Review of Dorkings as a table bird *update: pics and weight of our last Dorking rooster*

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
Depending on how much meat you want, and how you want to prepare it, anywhere from about 3 1/2 months onward... All normal chickens, including Dorkings, reach maturity at about 6 months, filling out completely after about a year. "Broiler" is under 4 months, "fryer" 4-6, "roaster" 6-12, and "stewing fowl" 12+ (approximately).

Here's a cool link relating to that:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3473262#p3473262

 

[jgervais]

We have 1 rooster and about 7 hens left to process. I think we will wait until they are at least 6 months old to really see the size difference between the 4 month olds we processed and a 6 month old. We may even keep a few hens until 8 months, again, just to see what size they will reach. We are keeping the largest of the batch for breeding in spring. Hopefully I will have some beautiful colored dorkings running around again in May or June. So stay tuned

http://simplelifeainteasy.blogspot.com/2011/11/slow-food-dorking-chickens.html

 

[speedy2020]

Quote:
Have you eat purebreed Dorking or IG? If yes, how do the taste compare to Dorking x IG cross. I currently have 2 IG roosters, but no dorking available locally.

I find the cross to be better than either parents, having more meat than pure Dorking,(very tasty), and less dense than pure IG.
I have for several years now been breeding the offsping together and selecting different lines, hopefully in a couple more years it will all come together.

Is the offspring chick 4 or 5 toes?

 

[cluckingnuts]

Quote:
I find the cross to be better than either parents, having more meat than pure Dorking,(very tasty), and less dense than pure IG.
I have for several years now been breeding the offsping together and selecting different lines, hopefully in a couple more years it will all come together.

Is the offspring chick 4 or 5 toes?

In the F1's they are nearly all 5 toed, some have 5 one one foot + 4 on the other, white skinned, pea comb.

 

[jgervais]

I saved 2 roosters out of the sandhill hatch I received - I saved the 2 that were the biggest so they would make big babies in spring. Wow are they big. I have a buff orpington hen that I thought was big and both dwarf her. They are now 6 months old. Just thought I would update with a few pictures of my hens and roos. Such nice birds.

 

[LilyD]

Wow this just makes me want to get some of my own. I do love my Dellies and Brahmas but boy these are some great looking birds did you get hatching eggs from Sandhill or straight order babies?

 

[jgervais]

I actually gained interest in them in like May of last year - and searched all over the internet on a place to get some... apparently its pretty hard to get them short notice. I did find a woman who had an order into Sandhill Preservation from January and she was supposed to get them in May/June but didnt really need them anymore and she was willing to pass her order to me. Sandhill wasn't able to deliver until mid July - and the order she had in for 10 coloreds was replaced with a mix of 18 - blacks, coloreds, a weird looking white one and a few silver greys... So that's what I received. Pretty happy with them (except the weird white one... shes skinny with white ear lobes, so not really sure what she is).

Several of the roo's were much smaller, but I filtered them out to only keep the 2 largest as show in the pics. They are really nice Roo's no problems at all so far.

 

[speedy2020]

I saved 2 roosters out of the sandhill hatch I received - I saved the 2 that were the biggest so they would make big babies in spring. Wow are they big. I have a buff orpington hen that I thought was big and both dwarf her. They are now 6 months old. Just thought I would update with a few pictures of my hens and roos. Such nice birds.

I have 1 Light Sussex rooster and 1 Light x Black Orpington rooster and they are hardly ever crow, which is great. Is the Dorking rooster crow a lot?

 

[applegal]

Read your blog..my mouth is watering! We are considering a broiler flock this spring, and Dorkings hadn't crossed my mind. Thanks for the great review.

 

[jgervais]

Yes - those boys do crow a lot. They start dueling at around 5am and lighten up a bit around 8am. Then throughout the day they crow here and there. These two are pretty decent to the ladies, they do mate them which looks rough for a brief 5 seconds or so, but then they seem to keep them near the coops and away from danger. I have yet to name these two - I need some suggestions!