B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Ouch! that's some nasty frost bite...the tips will fall off and he'll look like my Sussex & Golden Laced roos.

 

[hensonly]

Ok, all of y'all breeders, help. Please.

I have a batch of 17 week olds, straight run. I plan to keep one roo, process the rest (roos, that is!). So I need to start thinking of which roo to keep. I can read the breed standard ) to see which roo fits the standard best. What I don't know is: which faults are easiest to get rid of? LIke, if I have a roo whose worst fault is, for example, black legs, do I keep him over, say, the one with incorrect coloring? And what about the one who has maybe legs that are too long? HOw do I choose which fault to tolerate in this first generation, and which to be sure do not get to reproduce? And if I have a hen with the same fault, of course I wouldn't want to raise any chicks from her, using that roo, which raises another can of worms, deciding which hens to hatch from, partly based on which roo I keep!!

I wish I could give that can of worms to the hens, because they'd get rid of it in no time!

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Mrs MIA]

A saying that I read here and liked is "You have to build the barn before you can paint it".

I am still learning, but that makes sense... go for conformation, build... things like color and comb come after the body type is met.

But best of all, post pictures here of each of them, we'll help you decide!

 

[Raven81]

also it may pay to weigh them before you may the final decision

 

[Chickhick]

Oh no! Sand Hill is already booked solid for Silver Grey and Colored Dorkings!

I have in an order for a Dorking assortment, but they said it will likely be Reds, Light Greys and Blacks. I'm happy to get some of those, but I really wanted some Silver Greys and Colored.

Now my wonderful husband had pity on me and said to place another chick order, but I don't know if I should order a bunch from Murray McMurray and then cull hard, or if I should try to get eggs from another source.

Anybody have advice on where I should try for Dorking chicks or eggs?

 

[TOL Chick]

Hi Chickhick -

If you can go the incubator route, you can try Jeannie up in Montana, at Black Diamond Guest Ranch for Silver Greys, she has lovely birds. She ships hatching eggs, but usually not until late spring due to weather conditions in Montana.

The other option for "colored" eggs would be Teri out in AZ. If you watch on Ebay, she usually has Dorking Eggs for sale, or you can PM me and I'll give you her contact info. My Tawny birds are from Teri, which is one of the older color versions. I posted some pictures last week of them if you care to have a look.

Hope this helps...

Jen

 

[chickenmum]

Quote:
The rooster passes on traits like comb, coloring, and refinement, then the hen passes on traits like body type, conformation and size. So for rooster, I would select the one with six good points on his comb, and comb shaped closest to the standard. also, if the rooster, as a young cockerel, has coloring on his back that is extremely close to a hen's, then he will produce hens in the future with nice soft girly coloring. I know you said nothing about hens, but of course when breeding select the most massive, ground-shaking swaggerin feet-spread-apart boat-shaped Dorking you've got!

oh and NEVER breed a chicken with stubs. But that's obvious and I'll be quiet now.XD Let us know how it goes! Give us pictures of the lucky one you choose!

 

[chickenmum]

AK Bird brain, I like your silver-grey roo Junior!

nice boatey shape. Also, your location just makes me think of Brother Bear. XD sorry.

 

[Chickhick]

I have trouble counting points on a comb.

I don't know if he front part counts as a point , and I don't know if the very back part that goes back over the neck counts, and what about those little tiny ones?

Can someone post a good side view of a comb or 2 and count the points for me?

 

[Yellow House Farm]

A note on ordering DOrkings.

If Sand Hill is already booked....

Ask members of the Dorking Breeders Club what they will have available.

At Yellow House Farm we will not be selling chicks this spring; rather we will be offering pairs and trios in the late summer and fall.

For hatcheries, Murray McMurray stock is of fairly good quality. They offer only SG Dorkings. By a large number and then cull them as they grow. THeir quality comes from their being based in Duane Urch stock. A good beginning can be made from here.

Avoid Ideal Dorkings. They are, without exageration, of extremely poor quality.