Yes, a WFBS has won class champ a few times. I have been gone for a week.
w.
Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread
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Yes, a WFBS has won class champ a few times. I have been gone for a week.
w.
good lookin' Dorkings in my amateur opinion
White Dorking Cock (D). This one has finer features.
White Dorking Cock (A) This one's a bit of a moose.
I thought I'd post a few photos. I'm working at being proficient in picture-posting. It's hard to get a clear idea for Dorkings with the photos available, although I'm not sure that these are a lot of help. They're more than a little rough from six months in the breeding pen. They're solid, well-meated, big birds. Our strain lays rather well, especially Sept/Oct- June. Just about now broodiness starts to run through the pens pretty quickly. Here's a breed that's been around for a long, long time.
YH, thank you for sharing the pictures of the Dorkings. They look like nice solid birds.
How many breeding males/females are you keeping? How do you manage the broodies? Do you allow them to brood?
What do you think of their wing carriage?
How many breeding males/females are you keeping? How do you manage the broodies? Do you allow them to brood?
What do you think of their wing carriage?
The wing carriage is too low, but these birds have come a long way since I first saw them. Good job yellowhouse!
Walt
I hope my question about the wing carriage was not taken as a critique. Just trying to get a picture of correctness in my head. The Standard description has not given me a clear picture. I like these birds.
No offense taken at all! And thanks, Walt.
This has been such a project, and it has been a process of chipping away bit by bit. Until you mentioned that, I'd never really focused my eyes in on it. I've been most concerned with weight, breast shape and blocking up, trying to bring the legs down a bit, fixing the heads, correcting color, selecting for full, abundant hackle. They're definitely getting there on that level, "getting there" being the operative word. I think that these things come to the fore when it's time to address them. I've been trying to post a couple pics of some up-coming cockerels that look a little better but not better; the computer's not cooperating, though. Wing carriage is something I've started addressing, though, in the Anconas; it's interesting that I didn't instantly start looking there on the Dorkings, too.
In truth, I haven't started showing these yet. My hope is to do so this fall/winter. I've been showing the Anconas for a couple of years. I think there's a big advantage to showing birds, it gets everyone's head and eyes around things, and it takes all of those eyes to see and notice everything. I've been thinking about developing selection worksheets so that I fill one out for each bird that comes under closer consideration for becoming a breeder. I think this would help in not overlooking points.
In Dr. Carefoot's work Creative Poultry Breeding, he does a whole section on the importance of wing carriage. The way he writes it, though, throws me a bit, and I'm not able to follow his thoughts all the way to the end. It has something to do with shoulder rotation and has implications for the rest of the type. Maybe I'll type it out at some point, and we can have a discussion about it.
So, yes, they are full of pro's and con's, but, as Walt pointed out, they are definitely much stronger than five years ago. They still have a few more years, though, of crazy intense selection, which of course will only than yield to expectedly intense selection. As Bob has pointed out; it's a journey. Thank you for the critique.
They're angular from neck to back to tail, which is right, a bit the opposite of a Leghorn. Cock D shows that best. Cock A, though, has the better set in the breast. They both have large, strong heads, but D has the better comb. They both have strong, rolled back shoulders. In general, I want more length of body. There are some pullets coming up that I'm keeping an eye on that seem to be exhibiting some good length. They're about 16 weeks old, in another month or so, I'll post some pics of them; at that point, they should be getting ready to lay and really start to hit that note.
They're both just about as low in the leg as I want to go. The difficulty will be trying to fix the wing carriage without making them overly horizontal, because that tends to lead to fertility issues. With the males that are too horizontal, the breast becomes too "top heavy" and mounting cockerels flip head over heels when trying to breed.
This has been such a project, and it has been a process of chipping away bit by bit. Until you mentioned that, I'd never really focused my eyes in on it. I've been most concerned with weight, breast shape and blocking up, trying to bring the legs down a bit, fixing the heads, correcting color, selecting for full, abundant hackle. They're definitely getting there on that level, "getting there" being the operative word. I think that these things come to the fore when it's time to address them. I've been trying to post a couple pics of some up-coming cockerels that look a little better but not better; the computer's not cooperating, though. Wing carriage is something I've started addressing, though, in the Anconas; it's interesting that I didn't instantly start looking there on the Dorkings, too.
In truth, I haven't started showing these yet. My hope is to do so this fall/winter. I've been showing the Anconas for a couple of years. I think there's a big advantage to showing birds, it gets everyone's head and eyes around things, and it takes all of those eyes to see and notice everything. I've been thinking about developing selection worksheets so that I fill one out for each bird that comes under closer consideration for becoming a breeder. I think this would help in not overlooking points.
In Dr. Carefoot's work Creative Poultry Breeding, he does a whole section on the importance of wing carriage. The way he writes it, though, throws me a bit, and I'm not able to follow his thoughts all the way to the end. It has something to do with shoulder rotation and has implications for the rest of the type. Maybe I'll type it out at some point, and we can have a discussion about it.
So, yes, they are full of pro's and con's, but, as Walt pointed out, they are definitely much stronger than five years ago. They still have a few more years, though, of crazy intense selection, which of course will only than yield to expectedly intense selection. As Bob has pointed out; it's a journey. Thank you for the critique.
They're angular from neck to back to tail, which is right, a bit the opposite of a Leghorn. Cock D shows that best. Cock A, though, has the better set in the breast. They both have large, strong heads, but D has the better comb. They both have strong, rolled back shoulders. In general, I want more length of body. There are some pullets coming up that I'm keeping an eye on that seem to be exhibiting some good length. They're about 16 weeks old, in another month or so, I'll post some pics of them; at that point, they should be getting ready to lay and really start to hit that note.
They're both just about as low in the leg as I want to go. The difficulty will be trying to fix the wing carriage without making them overly horizontal, because that tends to lead to fertility issues. With the males that are too horizontal, the breast becomes too "top heavy" and mounting cockerels flip head over heels when trying to breed.
Hmmm...now, Walt, is this what you understand as "drooping"? I think I've always read "drooping" as being like a weak wing, a wing not held tight, one with hanging kind of loose primaries. What, I'm see with these is something more of a game wing. Is that, then what "drooping" implies? If so, good to know.
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OK. Let me ask another way. Where the standard states "Carried without drooping", should it be understood as following the slope of the back? Is their room for varience between level and following the slope of the back?
I have noticed a lot of breed's wings described as "carried without drooping". Some descriptions are more specific. Level with the Reds and some very specific like with the Old English. Whenever I read "Carried without drooping", I am left unsettled as to exactly how the wing should be carried.
OK. Let me ask another way. Where the standard states "Carried without drooping", should it be understood as following the slope of the back? Is their room for varience between level and following the slope of the back?
I have noticed a lot of breed's wings described as "carried without drooping". Some descriptions are more specific. Level with the Reds and some very specific like with the Old English. Whenever I read "Carried without drooping", I am left unsettled as to exactly how the wing should be carried.
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