B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Sazbaby]

Sazbaby, I received an order June 3 of SG Dorkings from McMurray and have noticed the same things as you in my cockerels; two of five are significantly smaller & two of five have crooked toes (one larger roo & one smaller). I noticed the crooked toes when they were about two weeks old. The three hens in the same batch are all three about the same size and no crooked toes.

Nancy

Isn't that funny, I have 5 cockerels and 3 pullets... From the same June 3 batch! Only one crooked toe though! lol Wonder if they have a bad hen/rooster throwing that into the mix... I have noticed my pullets are all noticeably smaller than the cockerels, even at this young age, but they are pretty much identical to each other, like yours. Will be interesting to see what these guys develop into, we can compare as they grow! I'm hoping to thin out the bunch they're in with shortly and give them a bit more room, we're getting pretty crowded and they're only getting bigger!

 

[ki4got]

Thanks for the input, I've just been quite surprised at the differences between some of these cockerels! They'll all be kept until at least 6 months for further evaluation, I might try to go ahead and mark these more mature looking ones so I'll be able to tell who they are down the line... now to get around to getting that done! As for the crooked toe, I wish I could say for sure whether it was there as a chick or not... I did check toes when they arrived as hatchlings, and I didn't note any problems, but it's not as noticeable when you pick them up compared to when they're standing on the ground... we handle these chicks on a daily basis, so I'm thinking I would have noticed if it was present earlier, they were probably 4 weeks old when I noticed it somewhat suddenly... There was also the few days I took the girls to the beach and my husband was manning the farm, he was moving the brooder coop and said that he accidentally set it down on someone's leg/foot ever so briefly, checked on them afterwards and said they looked fine, but of course when he got around to telling me about it, he couldn't remember which breed of chick it was. So there's a fairly decent chance that it was an injury, but I can't be certain, so he'll be put with the meat birds when old enough. Leaves me with 4 more cockerels to pick from if I decide to pursue the silver grays... not sure about that yet! Thanks again!

mark them with colored zip ties... put them on loose enough that they can grow into them. with dorkings, that can be plenty loose, the extra toe seems to keep them in place.

 

[ronott1]

hi all - - i'm sure you get asked this several times, but i'm looking for day old chicks. anyone know where i can them? i'm looking for either silver grey or red...or both.

thanks.

McMurray hatchery may still have some.

Horstman has had hatching problems but you may be able to get on a list with him.

A lot of breeders have broken their pens for the year so you will need to contact them and arrange to get some next Spring.

Good Luck!

 

[ki4got]

Quote:

Quote:
yeah i'm a day late and SEVERAL dollars short with my pens...

I just penned some sg's about a month ago, with my Swedish flower hens (pullets who aren't quite 'there' yet) and my bantam blrw, who chose to go broody less than a week later!

so long story short, I have sg dorking EGGS, but I don't ship chicks...

but I AM getting the pens up. finally! so maybe by this time next year i'll have a bunch of pullets starting to lay.

 

[Sazbaby]

mark them with colored zip ties... put them on loose enough that they can grow into them. with dorkings, that can be plenty loose, the extra toe seems to keep them in place.

Yep, that's the plan... lol now just to actually DO it, that's another matter!

 

[ki4got]

ok, just a cute pic I thought i'd post...

Sunny found an egg up in the woods, but didn't want to share...

i'm not sure if he was looking guilty or they were looking jealous. LOL

 

[Sazbaby]

ok, just a cute pic I thought i'd post...

Sunny found an egg up in the woods, but didn't want to share...

i'm not sure if he was looking guilty or they were looking jealous. LOL

Too cute!!! Looks like Sunny is outnumbered... lol

Got my first egg from one of your chicks today!!! Just about exactly 5 months old! I suspect it is from one of the two buff orpington x dorking girls, as it's definitely pink/very light brown, but we're thrilled! Naturally the dorking side must have taken over because it was laid in a secret place deep in the brambles, took me about 5 minutes to get it out and I'm sure when I undress tonight I will see lots of blackberry thorn scratches on my legs!!! doh!

 

[ki4got]

Quote: well some of my reds do lay a very pale/pink egg... the buff orp laid more of a true brown. but my dorks typically DO start laying right at 5 months. but hiding? yup. you got that right. came in last night with 16 I found just up into the woods... candling them, the air cells don't look more than 2 days old max.

 

[Mickey Lou 04]

Did you guys get dorkings that were hatched around the same time that had crooked toes? I ask because I was going to get some SG dorkings from mcmurray next year but I don't want to get over my head with genetic issues. I want to maybe hatch once in a while. (depends on whether or not the rest of the family catches the chicken bug as bad as I have.

Which I'm sure they will)

 

[Mickey Lou 04]

Did you guys get dorkings that were hatched around the same time that had crooked toes? I ask because I was going to get some SG dorkings from mcmurray next year but I don't want to get over my head with genetic issues. I want to maybe hatch once in a while. (depends on whether or not the rest of the family catches the chicken bug as bad as I have.

Which I'm sure they will)