Silver Gray Dorking

History

Silver Gray Dorking, a five toed bird, has existed in some variation for over 2000. years.  Writings during the reign of Julius Caesar depicts a five-toed bird. Named in more recent times (last 2 or 3 hundred years) after the town of Dorking, England. They traveled to the United States with the early settlers.  I have found the roosters to be kind while still protective of the hens.

Dorkings genetics contributed to the modern meat bird.  As a breed they have suffered from a lack of quality reproduction in the last 50+ years.  Few people breed the Dorkings in the USA and even fewer to a the standards of days gone by.  Today the breed appears to be improving, but, like anything worth doing, getting the breed back to their standard of old will take time.

They are watchful as they free-range.  Hens lay throughout the year and do have a tendency to be broody in late summer and early fall months(here in the United States).  The meat from Silver Gray Dorkings have won taste tests and contests.  I have been given differing thoughts on the best time to harvest for meat.  This will be a learning process for me.

Birds at CG Heartbeats Farm

This breed has filled out from 1 year old to 1 and 1/2 year old.  The picture above was taken early last summer(2017) and the video posted below shows how they have broadened in the chest.  Beautiful aren’t they?

Do you want some for your own?  CG Heartbeats Farm has hatching eggs for sale and will hatch chicks for you. 1 doz. hatching eggs ~ $25.00 plus shipping Day old chicks ~ $7 each straight run Send an email if you are interested in the Silver Gray Dorking breed.  If you prefer to not use the form provided please email at cgheartbeatsfarm@dontclipmywings.com

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Silver Gray Dorking Eggs

The Silver Gray Dorking lay a white egg throughout the year.  Some hens tend to go broody in late summer and early fall.

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Silver Gray Dorking Chicks

This breed can be sexed as day old chicks.  It is possible to have a good idea if a chick is a male or female.

2021 Pricing for Silver Gray Dorkings

• Hatching Eggs $30 per dozen plus shipping
• Chicks $8 per chick straight run, day old pullets are $12, day old cockerels are $ 7
• Pullets 8 weeks of age and older are $25
• Adult Roosters are $15

 CG Heartbeats Farm Silver Gray Dorking Original Breeding Stock 

The first chicks shipped from Roseland Haven Farm in Florida to CG Heartbeats Farm the end of October 2016.  Current breeding pens contain either those birds or the offspring of those birds.  Plans are in the works to add stock from an additional farm in 2018.

As of March 2018 there are two breeding pens here at CG Heartbeats Farms, subject to change.

Silver Gray Dorking Breeding Pen #1

This pen is made up of stock from Roseland Haven Farm in Florida. There are 3 hens with Rooster Cogburn for 2019. One change for 2019 is one of the two roosters pictured below has moved in with the hen in Pair #1. (As noted in the description of Pair #1.)

Toward the end of January 2019 northern Indiana experienced extreme low temperatures. A sad result was every rooster having some degree of frostbite. In 2018 I color banded the hens so I could tell them a part and better document eggs collected.

Silver Gray Dorking Breeding Pair #1 (second pen)

Below you will find information about the previous breeding pair #1.

This pen is made up of a hen and rooster from Roseland Haven. This hen was broody in 2017.  Stay tuned for current pictures. In 2018, she was paired with a rooster that had hatched in 2017 from Pen #1. He repeatedly demonstrated aggressive behavior and is no longer a part of CG Heartbeats Farm breeding program.

Mrs. McLintock, as one of the Misfits and a previously broody hen, has been the subject of blog posts. She hatched with the toes of her left foot curled.

In 2019 I moved one of the original 2 roosters in with the Mrs. They were paired together, but I sadly lost both of them early in 2020.

2021 Silver Gray Dorking Breeding Pens

Pictured below are the adult birds which started the Silver Gray Dorking breeding program in 2021. Read the information below to learn about the background of each pen. I may add additional birds, but I have not ordered them yet.

Pen # 1

The rooster in Pen 1 hatched from Pen 1 in 2019. It is an accepted process to cross offspring bac on their parents in chickens..

At the time he hatched there were 3 hens in pen one, 2 have since passed. In the best case senario the surviving hen was not his mother. If she was it is still considered acceptable in chicken genetics.

The hen wears a red band and is pictured above as one of the original Silver Gray Dorkings at CG Heartbeats Farm. As I write this in March of 2021, I have fertile eggs due to hatch next week and 2 viable eggs due to hatch in 2 weeks.

My current plan is to retain all pullets hatched in the next few months to build my flock numbers and potentially order chicks from another farm.

Pair # 1

This beautiful hen hatched from the original pen # 1. Currently, paired with her father which is an acceptable pairing in chicken genetics. I know, it does not sound right.

Rooster Cogburn of the original Silver Gray Dorkings at CG Heartbeats Farm, presides over Pair # 1. He is nearing 5 years old and has not produced fertile eggs yet in 2021.

The pullet pictured below is a offspring from 2020 of SGD pair #1. Hopefully, in the next month she will be joining Pen # 1

Silver Gray Dorkings as a Show Bird

Silver Gray Dorkings, as an old breed, have a Standard of Perfection or SOP.  Any breed with out a SOP will end up in an 'other' class at county fairs, and sanctioned shows.

Check back for current updates on this breed as I learn more through my experiences with them.