B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ronott1]

LOL!


In your experiences, how do Dorkings do in damp conditions? I heard somewhere, cannot recall where, that they don't do well in them because of the short legs; but what would you say?

The short legs could be a problem if they had to slog around in running water.

Sorry, that is a good question. We have a lot of rain in the winter but are very dry the rest of the year. Dorkings seem fine here in the winter.

 

[Sydney Acres]

LOL!


In your experiences, how do Dorkings do in damp conditions? I heard somewhere, cannot recall where, that they don't do well in them because of the short legs; but what would you say?

I live 80 miles north of Seattle, so we get lots of rain. I free range during the day, rain or shine. There is shelter available, but the cockerels rarely use it (the cockerel pasture is adjacent to the pasture with the hens, and the boys are so enamored by them). I house them in separate chicken houses at night. The main flock goes in on it's own, but the cockerels have to be hand carried from the pasture to the pen to avoid having them mix with the main flock, to keep them tame, and to allow me to assess their development daily. There are times when the cockerels are soaked to the skin from flirting in the rain all day long. But they do fine. I've never had one get sick.

That being said, I don't think they'd do as well if they were on mud instead of wet grass, or if they didn't go into a dry, warm house every night, or if it was both wet and really cold. But as long as they have at least some amenities to counterbalance the dampness, they seem to do quite well. As far as them getting wetter because they are shorter, if they have adequate feathering to protect them (per the breed standard), then they won't get soaked to the skin just from wet grass. It needs to really pour out of the sky for them to get deeply wet. They might be at a disadvantage in heavy snow though, since their chests would start acting like snowplows earlier than taller breeds.

 

[ki4got]

my guys free range as much as possible, when not in breeding pens, and happily slog thru the mud on a regular basis, though they are a bit wuss-ish and try to stay out of the rain if it's coming down hard. LOL on the other hand, my SFH were ducks in a previous life I think.

 

[poultry007]

HI, A bit new to B.Y.C I have a dorking question. Sorry to anybody that want to still talk about wet dorkings. We have female red dorking that is growing spurs on it's legs like a boy it has the color of a girl. Has any one else have this happen to there girls before?

 

[capayvalleychick]

have female red dorking that is growing spurs on it's legs like a boy it has the color of a girl. Has any one else have this happen to there girls before?

Yes, some female Dorkings grow spurs. Not common but not unusual either. A couple of mine have spurs. They don't grow as long as the male spurs.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: I've had a number of girls with spurs, most often they're not as large, and also not really attached firmly to their legs but usually a bit wiggly. of the 5 girls I took to the show last month, 2 had spurs, the judge made no comment about that. one of them took best of variety (silver grey).

 

[BlackPanther]

Thanks for the quick responses!

 

[poultry007]

Thank you capayvalleychick and kigot for info. I was thinking it was go to start laying eggs that would start hatching just kidding.

 

[poultry007]

Has anybody had red dorking eggs ship to them from the UK?

 

[ronott1]

Has anybody had red dorking eggs ship to them from the UK?

Likely not because of the hurdles for importing.

@capayvalleychick has looked into it.