B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[kimberly35042]

Ki4got, I got eggs from the "general population" with the SG (Junior?) and an EE as well. Either way, the trio I sold locally was not very old. Just wanted to set that straight. Generally, I'm honest to a fault.

I had to go back and look, but you told me that Thing2 is the roo with 3 red girls, 2 silver greys and a colored (dark tannish). Does that sound right? So the cock might have been Tice bred, but everything else (the other 50% of the genepool) was Sandhill or McMurray.

Either way, I'm terribly pleased with the reds now on the ground. But with only 7, all I have is a starting place. More chicks hatching this weekend! Time to rotate cockbirds!

 

[ki4got]

I find the personality differences seem to be more variable by the source rather than color. my own silver greys (a combination of lines) are the sweetest boys in the world, the girls are friendly and curious. the Sandhill birds are freaky-wild as chicks and they run the gamut of personality types as adults, but I have yet to keep a Sandhill roo for breeding. that goes for 2 cockerels I produced that were from Sandhill hens and tice/horstman roo (who happened to be the sweetest thing) I have a range of colors from Sandhill. I kept the reds and colored but the silver greys just didn't meet my expectations at all. I'm down to 3 Sandhill girls, none of which are in any active breeding pens. one bright orangey red, one dilute tannish (daughter of Thing2 and a hen that looked just like her), and my 'dark' (aka silver based colored) girl "blitz".

I've grown out over 70 Sandhill Dorkings over the last 3 years and size is good on the reds and colored but they seem to be a bit longer legged than I'd like, and the roos personalities aren't great.

So I'm waiting for a friend (local!) to grow out some chicks and get a few extra cockerels from her in the hopes that a couple are 'worthy' of joining my girls when they're old enough.

 

[ki4got]

Ki4got, I got eggs from the "general population" with the SG (Junior?) and an EE as well. Either way, the trio I sold locally was not very old. Just wanted to set that straight. Generally, I'm honest to a fault.

I had to go back and look, but you told me that Thing2 is the roo with 3 red girls, 2 silver greys and a colored (dark tannish). Does that sound right? So the cock might have been Tice bred, but everything else (the other 50% of the genepool) was Sandhill or McMurray.

Either way, I'm terribly pleased with the reds now on the ground. But with only 7, all I have is a starting place. More chicks hatching this weekend! Time to rotate cockbirds!

well my 2 free range roos at that time last year were Junior and Big Guy... the EE is Weeble. Sold Junior and have a new Copilot (my gene Patterson roo I got last summer, who just got his name finally LOL)

the red roo was Thing2. and yes the reds and colored were from Sandhill and the sg's primarily mcmurray. I didn't get the Patterson line ones until mid summer. the 2 red girls I have now (not counting Orangey) are from the same breeder as Thing2.

for those who may not have seen him, this was thing2... lost to a predator attack last summer.
(his tail set was a bit lower than SOP but I prefer that over squirrel tails)

 

[elliechooks]

My beautiful new silver grey dorking pair have been with me just a week and she has laid her first egg

 

[ronott1]

My beautiful new silver grey dorking pair have been with me just a week and she has laid her first egg

Did you get a picture?

 

[elliechooks]

new dorking egg on top, with leghorn, columbine, welsummer and bluebell eggs to show all the pretty colours!
I love you guys, my family are like 'ugh' when I get excited about new eggs and chickens - its great to have people who share my madness!!

 

[ronott1]

new dorking egg on top, with leghorn, columbine, welsummer and bluebell eggs to show all the pretty colours!
I love you guys, my family are like 'ugh' when I get excited about new eggs and chickens - its great to have people who share my madness!!

Very nice egg!

Do you have a Rooster in with them?

 

[elliechooks]

I have a pair of dorkings (hen and roo) in with a mystery pullet that I hatched last year from some eggs of unknown origin. She Is clearly a cross breed but has 5 toes! She lays brown eggs so I can tell who laid which egg.
I have read that you shouldn't hatch pullet eggs, how long would you wait before popping a few in the incubator?

 

[humboldtgrrl]

Silly Brittany, my SG Dorking. She is so full of personality and charm!

 

[Kyzmette]

Quote:
Love her!!! The Dorkings have to be one of my favorite breeds for sheer personality.