B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ki4got]

Oh Just my luck!!!!! I had an opertunity for three hens when I first started a few weeks ago and I didn't know what I was passing up!!!!!

Unless a miracle happens this winter I will definitely be in the market come spring!!!!!!

depending where you saw them, they may have been mine. LOL

 

[Galtice]

My local Craigslist in va

 

[ki4got]

My local Craigslist in va

if it was the Roanoke craigslist, then it was my ad...

 

[Galtice]

Oh my goodness it was you!!!! What a coincidence!!!!!! Yes I now know what I was passing up!!!!! I would love love love some of your baby's come spring!!!!!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote: Hi stephienoodle ,
No doubt at all, they're all pullets! The first one is a classic red, the second one looks like a classic colored but I can't see enough details of the feathers to tell quality, the third one appears to have some features of both colors (but the colors might be a bit washed out in the photo), and the fourth one is probably a colored, but is in the shade so can't get any feather detail from the photo. Don't worry about the variability in colors at the beginning of your breeding program. Breed for body shape and size first, then legs/feet/comb, then color details last. When I ordered reds from Sandhill, 2 of the 13 are predominantly colored, and one is a mix of colored and red, so there is definately some crossover in their breeding program.

Your 4 1/2 month old cockerels will start their normal teenage behavior soon. I think they start a little younger in the spring and summer, and a little older in the fall and winter. Oh, how I wish my young boys didn't crow every morning. Can't wait until they get their deeper, more mature voices. That scratchy, high-pitched baby crow is only cute the first 1-2 minutes.

So, aren't you lucky to get so many females!! Somewhere out there is someone with lots of boys -- hopefully someone more interested in meat than eggs.

--April

 

[ki4got]

Oh my goodness it was you!!!! What a coincidence!!!!!! Yes I now know what I was passing up!!!!! I would love love love some of your baby's come spring!!!!!

LOL well, keep an eye peeled here, i'll be posting if/when we start getting eggs, and especially when I have chicks due. LOL

if you haven't already, go ahead and join the Virginia thread too.

 

[Galtice]

Thanks for the info and I look almost daily lol

 

[GreenmansHearth]

I am extremely fotunate being from Nova Scotia and having 2 unrelated Silver Grey Trios. I am hoping the winter is mild and short and the incubator full of eggs in the spring. Possibly helping a few other small flocks of Dorkings get established in Atlantic Canada.

My biggest issue is that I picked up the first trio of Dorkings on a whim, with my heart set on Chanteclers. Now rather than focusing on one breed I have 3 (White Jersey Giants too).

I will post some pics of my trios once I get a chance to break out the camera.

 

[Galtice]

That is great from what I understand its extremely hard to find new strains!!!!!

 

[Sydney Acres]

I am extremely fotunate being from Nova Scotia and having 2 unrelated Silver Grey Trios. I am hoping the winter is mild and short and the incubator full of eggs in the spring. Possibly helping a few other small flocks of Dorkings get established in Atlantic Canada.

My biggest issue is that I picked up the first trio of Dorkings on a whim, with my heart set on Chanteclers. Now rather than focusing on one breed I have 3 (White Jersey Giants too).

I will post some pics of my trios once I get a chance to break out the camera.

Where did each of your strains originate? Canadian strains sometimes have great potential, as it is much easier to import from England to Canada than it is from England to the U.S. Also, the U.S.-based strains tend to lack size, even by American Standard of Perfection (SOP) standards. (The American SOP is different from the British Poultry Standards (BPS) not just in the colors that are accepted, but also in weights. The SOP is 9 lbs for the cock, 7 lbs. for the hen. The BPS is 10-14 lbs. for the cock, 8-10 lbs.for the hen. Otherwise the standards appear pretty much the same, although the issue of a white ear lobe is not addressed at all in the BPS, whereas the SOP has ear lobes that are more than 1/3 white as a disqualification.)

Anyway, Canada has the potential to have a much larger genetic diversity of Dorkings, and utilizing some of those genetics in an American breeding program could potentially jump start some flocks when it comes to size deficiencies. Unfortunately, you are too far away for me to obtain eggs from you without shipping, which would be problematic from an importation basis. But anyone in BC or Victoria with English-based Dorking, please PM me. I'm in northern WA, just a short drive from the border, and have access to incubators!!

--April