The Dorking Breeders thread

[Sydney Acres]

I will be getting some dorkings from a friend who is having to move and can't take them. There are three red hens and a red roo. There is also a lone silver grey roo. All of his hens were killed. What would I get if I crossed the silver roo over a red hen? Could I eventually get some silver hens? Don't know how the genetics work on these colors. I appreciate any help.

If you Google the "chicken calculator" you will find a site that can tell you what that mix of the colors will give you. The SG Dorking is a silver duckwing color, and the RD is a red duckwing color.

If you want to eventually get silver hens that breed true, you will need to backcross the daughters back to the father, then the grandaughters back to the father, etc, until you eventually breed out the red. You might get some hens that look silver fairly early, but they may not breed true. I'm not sure how many generations you'd need to do this.

It would be easier to get some SG hens for him. If you can't find a good quality SG private breeder near you, Murray McMurray hatchery has the best SGs from a hatchery.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the reply. I've done more research since this post and think if they mix I will have a big MESS. I'm just gonna try and get some hens, chicks or eggs in the silver grey. I'm in NW Florida and have my feelers out for a local lead but haven't found one. I would love to get some from Mr. Hortsman but that's a long way for the little buggers to travel. I'll keep looking. I can separate the silver grey rooster from the others so at least I can start hatching reds in a month. Picked up the red hens today. Will try and get the rooster by the weekend. It was a last minute scramble to get the pen sectioned off for them. Was a "future" project that got bumped up a little. My husband is so good to me and such an enabler to my addiction

I hope it all goes well for you! Dorkings are a docile breed that I looked into when I was looking for a mellow bird to mix w/ our two Silkies. As luck had it, I found the docile Breda first and they are a lighterweight bird to mix w/ our Silkies. I still love the Dorkings and their cute shorter legs and may still get them in future. I love any breed that has a more docile temperament.

Your DH is an enabler? Mine has completely taken over my chicken chores! He really loves his Silkies. And I love the Breda for being a large fowl that gets along w/ his Silkies! I guess we're both addicted now LOL!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Thanks for the reply. I've done more research since this post and think if they mix I will have a big MESS. I'm just gonna try and get some hens, chicks or eggs in the silver grey. I'm in NW Florida and have my feelers out for a local lead but haven't found one. I would love to get some from Mr. Hortsman but that's a long way for the little buggers to travel. I'll keep looking. I can separate the silver grey rooster from the others so at least I can start hatching reds in a month. Picked up the red hens today. Will try and get the rooster by the weekend. It was a last minute scramble to get the pen sectioned off for them. Was a "future" project that got bumped up a little. My husband is so good to me and such an enabler to my addiction

In FL, you can contact Roseland Haven Farms: http://www.roselandhavenfarm.com/poultry
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roseland-Haven-Farm/170211816402340

 

[campheadgirl]

In FL, you can contact Roseland Haven Farms:  http://www.roselandhavenfarm.com/poultry
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roseland-Haven-Farm/170211816402340

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely check into it!

 

[campheadgirl]

If you Google the "chicken calculator" you will find a site that can tell you what that mix of the colors will give you.  The SG Dorking is a silver duckwing  color, and the RD is a red duckwing color.

If you want to eventually get silver hens that breed true, you will need to backcross the daughters back to the father, then the grandaughters back to the father, etc, until you eventually breed out the red.  You might get some hens that look silver fairly early, but they may not breed true.  I'm not sure how many generations you'd need to do this.

It would be easier to get some SG hens for him.  If you can't find a good quality SG private breeder near you, Murray McMurray hatchery has the best SGs from a hatchery.

Thanks for the info I am going to get him some ladies.

 

[Sylvester017]

In FL, you can contact Roseland Haven Farms: http://www.roselandhavenfarm.com/poultry
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roseland-Haven-Farm/170211816402340

How wonderful someone is preserving rare breeds! TY for posting the info.

 

[Degalisto]

Oh yeah..try contacting Sand HIll..you can contact them but getting a reply? Don't hold your breath.
I ordered 20 Red Dorkings from them and the order ended up a mish mash,10 supposedly Red Dorkings and an extra 7 Cuckoo Marans to fill the order and shipping box according to them. Marans were my second choice but they didn't know that so I was kind of excited..Nope...
The extra 7 ended up 1 Black Leghorn hen, a pair of Cuckoos, and 3 Australorp hens. Which in the beginning I was hoping were Black Copper Marans
I dealt with them for over a year and them replying..awful!! Just awful. It is very unfortunate that this is how they do business..especially for people trying to preserve heritage breeds.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Sandhill isn't for everyone. They're a family farm that does their best to maintain as many rare breeds as possible, making the basic genetics available for breeders to get their start, and breed up if possible. They don't claim to provide exhibition quality birds. They don't claim to have the customer service of a commercial hatchery. In fact, they very specifically state that they don't provide that level of customer service, and ask that you not order from them if those are your expectations. They very specifically state that they do their best to fill your order, but that chicks aren't always available to fill your order completely. Under those circumstances, they will send you whatever you indicate is the most important portion of your order, and then substitute whatever chicks they have available to fill out your order for safe shipping. If you have rigid requirements, you will probably never get any birds from a small facility like this. You'd be better off ordering from a large hatchery. True, most large hatcheries don't have the same breeds, but you can't have it all. There are large numbers of common birds available, and low numbers of rare birds. To expect there to be large numbers of rare breeds is unrealistic.

Here are my recommendations for ordering from Sandhill:
1) Decide on one breed that is the "reason for your order." They're not a large hatchery, so don't expect that you can order 2-5 chicks of 5-10 different breeds. Your order may be impossible to fill if you require such a specific mix, and you'll end up with a refund check in the fall instead of chicks in the spring. Tell them that you don't want them to substitute that specific breed, and to not send your order until that one breed is available. But allow them to substitute any of the other breeds on your order. That last part is essential.
2) Realize that just because you order 10 or 20 or 25 chicks of a specific breed doesn't mean that they'll have that many of the breed you want. When that's the case, they have to either delay your order until they have the full amount, or send you as many as they have and substitute the remainder of the order. Tell them what the minimum number of chicks from that one required breed is acceptable for them to send, and for them to delay the order until that minimum number is available.
3) Give them a long list of your preferred substitution breeds, in order of preference. Also send them a list of breeds that are not acceptable as substitutions.
4) Put yourself in their place, don't expect them to be able to read your mind, and be realistic. If you've ordered 20 Red Dorkings and they only had 12 chicks hatch, what do you want them to do? If you don't tell them, they'll do their best to fill your order by sending you the 12 RD chicks that they have, and substitute 8 chicks of a different breed. If they have 8 extra Blue Langshans that they send you, how are they supposed to know if you hate feather footed birds? Or Blue birds? Communicate and you're unlikely to be disappointed.

 

[Talithahorse]

Another thing to consider when looking for rare breeds is that many people who have them keep small flocks. They don't always sell birds all the time. I ended up driving a couple of hours to pick up my birds because the kind lady preferred not to ship. For me, I occasionally have birds available but since I cannot ship (It's not worth it to me to get NPIP certification or go through the trouble of shipping). As a result I have had Dorkings that I literally could not give away because no one was willing to drive to get them. (And I am on the way to the beach

). So consider that when asking around. Are you willing to drive a couple of hours to get them? I would be willing to drive a bit to deliver but as I am not a breeder per se so I probably wouldn't drive far unless I was going already). So if you REALLY want those birds, be willing to drive a bit.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Oh yeah..try contacting Sand HIll..you can contact them but getting a reply? Don't hold your breath.
I dealt with them for over a year and them replying..awful!! Just awful. It is very unfortunate that this is how they do business..especially for people trying to preserve heritage breeds.

Sandhill isn't for everyone. They're a family farm that does their best to maintain as many rare breeds as possible, making the basic genetics available for breeders to get their start, and breed up if possible. They don't claim to provide exhibition quality birds. They don't claim to have the customer service of a commercial hatchery. In fact, they very specifically state that they don't provide that level of customer service, and ask that you not order from them if those are your expectations. They very specifically state that they do their best to fill your order, but that chicks aren't always available to fill your order completely. Under those circumstances, they will send you whatever you indicate is the most important portion of your order, and then substitute whatever chicks they have available to fill out your order for safe shipping. If you have rigid requirements, you will probably never get any birds from a small facility like this. You'd be better off ordering from a large hatchery. True, most large hatcheries don't have the same breeds, but you can't have it all. There are large numbers of common birds available, and low numbers of rare birds. To expect there to be large numbers of rare breeds is unrealistic.

Here are my recommendations for ordering from Sandhill:
1) Decide on one breed that is the "reason for your order." They're not a large hatchery, so don't expect that you can order 2-5 chicks of 5-10 different breeds. Your order may be impossible to fill if you require such a specific mix, and you'll end up with a refund check in the fall instead of chicks in the spring. Tell them that you don't want them to substitute that specific breed, and to not send your order until that one breed is available. But allow them to substitute any of the other breeds on your order. That last part is essential.
2) Realize that just because you order 10 or 20 or 25 chicks of a specific breed doesn't mean that they'll have that many of the breed you want. When that's the case, they have to either delay your order until they have the full amount, or send you as many as they have and substitute the remainder of the order. Tell them what the minimum number of chicks from that one required breed is acceptable for them to send, and for them to delay the order until that minimum number is available.
3) Give them a long list of your preferred substitution breeds, in order of preference. Also send them a list of breeds that are not acceptable as substitutions.
4) Put yourself in their place, don't expect them to be able to read your mind, and be realistic. If you've ordered 20 Red Dorkings and they only had 12 chicks hatch, what do you want them to do? If you don't tell them, they'll do their best to fill your order by sending you the 12 RD chicks that they have, and substitute 8 chicks of a different breed. If they have 8 extra Blue Langshans that they send you, how are they supposed to know if you hate feather footed birds? Or Blue birds? Communicate and you're unlikely to be disappointed.

I placed three orders with them last year. I paid extra for shipping so it would be three orders instead of one large order thinking that might help getting them filled.
All three were assortments and common breeds. I recieved my first order about two months later. They are now grown and are on par with hatchery or feed store chicks. Nothing worth breeding.
They have been setting on my other two orders for 10 months now.
In all that time and with several several tries to communicate all I have got was two emails. One later last year saying they wouldnt be able to fill my orders that year and then another soon after asking if I wanted a refund or wait till spring.
Pretty demanding of what you have to do to order from them and in return you pay more for hatchery quality birds and you get what you get when you get them if you ever do. With about 2% effort of communication on their part.