'm not easy to get in touch with for a call back. Just wondering what everyone else's experience was with them.

 

[nanclapper]

How many did you lose in your order? I received an order of SG Dorkings from McMurray on June 13 and lost two, which was disappointing....sounds like you lost more than that. Such a bummer.

 

[pysankigirl]

So I've been watching these guys as they feather out their chests, they are a little shy of 3 weeks old, and it never ceases to amaze me how much they change even just from day to day! Two or three days ago I could only be sure of 2 girls and 1 boy, and now today I'm fairly certain that there are indeed 4 boys and 4 girls. The two additional girls are interesting though, their chest feathers aren't really looking that typical "salmon" color but rather a light cream color- definitely no black to it, but closer to off-white than pink/salmon/brown or whatever you want to call it. The boys aren't feathered completely black but seem to have almost black and white stripes/partial black feathering. It's different from what I was expecting. I'll try to get a picture up in a few more days and see what everyone thinks...

I also bit the bullet and ordered a few Red Dorkings from Sand Hill, since I was needing Delawares anyway, and I expect they received my order/payment early this week, maybe Tuesday? But I have yet to hear confirmation from them... I know their service is typically slower than a big hatchery, but I at least expected some sort of notice that I was on the books? I should call, but their hours are so restrictive, and I'm not easy to get in touch with for a call back. Just wondering what everyone else's experience was with them.

what were they dieing from? just from shipping?