Dorkings, Dorkings, Dorkings!!!

[beckymom3]

I just candled my ever so rare Red Dorking eggs and I have 12 out of 13 gorgeous kicking embryos!

I'm so eggcited and

!!!

They are on day 7 from the day the hen went broody, but the embryos are so well developed and easy to see. I wonder if that hen went broody sooner than we thought....but the friend I got them from swears she laid her 13th egg the day I began incubation. Maybe that was an oops egg, the one that candled clear today, and all the others were already incubating. Hmmmmm. How do I figure this one out? Now I'm

over when to candle next and when to initiate lockdown!

But my eggsitement over those kicking beauts is making me crazed!

 

[easttxchick]

Wow that is great! Congrats on your almost new babies. Keeping my fingers crossed that all of them hatch for you!

I would love to see pics once they hatch.
Good luck on the hatch.

 

[chickenmum]

WEEE! Yay I love Dorkings! Where did you get the eggs, anyway? I breed Dorkings, but my last male was getting a little old and died. I was gonna hatch some this year but it's not really working out...
Congrats! Blessings! Lord willing they will all hatch safe and sound!

 

[noitulover]

Where Did You Find Red Dorkings?!?!?!

 

[MagsC]

Yay!!

I have never heard of Red Dorkings. I am glad they are developing well for you.

 

[beckymom3]

I bought these from a lovely man whose been trying to revive several rare heritage breeds, Mr. Tom Walker of Bastrop, Tx, just an hour or so from my home. He has worked hard to revive the Cotton Patch Goose, several turkey breeds (he developed the Harvest Gold variety) and the very rare Red Dorking. I am so lucky to know him and acquire these eggs.

Lockdown tomorrow!!! I've got the Brinsea incubator warming up, normalizing humidity, etc. I'm gonna hatch them in style. I think I'll try the paper towel "cups" made by the BYCer who created the sticky on candling.

I'm psyched!

 

[beckymom3]

Here's the feathersite page on Dorkings.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGD/Dorks/BRKDorks.html

The roosters from France look very much like Tom's boys. Sadly, the baby daddy of my soon to be hatched chicks died a week after I set these babies. His line is so gorgeous.

Tom lets his birds do things naturally, with lovely nests he made set up in the trees. He often lets his birds hatch naturally rather than incubating everything himself. He is a strong believer in breeding not just to type, but to viability and natural strength. They can't just be pretty, they have to be smart, lol. Sorta the whole thing with heritage breeds in general: hardy birds of value. Remember, Dorkings are an ancient breed. What an honor to be part of the revival and support of this breed!

Look up Porter's Heritage Turkeys and check out the Harvest Golds. Those are Tom Walker's variety. Gorgeous. And I've seen them in person. The Toms are so gorgeous you just stare and stare.

Also, check out Cotton Patch Geese on feathersite. He has I think one of the largest collection of breeding pairs in the world. Greenfire Farms also has them.

The Dorkings go into the lockdown/hatching incubator today. I've got steady temp of 100 and humidity at 65% on the dot in my Brinsea Eco. I'm making paper cups for them now!

Fingers crossed!

 

[BlackBart]

Love Dorkings, I have the Silver Greys. a lady near me has some Reds.

Please post pictures when they hatch

 

[beckymom3]

I will!

The boys and I just finished making egg cups, and idea stolen from silkiechicken (candling wiz).

Of course, my 5 y.o. modified the original design and now we have egg sleeping bags!

Deep breath as I candle the eggs one last time, set them in their cup/bags in the Brinsea Eco 20 and WAIT!!!!!

My last question, though, is, should I follow silkiechicken's infinite wisdom and draw funny faces on the eggs before lockdown?

 

[beckymom3]

I just finished candling before the final lockdown and I noticed a wretched odor coming from the incubator. Sure enough, it was coming from one of the Dorkings. I did not smell it 2 days ago when I candled last, but there were 2 eggs I did not see distinct movement on, though I could see details of developed chicks in there. One of those eggs is stinky, stinky

and the other has a faint foul odor. Both were "loose" when I candled them: I could see the chick (or whatever is in there) floating and shifting as I turned the egg. The moving, active, obviously alive chicks, the other 10, all are pretty secure as I move the egg around. They don't "float". Do you know what I mean? The stinky one looks like it has a blood ring. Both have air cells that are similar to the "good" eggs.

So, the one that's less stinky with no blood ring (it has just a tiny bit of an odor, that seemed to go away once it was out of the incubator a bit) but is "floaty" with no chick movement, what do I do with it? I'm going to open Stinky, but don't want to open one that actually may be alive. But I don't want to put an egg that is going to explode in with my babies! Nor do I want to keep opening the lockdown incubator just to check on the possibly dead one.

I put it back in the incubator, not the lockdown, and just want some opinions. I guess I can just watch it today....

HELP!!!!