B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[DaveK]

Yellow House Farm, does someone HAVE to be NPIP in order to ship chicks? Just wondering. It's a long time since doing anything in any way with shipped chicks but when we were NPIP wasn't part of the picture. So now I'm curious.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

Quote:
yep...

 

[Yellow House Farm]

NPIP is a great thing in theory. In reality, there are certain distinct problems.

When you agree to be NPIP the state gains say over your flock.

When they do the blood work for NPIP testing, they're looking for anitbodies, which means that they're not looking for disease so much as exposure to disease. Many homesteaders free-range their birds, which exposes them to countless diseases. However, their general health and vigor may be such that you and they are never the wiser. They come into contact with this or that; their body's immune system respond with anti-bodies. Your healthy flock is stronger than ever.

NPIP testing for anti-bodies will reveal that they've been exposed. The birds may all be healthy. Indeed, the exposure may have happened in the distant past, but at this point your farm is completely subject to the state. They can freeze all operations, quarantine your flock, require depopulation (kill your birds), and you're without recourse. In theory you are insured for replacement stock, but I doubt that includes finding another flock of white dorkings and fitting the bill for replacement. Moreover, they can't replace the years of effort.

So, it's a bit of a conundrum, and I've yet to find the resolution that I like best.

 

[hensonly]

Do any of y'all actually use your birds for meat? I wanted Dorkings for dual purpose, they're 5 1/2 months old, and don't seem to have a heck of a lot of meat...but I really need to get the roos out of there; fifteen roos and eleven hens doesn't work well at all! I planned to process the roos a long time ago, but was hoping they'd put on some bulk.

I just wanted to raise my own dual purpose birds, and chose Dorkings because of their broody and maternal abilities, their tendency to lay through the winter, and calm friendly disposition. I didn't realize how rare really good stock is, or how far from the breed standard the not-good stock is...I'm not really set up, either with housing or with knowledge, to seriously breed for breed improvement, the way many of you do.

ON one hand, I don't mind having a flock whose color doesn't meet the standard; I care about what's under the feathers more...but from an ethical standpoint, I hate to breed any creature when it isn't going to improve the quality of the breed, even if the substandard birds suit my needs (though I'm not sure that these will).

So here I am with my flock, not knowing what to do with them. If I post pictures, can y'all help me decide? No matter what, most of the boys have to go, and soon, they're really creating havoc out there and I have nowhere else to put them.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Quote:
I do and it's been a learning process. Dorkings were my first attempt at raising my own chickens for meat. At first, I wasn't familiar with the differences between store bought chicken and heritage breeds. Cooking them correctly makes a huge difference! The heritage breeds also have firmer texture to the meat- not tough if cooked properly- but different if you are used to store bought chicken.
Gina Bisco has an article on cooking heritage chicken on ALBC and I also found a great post on the same, written by Yellow House Farm, so I hope he will repeat it here.

I have let the Dorkings mature to 7 months to a year, which produces more meat. The Dorking breast meat is always wonderful, but I was having trouble keeping the dark meat tender with the older birds. I read that chefs actually will cook the white & dark meat separately to get it right. I was using too high of heat for roasting. Now I always roast at 300 degrees.

I had some accidental crosses with Buckeyes last year, which resulted in meat birds with more & better dark meat than the Dorking, with the wonderful white breast meat of the Dorking. The Buckeyes are another slow growing heritage bird, known for good meat qualities. Someone in that club was the one who told me to roast long and slow. I haven't butchered or cooked any purebred Buckeyes since I learned to cook them right. Even my attempt at Emeril's Buckeye recipe came out tough.

My greatest success was with my last batch of chickens, which included 5 month old Dorking roosters and 6 month old Delawares. I had them processed at the butchers, so unfortunately I don't know which breed is which, when we are eating them. Every single one has been melt in your mouth delicious! We even grilled some with a rotisserie and had good results. Some of these chickens are smaller than others, so I'm guessing that those are the Dorkings (or they could be Delaware hens). These smaller chickens provide a nice amount of meat for one meal for my husband & I, so I'm happy with them. They do have less meat than the older Dorkings, that were 7 months or older when butchered, but the meat is just as flavorful and much more tender.

Kim

 

[Mrs MIA]

Heritage breeds require patience, in all aspects.

That much I have learned. But the rewards are worth it.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Quote:
Start by weighing all your cockerels. Remove the lower 50% right off the top. Look at the birds sideways, be looking for a rectangle. Look down over them. Be looking for breadth of shoulder, a body that's more or less as broad at the tail as it is at the shoulders. Look for a wide, deep stance and good width inbetween their legs. Give the ALBC educational recsources a good read. They'll make you feel much more confident.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

PS: Apparently I can't type worth beans!!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Start by weighing all your cockerels. Remove the lower 50% right off the top. Look at the birds sideways, be looking for a rectangle. Look down over them. Be looking for breadth of shoulder, a body that's more or less as broad at the tail as it is at the shoulders. Look for a wide, deep stance and good width inbetween their legs. Give the ALBC educational recsources a good read. They'll make you feel much more confident.

Excellent!

 

[DaveK]

Yes, Dorkings are excellent roasters. We found that the best of them grew very well but matured slowly. Two different things. And a great big resounding YES!!! to the idea that the Standard serves the farmer. Get a Dorking that is correct in all basic ways (color is a detail; a nice one but a detail) according to the APA Standard of Perfection and you not only have an excellent Dorking but you have an excellent farm/utility fowl. And a magnificent bird to look at for whatever reason you keep them.