B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

[ChickenQueen12]

Hello everyone!, I am new to Dorking's. Right now I have this colourful guy and a beautiful Silver Dorking Rooster and two hens. I am getting regular eggs from the one hen, and the other i hatched out as a chick and I think she should start laying soon! I plan to hatch out some more eggs in the December!
What would be the colouring of my Dorking roo here?

From what i have read i thought dorkings couldnt have yellow legs and his look yellow in this pic but i am new to dorkings my self

 

[ki4got]

I think Dorking male should not have stripes on the hackle feathers. Colored male has yelow neck feathers not silver, the wing bow of Colored male is yelow too. This one has red on the wings and striped silver neck and last m.b. becouse I am Leghorn man I see his legs as yelow on my monitor, or they are realy yelow on person. That's only my opinion , but I think he is mix of Red and Silver Dorking.

actually, the SOP for the colored dorking REQUIRES striped hackles... neither red or silver have the striped hackles, so a cross would not either. the melanizing gene that gives the striped hackles is a dominant gene, so at least one parent would have to have them to pass it along.

granted he does have yellow legs, it appears, so may be a cross of some sort, but THAT is what i'm breeding for in my colored line.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: actually that's part of what my colored project is gearing for, is mapping the mutations of the colored... the striped hackles arise from the Ml (melanizing) gene, and it's my belief that the pale hackles are actually a dilution gene. so if bred to a red, i would guess that he would throw some dilute and some melanized (depending if he's homozygous or heterozygous for those traits). i have 1 hen from sandhill that's a melanized dilute, and plan to breed her to a red to see what we get.

i'll also be placing another order from them again this year. initially i wasn't overly impressed, but at 7 months old, my sandhill girls are some of the best i've got, size and type-wise.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Colored males should have black striping in the middle of straw colored hackle feathers. Silver males should have pure silver white hackle feathers, but many do have the striping.

The feet looking yellow I thought was just the photo making it appear that color.

 

[ki4got]

regardless, if i found him locally, i'd snag him in a heartbeat. 8)

 

[monkeemakr]

This is my first winter (OK, so it's still officially fall) with a laying flock of Dorkings. They started laying late Oct and fertility was fairly good then. However, since then fertility has dropped to zero. I would have thought it was just my birds but I got some Dorking eggs from a friend who has a totally unrelated flock, and none of those developed either. Not the incubator because the eggs from other breeds are developing just fine alongside them. I was wondering if this is a Dorking trait? Having low or no fertility during colder weather?

Thanks,
Deb

 

[Yellow House Farm]

This is my first winter (OK, so it's still officially fall) with a laying flock of Dorkings. They started laying late Oct and fertility was fairly good then. However, since then fertility has dropped to zero. I would have thought it was just my birds but I got some Dorking eggs from a friend who has a totally unrelated flock, and none of those developed either. Not the incubator because the eggs from other breeds are developing just fine alongside them. I was wondering if this is a Dorking trait? Having low or no fertility during colder weather?

Thanks,
Deb

Hmmm...well'you're in SC (I think) so how cold is it? On the one side, fertility could be a question of lighting. On the other, it could be a question of parasites. It could be a general question of vigor in your particular male or line. Currently in NH, I still have active males,my first bet wouldn't be the cold.

 

[ashandvine]

The colored birds are gorgeous and if I am reading this right Janelle has a roo but no girls and Ki4got has girls but no boy... is there a fix here? Just saying...

Yes, my bird is apparently camera shy. I can't even point it at him or be near him with it. That shot was a zoomed shot from across the lawn and when he saw me squatting he stopped eating to get ready to run. Irritating. This boy is about 27 weeks... I think. Some of my other birds seem to be developing faster, even as heritage (Marans, Orp, Delaware, NH Red). Did I read this right? Having several cockerels around influence development?? Do explain.

 

[monkeemakr]

Hmmm on the parasites. I will check. It's about time to dose them with Ivermectin, though I haven't really seen anything, it surely won't hurt. The temps only are in the low 30's here at night, and the roo seems active enough, and since I've already hatched eggs from him and these same girls I am befuddled, unless like you said, it's either parasites or the light.

 

[RedBugPoultry]

The colored birds are gorgeous and if I am reading this right Janelle has a roo but no girls and Ki4got has girls but no boy... is there a fix here? Just saying...

Yes, my bird is apparently camera shy. I can't even point it at him or be near him with it. That shot was a zoomed shot from across the lawn and when he saw me squatting he stopped eating to get ready to run. Irritating. This boy is about 27 weeks... I think. Some of my other birds seem to be developing faster, even as heritage (Marans, Orp, Delaware, NH Red). Did I read this right? Having several cockerels around influence development?? Do explain.

Dominate cockerels tend to develop faster than their underlings, or those cockerels lower in the pecking order. Sometimes males develop faster if they are separated by themselves or with a hen of their own. Separating though starts a whole new problem if you do not have the pens to keep them separate because you probably will not get them back into the same pen without fighting.