Dorkings

[JessicaB]

I am looking for dorkings and found a place called dc heritage breeds in shawville that has them but I have been hearing a lot of negative comments about this place. Anybody have experience with them? Or know of any other places to get dorkings in the Ottawa Valley area?

 

[ShortHenTallPen]

Hey there,

I have experience with DC Heritage, and am now trying to raise awareness of what Zi perceive to be problems here.

I bought all of our chicks and pullets there 3-4 weeks ago. Of all of our chicks, two were extremely small. One of these had a foot deformity, and just as I had successfully treated this, died as he got stuck in a chick feeder The others are doing well, although the other small one remains much smaller than his buddies.

When I went to the DC Heritage farm, the birds seemed healthy enough, and the pens were clean, but there seemed to be a huge amount of birds —she had a commercial brooder with maybe 1000 chicks in it, and at *least* a couple of hundred pullets in several pens, all in a building attached to their house. Now I'm a complete newbie at this, so maybe this is normal for a hatchery, and maybe it's not. At the time, I just was surprised that she would have that much business. There were other pens in more buildings where she got my pullets, and these were clean too, and less packed. I didn't see inside the barn where she got my rooster though.

Despite a relatively good experience, I won't do business with them again. Tonight, my hubby stumbled upon some really disturbing news stories detailing the family's involvement in a huge puppy mill operation on their farm. It made national news a couple of years ago: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/quebec-kennel-owners-get-2-year-pet-ban-1.1244336 They had also been mentioned here in 2013, sadly before I joined BYC.

This is clearly the same place I went to get my chicks — the farm is the same as the one pictured, the mom of the lady who I corresponded with, who helped prep my chicks, is clearly the same person as on Google searches about the puppy mill, and the name in the mailbox is the same.

I don't want to go on a vendetta, hence my efforts to be clear about what I saw, but I don't believe that people who have been found guilty of these kind of offended have any business raising any kind of animal. I feel very frustrated after having given money to this family, however inadvertently.

Thankfully, I also have a positive for you! I have a great contact for you about the Dorkings Whilst we were visiting a farm to buy locally-raised lamb a couple of months ago, the owners discovered we were about to start raising chickens. They were kind enough to offer a tour of the farm, and showed us their flocks of Partridge Chanteclers/Albertans and Silver Dorkings. Many fewer birds in a much greater space; the birds were also noticeably calmer around people. The Dorkings were stunning, curious, and very friendly!

The farmers were incredibly generous in sharing tips for building coops, starting a flock, and showing us how they cared for their own chickens. They also train students on their farm, and are trying to establish a breeding program for the a Silver Dorking with a group of friends in the area The name of the farm is Hawk Hill Farm, and it's in Dunvegan. Laurie Maus and Robert Garner are the lovely farmers. http://www.hawkhillfarm.ca/heritage poultry.htm

Hope this all helps!