B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[RareBreedFancier]

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Good on him! I don't buy cage eggs on principle and I'm lucky enough to have a farm nearby who free range about 50 hens in their orchards so I'm buying those while waiting for my girls to pick up production. I can't wait to see what your Mom thinks of the article.

 

[tgrlily]

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Good on him! I don't buy cage eggs on principle and I'm lucky enough to have a farm nearby who free range about 50 hens in their orchards so I'm buying those while waiting for my girls to pick up production. I can't wait to see what your Mom thinks of the article.

I can't either!! hahahahaha She's getting a copy in an Easter basket with some of our eggs!

He's a good kid & loves his Dorkings! His favorite girl Akasha is a non-standard color -- light grey. Yesterday a chick hatched that looks like Akasha did when she was a chickie. These actually feather out looking like colored Dorkings, which is cool. Should be able to get them back to red in a few generations.

 

[Mrs MIA]

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Mine are close to white, but compared to a white leghorn, they are a very faint peach or ivory.
Silver Greys, one red hen.

 

[tgrlily]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

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Mine are close to white, but compared to a white leghorn, they are a very faint peach or ivory.
Silver Greys, one red hen.

Thanks, Tori!

hensonly --- Ours came from Terri in Arizona. I'm pretty sure hers came from Sandhill. I believe (& fear) that most Red Dorkings in the US are from the same line. I'm going to try to reach the Dorking breeders on the ALBC list to confirm availability, see what colors they breed & their original source.​

 

[Mrs MIA]

I'm extremely frustrated at the moment with my Dorkings. The weather is warm (40F!) sunny, they have plenty of food, water, space to roam. I trimmed their pantaloons, including the roo, and I'm getting 2-3 eggs a day from 3 hens.... not a dang one is fertile!!!! I'm so tired of boiling their eggs after 2 weeks of hopeful incubation. What else can I do???

 

[TOL Chick]

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A Leghorn's egg is pure white. We should use that to define white. So if they're darker or "less white" than a Leghorn or white grocery store egg (remember what THEY'RE like??) then they're NOT white.

My husband thinks that our Dorking eggs are white. I'll have to look up La Fleche eggs..... OK. La Fleche eggs are that creamy beige with a pinkish hue? Pretty color.

I like to call my Dorking eggs "bisque"

Sounds more elegant...

I have both Tawnies & Reds at this VERY moment, and they both seem to lay similar colored eggs. My Reds seem to be smoother in shell texture, and sometimes there is one a bit darker beige in hue, but for the most part they are consistent. One of my Tawny girls lays double yokers on a regular basis - God Love Her

 

[tgrlily]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

I'm extremely frustrated at the moment with my Dorkings. The weather is warm (40F!) sunny, they have plenty of food, water, space to roam. I trimmed their pantaloons, including the roo, and I'm getting 2-3 eggs a day from 3 hens.... not a dang one is fertile!!!! I'm so tired of boiling their eggs after 2 weeks of hopeful incubation. What else can I do???

Hi Tori!
We just got fertility up this last hatch. Started with 9 eggs, 2 were infertile & 6 hatched! It's about time!

Before that, I was tossing most of them & getting really frustrated. I was lucky to have any make lockdown. I did add my back-up cockerel to the mix, but other than that I made no change. Could it be a seasonal thing? Maybe adding vitamins to their water would help.​

 

[Mrs MIA]

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Hi Tori!
We just got fertility up this last hatch. Started with 9 eggs, 2 were infertile & 6 hatched! It's about time!

Before that, I was tossing most of them & getting really frustrated. I was lucky to have any make lockdown. I did add my back-up cockerel to the mix, but other than that I made no change. Could it be a seasonal thing? Maybe adding vitamins to their water would help.

Lucky!! I only have one boy, 2 silver grey hens, and one red hen. That's all I have to work with after 2 years.

My boy, Junior, is beautiful... I get a lump in my throat when I look at him. I've seen him doing his job, and I even trimmed his feathers again this evening. Spring is finally here... I want chicks!!

Someone had posted some info about a book on breeding Dorkings... perhaps they require extra nutrition that they're not getting with the commercial pellets??

 

[tgrlily]

I did change feed in January. The local agway ordered "Egg Producer" instead of "Egg Layer" pellets. It has 21% protein instead of 16%. Since I usually mix in gamebird starter to increase protein, they kept it for me to try. Maybe that was it!

Other than the new chicks, I still have the Red trio & single light grey hen from when I started. All the chicks last year -- every single one -- was a cockerel! We kept Butch as a back-up in case something happened to Rex. Maybe it's the competition, but with both boys in with the girls fulltime now, things are looking up. Do you still have your Red boy? If nothing is hatching, it shouldn't hurt to experiment.

 

[Mrs MIA]

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Hmmm... I just switched to a higher protein food myself this week... maybe I'll add some special treats, boiled eggs and such, and see if that makes a difference. I don't have my red roo anymore...

He passed last summer. I think I broke his will to live when I pulled him from the breeding pen. The girls were picking on him something fierce! He just kind of moped around for a few months, and then one day I found him in the yard, lifeless.

*sigh*
Thank you for the encouragement...

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