B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Framac]

Top Left-->Red Dorking
Bottom Left -->Silver Penciled Rock
Middle -->Ameracaunas
Top Right -->Jersey Giants
Bottom Right --> Wheaten Marans

So I can assume that I am not crazy, and those eggs are in fact light brown, dark cream.

 

[pysankigirl]

Pick out the pair of dorking eggs.

top left...the whitest ones.

 

[BlackPanther]

It's probably just the fact that there is a slight cream tinge to the Dorking eggs, and that white things appear more white with a touch of blue.
Now that I know the center ones are Americauna eggs, I can see that they are more blue than white.

So as far as I can tell, your Dorking eggs probably aren't as dark as they appear

 

[Hewitt House]

mine are also not at standard weight, the girls are good typed but vary between 5-5.5 pounds. they've been free ranging so tend to be leaner than those with free choice, and also one's been chronically broody so is a bit thin too. but she's off the nest now so should start picking up again.

Am working with some whites and silvergreys. We are in Bramwell WV. - I think 2 hours from Roanoke What size are you silvergreys? Mine for the moment are not up to standard in weight?

Thanks for your response. Well let me see how some young ones I have turn out! and I will keep on the lookout for some bigger stock to help.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: if they were whites, they'd be pretty close to standard. LOL unfortunately I think they all have a bit further to go... but they're within the acceptable range for show (+/- 20% of goal, if I remember). that topic came up on another thread, where the breed is being shown OVER the weights for SOP. some judges are favoring the bigger birds, some are dq them...

 

[Sydney Acres]

From VictoriaChickie


"I am very interested in Dorkings,
From what I have gleaned about the breed, is that they are very sweet, patient with kids, quiet, an ancient breed, and just overall very great!
I do have a few questions though:
1. Do they lay a descent size egg?
2. Murray McMurray Hatcheries are the only place that I have found in British Columbia Canada (via another hatchery), are they ok for getting chickens from? I mean, are Dorkings good from them?
3. I live in Victoria, which gets pretty wet in the winter, and because they (Dorkings) are shorter, how are they with wet feet/legs? Meaning, do they do well in wet locations?"


I am in the Seattle area, so I assume that my weather is similar to yours. My hens' legs range from breed-standard short to about one inch longer. They are kept in a barn at night, and free-range through mowed pasture and forest during the day. The hens with the shorter legs do get wetter quicker than those with longer legs, but not to the point that it is a serious problem. There are plenty of trees around for them to roost on and dry out. All hens get their chests wet during breeding season when the rooster pushes them down into the wet grass, so I haven't noticed much of an issue with the short legs vs. long legs in my management system. If they were confined it might be more of a problem if they got muddy, or if they didn't have enough roosts to dry out regularly.

I have not found the eggs to be huge, but not tiny either. Most of my younger pullets laid medium sized eggs for several months, then progressed to a larger medium or a large egg, with a few extra larges. In my small flock of seven hens, the best quality hens lay the smaller eggs that are ivory or very lightly tinted in color, and the lesser quality hens lay the largest eggs that are lightly or medium tinted. In all likelihood, my lesser quality hens lay these eggs because there was some cross breeding somewhere in their past. But overall, everyone has been quite happy with the eggs that I have sold -- they aren't jumbos, but not so small as to be disappointing.

I do not have Murray McMurray birds, but I have been told that they have some of the better hatchery-quality birds available. I think it is Stromberg (someone correct me if I'm remembering this wrong) that has some "show-quality" birds that they get from a private breeder, and are therefore more expensive. The other hatchery that has them is Ideal, but I have been told that the MMcM birds are better than Ideal (I don't know this personally). All three of these hatcheries will only have the Silver Grey color. Another place that has Dorkings is Sandhill Preservation Center. They have numerous colors, but they are not sexed, and ordering from them requires more patience than from regular hatcheries. I don't know if Stromberg or Sandhill or Ideal exports into Canada. You can likely get better quality birds from private breeders, but you may have to get fertile eggs instead of chicks, and if you can find chicks they are unlikely to be sexed (although many people are very good at predicting gender of the Silver Grey chicks based on down coloring).

Most, if not almost all, of the Dorkings in the U.S. are not up to breed standard when it comes to size and conformation, but there are several private breeders that are working to improve the situation. With you being in Canada, you might be able to find birds that have been imported from England that might be closer to the breed standard, as it is much easier to import birds and fertile eggs from England into Canada than into the U.S. (If you do find some good ones, please PM me. I'm only 2 hours south of the border, and would consider going through the red tape necessary to import them from Canada if the bird's quality made it worthwhile.)

 

[Kyzmette]

I'm new to Dorkings, but everything I heard about the breed was great. Went to my first swap, picked up a dozen eggs and tried my hand at incubating my first chicken seeds. I was so fortunate; I got to watch the first hatch fully right before I had to leave for work, and it was beautiful. When I came home, however, apparently the incubator humidity plummeted during the day, even though I hadn't had any problems with it previously, and I lost all the remaining hatchlings. I'm afraid I've done everything wrong for this poor chickie, but it's been an amazing learning experience.

I am concerned that Dorcus doesn't seem to be growing much, and at 12 days she's not much larger than she was at 2 days. I picked up some companion hatchlings for her, and their growth rate is far outstripping hers. She also seems more sluggish than them. I'm giving them starter crumble and a touch of apple cider vinegar in the water. Should I be supplementing with anything else?

Dorcus at 11 days. Love her!

 

[ki4got]

I'm new to Dorkings, but everything I heard about the breed was great. Went to my first swap, picked up a dozen eggs and tried my hand at incubating my first chicken seeds. I was so fortunate; I got to watch the first hatch fully right before I had to leave for work, and it was beautiful. When I came home, however, apparently the incubator humidity plummeted during the day, even though I hadn't had any problems with it previously, and I lost all the remaining hatchlings. I'm afraid I've done everything wrong for this poor chickie, but it's been an amazing learning experience.

I am concerned that Dorcus doesn't seem to be growing much, and at 12 days she's not much larger than she was at 2 days. I picked up some companion hatchlings for her, and their growth rate is far outstripping hers. She also seems more sluggish than them. I'm giving them starter crumble and a touch of apple cider vinegar in the water. Should I be supplementing with anything else?

Dorcus at 11 days. Love her!

I've noticed for my sfh that seemed sluggish at first, I added a dropper full of poly-vi-sol infant vitamins (without added iron) to the water, and a drop to the beak for the first couple days, that seemed to turn some of them around...

now I do the vitamins in the water for all chicks for the first week plus a drop by beak for any complainers. they seem to like the taste of it in the water so it encourages them to drink more, too.

 

[Kyzmette]

Ki4got, thanks, I'll give this a try post-haste! I've seen your name in several forums and appreciate all the great advice you give.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I'm new to Dorkings, but everything I heard about the breed was great. Went to my first swap, picked up a dozen eggs and tried my hand at incubating my first chicken seeds. I was so fortunate; I got to watch the first hatch fully right before I had to leave for work, and it was beautiful. When I came home, however, apparently the incubator humidity plummeted during the day, even though I hadn't had any problems with it previously, and I lost all the remaining hatchlings. I'm afraid I've done everything wrong for this poor chickie, but it's been an amazing learning experience.

I am concerned that Dorcus doesn't seem to be growing much, and at 12 days she's not much larger than she was at 2 days. I picked up some companion hatchlings for her, and their growth rate is far outstripping hers. She also seems more sluggish than them. I'm giving them starter crumble and a touch of apple cider vinegar in the water. Should I be supplementing with anything else?

Dorcus at 11 days. Love her!

Hi Kyzmette,

Is she, not just the chicks in general but her specifically, eating well? Do you see her going to the feeder and truly gulping up food? And when she's done, is her crop full? And the same questions for water.

The photo looks like a chick that is dehydrated and starving, and is very underdeveloped for an 11 day old. IF she is truly ingesting enough calories and water to grow but is failing to thrive, then there is likely a metabolic problem that is preventing her growth. If that is the situation, then it will be very difficult to help her.

It is more likely, however, that she is not eating and drinking enough because she is sick. There are hundreds of possible reasons, but bacterial infections are quite common in chicks that have any major stress during the first 3-4 days of life, or if the eggs or incubator had any bacterial growth. An incubator failure like you had could easily have started the whole problem, and she was the only one strong enough to live through it.

Most people would advise you to not provide any extensive care, since surviving chickhood is an indication of vigor, and helping every sick chick live will decrease the vigor of your flock. While this is true, someone who signs off like this "Dorcus at 11 days. Love her!" is not a professional breeder who is worried about flock vigor -- she is just worried about Dorcus, and will keep Dorcus as a pet. (Besides, any chick in this condition at 11 days and still alive has a pretty strong constitution.) So if you decide to treat her medically, you need to address water consumption, food consumption, and infection.

I've had good success with the following:
1) Save-A-Chick electrolytes -- comes in a three-pack from the feed store. Each packet is mixed with a gallon of water. Mix a new gallon every day if you keep it at room temperature, or store it in the refrigerator and keep it for 3 days. If you can't get that, you can mix a pinch of salt, a pinch of salt substitute (potassium), and a tablespoon of sugar into a gallon of water. (Do not substitute pedialyte or sports drinks, as the artificial sweeteners can be poisonous to birds.) Syringe feed or tube feed warmish water (mixture) every few hours.

2) Get calories into her anyway you can. If she's not eating well on her own, put the chick food in a food processor/spice grinder/mortor and pestle/whatever you have (if using a coffee grinder, clean it VERY thoroughly first, she doesn't need the caffeine) and grind it into a fine powder, then mix it with the above electrolyte solution and syringe feed or tube feed her every few hours (if you tube feed her, be sure to strain it first so the tube won't clog). Be sure the mixture is not cold. (Ideally, there is a product called Emeraid Omnivore-Avian, made by Lafeber Company. It is a critical care tube feeding formula for debilitated birds, and is sold through veterinarians. If you have a vet nearby that sees birds you might see if they have some in stock, but it is hard to find, and not cheap. Alternatively, many pet stores will have tube feeding formula made for hand-fed parrots, which can be used in chickens for a week or so. If you use either of these products, you can use plain water instead of electrolyte/sugar solutions with them.) Balance the need to fill her crop with the amount of stress the feeding is causing when you decide how much to feed, but remember that she will die without calories. At the same time, do not overdistend her crop. A chick this size should start with about 0.5 to 0.8 ml (ml is the same as cc) of water/food at a time (total volume, not volume for each).

3) IF she has a bacterial infection that is causing this, she needs antibiotics. There are several antibiotics available at the feed store, but in my experience many of these infections are resistant to the over-the-counter antibiotics. If you use these, get one that is best for shipping stress or navel ill, which is caused by the same type of bacteria that she likely has. I have had my best success using clavamox. It is a prescription medication, so you will need to get it from a veterinarian, and it is not cheap (~$20-30). Also, it is not FDA approved for chickens. If you have a good relationship with your vet, he/she MIGHT send it home for this little one without asking you to bring her in for an exam, but most won't (it's not really legal, but sometimes an exception is made). It comes in a liquid that is 62.5 mg/ml, and a chick this size should take 0.05 ml (1/2 of 1/10th ml) every 8 hours. Usually they need to take it for about 10 days (at least 3-4 days longer than any symptoms).

4) Don't forget basic nursing care. She needs a clean, warm, draft-free, comfortable, and stress-free brooder. The larger chicks may be companionship for her, but if they bully her then she shouldn't stay with them. If you need to separate her, you might be able to set up something in the brooder that physically separates her from them, but still allows her to see and talk to them. If she's separated, be sure to put something in with her to cuddle (furry cat toys are about the right size).

I hope this helps. She's got a hard road ahead, and the odds are stacked against her, but some chicks do make it. Hopefully she will be one of them. She's been strong enough to hold on for 11 days, so maybe with a little help she'll beat the odds. Good luck.

--April