B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[Yellow House Farm]

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Ed Hart in Illinois has the rose combed colored.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

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We have toe-punching and wing bands for the young. You can order them easily from Smith Poultry Supply.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

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Here is a quote to ponder:

http://books.google.com/books?id=qc...pE3ovGyItwOUyyNsC2Q&ci=169,552,737,267&edge=0

from this book:

http://books.google.com/books?id=qcNbAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA342#v=snippet&q=five toes&f=false

If I am reading this right, white ears go back to the beginning of the Dorking breed as we know it.

That is very interesting.
That tranflation of Columella waf moft likely pvblifhed in the 1700s or before dve to the vfe of the long S wich looks today like an F.

Very funny, indeed, I fo enjoyed the reference to the print ftyle, efpecially when the word was "suck" and I thought, "Now, really?!"

 

[ki4got]

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Ed Hart in Illinois has the rose combed colored.

I've sent him a couple emails and haven't heard back... that's all I could find on him tho was the email.

 

[ga_goat]

Is anyone planning to attend the show in Lake City Fl. in Jan ?

 

[ki4got]

Well, the family is growing. granted, it's growing slowly, but still! i'm that much further ahead than i was a month ago!

2 pullets hatched a week ago, and I got these cuties yesterday. 3 cockerels and 1 pullet. so i'm 50/50 for my trio.

this last hatch was considerably better than previous, 4/11 eggs set. 3 were clear. I'm not sure the reason for the clears, if it's the hen's fault or the roo's, or a combination of both. I do know his 'technique' is lacking more often than not... at this point i'm happy for all I can get.

I'm curious though... how many birds would you plan to hatch, to have enough to sort thru and ensure the best for the next go-round? I would grow them all out to at least 4-6 months, since i also need meat, so that's not a problem. (estimated 200 birds a year to feed ourselves and the dogs)

 

[capayvalleychick]

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They are so cute. Congrats!
(look on the Delaware thread to see my babies

)

I would say, hatch as many as you can.

Kim

 

[Bentley]

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Agreed. hatch as many as possible. The more you have to choose from, the deeper and more refined your selection of the next breeding stock.

 

[hensonly]

Ok, folks, I'm puzzled, disappointed, aggravated, and worried. Help! Here's the deal: A year ago I ordered 25 Dorkings from SandHill. I was sent 26 chicks. One died at 3 days. At about six months, I took 13 cockerels to be processed, keeping one cockerel and all eleven pullets. One pullet was an Orpington (there were a few Orps in my order, because they were short a few Dorkings).

Over the summer, at roughly 7 or eight months, the orp pullet was found dead in the run. A couple of months later, a black Dorking was found dead in the run. In NOvember, my roo died on the roost. A couple of weeks later, a white Dorking hen, who had not been thriving for a while, died. Yesterday, a black hen died. None had any symptoms of illness that I could see.

The white dorking who just died had a slightly misshapen beak, the top part was more sharply hooked than normal and the bottom was a bit longer than normal, so she couldn't close her beak quite all the way. she couldn't eat crumble; I switched to pellets for her. Still, she was acting perfectly normal, her crop was full every day, but after she went broody last summer she never regained much color in her comb and wattles. She acted fine until the last couple of weeks, when she would sometimes sit with her feathers fluffed while the rest bopped around in the run and did their chicken thing. But if I went into the run, she'd come racing over with the others to see what I'd brought, she'd act normal.

The black hen that died yesterday was fine (to appearances) until this past weekend, when she was a little quieter than usual. On Friday, I noticed that the black hen's comb and wattles were slightly lighter in color than the rest. Other than that, I saw nothing alarming until, as I said, the weekend, when she was a bit quiet.

So - from a dozen birds, I'm down to seven, all five having died with no symptoms except as noted above, and all five having died in the space of seven months, the last three within a month. Bear in mind that they were just a year old in September!

They've never free ranged, the runs are wire covered and I've never seen a wild bird inside or perched on the fence, ever. They eat Purina Layena layer feed. They have fresh water every day. They have plenty of room, and ventilation indoors at night. They get garden waste in summer, and are still getting some kale leaves a few times a week. I'm careful not to give them anything moldy or rotten.

My 3 1/2 year old hybrid laying flock in the adjacent pen is fine. What the heck is going on? Has anyone else had a similar problem with Sand HIll birds? Is there something in my environment doing this? Why would they be dying so fast? Only the last two showed any symptoms at all, and were eating and drinking normally until they died? I've only had chickens for 3 1/2 years; my laying flock, a flock of meat birds, and now the Dorkings, which were supposed to be my dual purpose flock, replacing all others. Gonna be hard if they keep dying!

Anyone got any suggestions? I have not had any autopsies done; I can't afford the only local place I've found. I don't know the first thing about what a chicken's insides ought to look like, so opening one up myself would probably not tell me anything....

If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them, even if -especially if- I've done something stupid or missed something obvious. Whatever is going on, I need to get it stopped! I don't want to bring in new birds in the spring if there's something environmental or contaigious. Please help me solve my mystery! Thanks.

 

[lceh]

Here in Virginia, you can send a bird for a necropsy to the state vet's lab for a fairly nominal fee. Any chance your state vet/agriculture lab can do one? They have a vested interest in preventing outbreaks of transmittable diseases, so they should be helpful, and less expensive than private vets or vet schools.

I'm sorry for your losses!