Shaking Chick!! {Happy Updates!! pg. 5}[Pics on pg.6]

[seminolewind]

Redfeathers, I'm really sorry. We all have been there and will be there again.
Kim, I'm sooo happy that your chicky is better. Maybe a picture for us?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I'll try to get a picture. Hopefully she'll hold still long enough. When those little Dorking chicks spook, they can really move. For anyone interested in the breed do not assume those short legs limit their movement in the least. LOL. I'll catch all my other chicks and the last few I am always chasing are always Dorkings. Little suckers can fly. Once I find the camera, I'll post a few pictures. It's funny that you ask because I really wanted a pic before I posted, but decided the good news couldn't wait.

Redfeathers, I am sorry to hear about your baby. It happens and you gave her the best chance anyone could have. Many people would have dispatched her once they realized something was "not right" and that she required extra care, but not you, you gave her the best opportunity at life you could have and even set her free from her pain and dissability in the end. You did what was best for her. I often bury my chicks in the garden. Something about them being used to further the life of something else, like a rose or climbing rose or tree, always makes me feel a little better. I hope the rose grows beautifully for you in her remembrance. It's not silly, it is human emotion, we get attached so easily and especially for the underdogs, runts, and oddballs.

-Kim

 

[Redfeathers]

Thank you Kim, that made me feel better.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Alright, due to popular request I finally got pics of this little girl. She is 3-4 weeks old now and is in that "ugly/awkward" stage. LOL She also wasn't very happy about being played with.

She is now referred to as Shakes. Of course once she joins the other Dorkings her age, she'll blend right in unless I mark her.

-Kim

 

[Redfeathers]

Shes a cutie. I'm so glad she is doing well!

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Kim glad to hear that your little dorking is on the mend. I have 8 pures and 3 samatra/dorkings mixes. I just love them they have great personalities and they can fly LOL. Congrats on being a member of the rare breed of dorking owners.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Thanks everyone. Yes, I kind of thought my Dorkings would be a temporary thing, but I get more attached to the breed as time goes on. I probably hatched close to 50 Dorkings this year.

And yes, boy can those suckers fly. My mom wanted white egg layers, so for Mother's day I gave her a cockerel and 4 pullets from my Silver Grey chicks. She wanted to free range them but worried that their "dorked" legs would handicap them. I laughed and told her that when I have to catch chicks for any reason the Dorkings are my most quick and nifty escape artists. I told if they go missing in the middle of hot-weather it is because they're hatching eggs in the bush somewhere.

There are many things I enjoy about them. I love the fact they are autosexing. I'm testing this now, having given those colored male at hatch with blue bands and those marked female at hatch with red. But, it is funny because once their sex mark fades and their real feathers come in, they are still visual sexable because the females have pink breasts. A great breed, I have fallen in love with them.

There are few things I have found poor with them. My particular hens lay small eggs, but I know someone who has Sandhill stock and her hens lay HUGE eggs. I bred my hens to her roo so hopefully this next generation will have better egg size. The second thing I found "awkward" about them, is that fifth toe of theirs. LOL. If there is ANY kind of string(the stray hay-string in our situation) they'll catch it on their fifth toes and hobble themselves. I have had to "un-hobble" a few this week, and evened hobbled they are STILL hard to catch. LOL

I'm glad she is okay as well. It was quite a strange and unusual situation. I had never seen an animal shake like that, unless they were cold. And if they were cold, the whole body would shake and not just the head.

She was moved to the "big-chick" brooder today. So she is back in with her same-hatch siblings.

-Kim