The Dorking Breeders thread

[MacCana]

Thank you Yellow House Farm for the opinion.
It's the same as a couple others have said, and I'm 90% there my self. I'm going to give them the chance to "feather out" & grow to a somewhat age of maturity. I will not even consider keeping any with the faulty toes. I'm just curious as to if they actually turn into a decent standard of a recognized color. The seller told me she didn't "mix the colors" of her breeding stock, so we'll see. I will most likely come back to here with pictures & questions as they mature. In the least, i figure one & perhaps some of two things will happen:

I'll end up with something that actually looks "true" but not SG, that I can then separate from my SGs & build upon, or trade/sell so I can get more SGs.

I'll end up with complete mutts that will be delicious on our dinner table.

I'm hoping more of the first & a couple of the 2nd will happen (most likely will be fate of the "faulty toed" ones). What I ask now, is at what age will I be able to compare these birds for breed standard qualities I'd want to keep & gain from? I was hoping to not have to wait until sexual maturity for that, but can if I have to. My Murray line SGs picture posted a few pages back are already feathered & are colored up the way that's expected. According to breast colors, I have 2 pullets & 4 cockerels. Is there any reason to wait until they're either crowing or laying tp be sure who is boy & who is girl? Are solid breast colors appearing to be as they should ever false in hatchery birds? I'm willing to keep them as long as I need to.
I just want to know when I'll be able to tell enough about the bird's quality to be able to make a decision which birds are worth keeping as well as which of the 4 cockerels of my SGs has the best traits?
I have big dreams of being an old, happy lady selling reputable Dorking with a trifecta of desirable traits. Perfect as layers, table birds, and just enough show-quality. Ahhh. To Dream

 

[Sydney Acres]

Thank you Yellow House Farm for the opinion.
It's the same as a couple others have said, and I'm 90% there my self. I'm going to give them the chance to "feather out" & grow to a somewhat age of maturity. I will not even consider keeping any with the faulty toes. I'm just curious as to if they actually turn into a decent standard of a recognized color. The seller told me she didn't "mix the colors" of her breeding stock, so we'll see. I will most likely come back to here with pictures & questions as they mature. In the least, i figure one & perhaps some of two things will happen:

I'll end up with something that actually looks "true" but not SG, that I can then separate from my SGs & build upon, or trade/sell so I can get more SGs.

I'll end up with complete mutts that will be delicious on our dinner table.

I'm hoping more of the first & a couple of the 2nd will happen (most likely will be fate of the "faulty toed" ones). What I ask now, is at what age will I be able to compare these birds for breed standard qualities I'd want to keep & gain from? I was hoping to not have to wait until sexual maturity for that, but can if I have to. My Murray line SGs picture posted a few pages back are already feathered & are colored up the way that's expected. According to breast colors, I have 2 pullets & 4 cockerels. Is there any reason to wait until they're either crowing or laying tp be sure who is boy & who is girl? Are solid breast colors appearing to be as they should ever false in hatchery birds? I'm willing to keep them as long as I need to.
I just want to know when I'll be able to tell enough about the bird's quality to be able to make a decision which birds are worth keeping as well as which of the 4 cockerels of my SGs has the best traits?
I have big dreams of being an old, happy lady selling reputable Dorking with a trifecta of desirable traits. Perfect as layers, table birds, and just enough show-quality. Ahhh. To Dream

For the birds that are obvious culls, most people raise them out to 6-8 months to get a decent amount of meat on them before slaughter, as these birds are slow to mature.

For birds that may or may not have breeding potential you will likely need to raise them out 8-12 months, depending on your experience and your "eye," as some people can recognize good quality vs culls easily, and some people need to stare at a bird for a while. But it is important to remember that they are still teenagers at that age, and can change quite a bit during their first year, and somewhat even in their second year.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Thank you Yellow House Farm for the opinion.
It's the same as a couple others have said, and I'm 90% there my self. I'm going to give them the chance to "feather out" & grow to a somewhat age of maturity. I will not even consider keeping any with the faulty toes. I'm just curious as to if they actually turn into a decent standard of a recognized color. The seller told me she didn't "mix the colors" of her breeding stock, so we'll see. I will most likely come back to here with pictures & questions as they mature. In the least, i figure one & perhaps some of two things will happen:

I'll end up with something that actually looks "true" but not SG, that I can then separate from my SGs & build upon, or trade/sell so I can get more SGs.

I'll end up with complete mutts that will be delicious on our dinner table.

I'm hoping more of the first & a couple of the 2nd will happen (most likely will be fate of the "faulty toed" ones). What I ask now, is at what age will I be able to compare these birds for breed standard qualities I'd want to keep & gain from? I was hoping to not have to wait until sexual maturity for that, but can if I have to. My Murray line SGs picture posted a few pages back are already feathered & are colored up the way that's expected. According to breast colors, I have 2 pullets & 4 cockerels. Is there any reason to wait until they're either crowing or laying tp be sure who is boy & who is girl? Are solid breast colors appearing to be as they should ever false in hatchery birds? I'm willing to keep them as long as I need to.
I just want to know when I'll be able to tell enough about the bird's quality to be able to make a decision which birds are worth keeping as well as which of the 4 cockerels of my SGs has the best traits?
I have big dreams of being an old, happy lady selling reputable Dorking with a trifecta of desirable traits. Perfect as layers, table birds, and just enough show-quality. Ahhh. To Dream

Different flaws are apparent at different ages. I believe that foot/toe conformation is obvious at hatching, so you should be able to evaluate that, already. I also believe that birds with poor health or vigor can be culled as soon as their poor constitution is noted. A wry tail or hunchback is also obvious fairly soon. In single-combed varieties, the cockerels will have much larger combs and wattles than the pullets by 6-8 weeks of age. Your cull chicks should be big enough to grill or bake at 12 weeks, I don't see any point wasting feed on something that will never be breeder quality.

I would strongly recommend weighing your birds as they approach adulthood, and weighing the eggs your pullets and hens produce, then comparing those weights with the written standard

Best wishes,
Angela

 

[MacCana]

Thanks for the advice sydneyacres & neopolitancrazy! I have already heard about how they're slow to mature, but I don't see keeping my obviously cull-birds that many months. Will prob be enjoying them at a younger age. So long as they're no smaller than "cornish hen" you can buy at a store, I'll be satisfied Honestly, I'm excited to try the meat. Anything "home grown" has got to be better than supermarket chicken. I try to feed them only things I'd eat- other than their feed/crumbles & grit. I've even planted herbs in their coop, but they don't seem to interested in those yet.
What would you think about a pullet with 5 toes on one foot, and 4.5 on the other? I can't tell if it's an old healed injury or what. It has no nail, but is a protrusion in the same place where the 5th toes would be. Could this possibly be a genetic flaw? I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to cull her over it. So far, she shows pretty good standard traits, but she is young. I will try to get pictures of it in the morning if you guys would need to see...
I guess with the rest that have all the breeds traits up to this point, I will be having to keep until 8-12 months at the least. I don't mind though I'm just thankful for BYC's members & ya'll's willingness to help even the newbies out.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Thanks for the advice sydneyacres & neopolitancrazy! I have already heard about how they're slow to mature, but I don't see keeping my obviously cull-birds that many months. Will prob be enjoying them at a younger age. So long as they're no smaller than "cornish hen" you can buy at a store, I'll be satisfied Honestly, I'm excited to try the meat. Anything "home grown" has got to be better than supermarket chicken. I try to feed them only things I'd eat- other than their feed/crumbles & grit. I've even planted herbs in their coop, but they don't seem to interested in those yet.
What would you think about a pullet with 5 toes on one foot, and 4.5 on the other? I can't tell if it's an old healed injury or what. It has no nail, but is a protrusion in the same place where the 5th toes would be. Could this possibly be a genetic flaw? I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to cull her over it. So far, she shows pretty good standard traits, but she is young. I will try to get pictures of it in the morning if you guys would need to see...
I guess with the rest that have all the breeds traits up to this point, I will be having to keep until 8-12 months at the least. I don't mind though I'm just thankful for BYC's members & ya'll's willingness to help even the newbies out.

How sharply you cull depends on what you have to work with. If you're a new breeder and all your birds have some flaws, then you're not going to be as picky about the small stuff as you will be if you're an advanced breeder and have already dealt with everything except the small or subtle stuff. So, 4.5 toes on one foot, that may or may not be due to an injury, in an otherwise good bird -- well, it's not what it should be. If you're an advanced breeder and you don't think this is due to an injury, then you probably do cull for that reason. On the other hand, if you're a new breeder and this is otherwise your best bird, then you might was to see if that trait gets passed on to some chicks before deciding on culling

 

[Yellow House Farm]

You can cull for toes immediately. Now when you're just getting a box of chicks you might be more reticent, but once you're hatching your own and have a quai-endless upply, you can cull more rigorously. However, toes can be worked with.


Whoever this CA breeder is there i something fishy going on because those chicks DID NOT come from pure Silver Greys. First of all, it's the Silver Duckwing color pattern; it's one of the most established, understood and recognizable poultry patterns. It is what it is, and those chicks are not it. The majority of them are clearly golden--not sort of golden--clearly golden. If those chicks all came out of one flock, or one breeding program, the cock is not Silver Grey, because "silver" is a sex-linked dominant trait. Every chick that comes from a Silver Grey cock will be silver.

Mixing anything golden or split golden will cause you problem for years, something I can emphasize from personal experience.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have a question about leg color in chicks. My RD flock is from Sandhill and is 2 years old, so it's been a while since I've had Dorking chicks. This is my first attempt at breeding them. I hatched out chicks from 5 different hens, all sired by the same cock bird. One set of chicks is 2 weeks old, the other is 1 week old. All the adults have perfect white legs -- not a hint of yellow or smutty coloring. And all the chicks have yellow legs. Not an intense deep golden like in a Buckeye or Barnevelder chick, but definitely not a beautiful luminescent white like a Speckled Sussex chick or the adult RDs. I seem to remember that the adults had yellow legs as chicks also, but now I'm wondering if they really did, or is that just wishful thinking on my part and I've got a real problem here.

Are RDs supposed to have light yellow legs as chicks? If not, what are the genetics behind yellow vs white legs, and is this something that I can correct?

 

[kimberly35042]

Sydney Acres:

I had to run downstairs and examine legs! My reds are not Sandhill. The day old chicks have pinkish legs and the one week olds have turned white. No hint of yellow. I've suspected "fowl play" with Sandhill Dorkings for some time, but some of the birds pictured out of their stock is just beautiful "colors". Not sure of the genetics though *lol*

Could you please post pics of your chicks legs? I will try to get pics tomorrow for you after they fluff out some more and get their strength.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Giv them a couple of weeks. Our hatchlings' legs and adult birds' legs are different. They sometimes do look a bit yellowish, but I think that's a youth thing. When I put them beside an Ancona, though, i see that they are not yellow. It's just the way they look in the early stages.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Are RDs supposed to have light yellow legs as chicks? If not, what are the genetics behind yellow vs white legs, and is this something that I can correct?

Giv them a couple of weeks. Our hatchlings' legs and adult birds' legs are different. They sometimes do look a bit yellowish, but I think that's a youth thing. When I put them beside an Ancona, though, i see that they are not yellow. It's just the way they look in the early stages.

I don't have Reds but I have been hatching SGDs and Delawares (yellow legged). I agree with Joseph on this one. All the chicks have the same yellowish legs when young. Later, they develop their true leg color.