BYC Dorking Club meet here at this thread

[usschicago1]

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Good Luck !

 

[Mrs MIA]

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You will get attached... there's no point in denying it.

They do mature slower than most, but worth the wait. The meat is light and tender, and we wait to butcher until after we decide whether to keep him in the program or not. That's about 5-6 months. I don't know when the fertility drops, if ever, but I can tell you that my 2.5 year old roo is still producing, and in that time I've only had one hen try to go broody.

They are fragile as chicks, and the eggs can be difficult to hatch... we had a horrible hatch rate this summer, and they Dorkings were raised/fed the same as everyone else. They need something extra, from what I hear, but I have yet to find the book that tells me what that is.

 

[TOL Chick]

AllCoop'dUp :

I have 3 Silver Grey Dorkings. My Rooster Roman and two hens. He's a great rooster who watches not over these hens but his brooder mates, 4 Mottled Javas.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/57277_roman_silver_grey_dorking_031.jpg
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/57277_dorking_hens_035.jpghttps://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/57277_mottled_java_hens_036.jpg

absolutely stunning SG roo! congrats!

 

[TOL Chick]

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Hi - I've just received the following guidance from the breeder I got my colored's from. She's been doing the Dorking thing for a while, so I pretty confident in her wisdom...

"You can butcher a fryer/broiler at 13 to 16 weeks or so. Dorkings mature slowly so they make small fryers at that age but that is part and parcell to raising pure breeds as opposed to crosses. After that, any time is the right time and birds less that a year make good roasters, much older than that, stewers, crock pot is great for that, I usually can older birds. On old birds it is a good idea to cut off the tail to get rid of the oil gland before cooking. I age 3 to 5 days in a cold fridge. I haven't really kept track of feed conversion and the different ages may be just how old someone has found they wanted a bird to get to be a certain weight."

Hope this helps, I'm in the process of making the "appointment" for my extra roos - they are starting to drive me a bit batty, so they may join the freeze club sooner than later...

Jen

 

[mychickensneaky]

Hello I love dorkings! I have silver grey dorkings! I want to join the club!