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Pros & Cons About Keeping Dorking Chickens

As another Monday comes through the door, it is time for one of our weekly articles concerning the pros and cons of keeping a particular chicken breed.

We carry on the tradition of these articles because we want our readers to be well-informed about the chicken breeds available to them so that they can make the right choice that best fits their needs.

This Monday the Dorking chickens are on our Pros & Cons list and even though many chicken keepers may disagree that this breed has their own cons – they do and we will do our best to explain them to you.

Origin & Characteristics

It is not clear where Dorking chickens came from. Columella, a Roman author, wrote about five-toed birds in Rome, and his description of them sounds a lot like Dorkings. People say that when the Romans came to Britain in 43 A.D., they brought five-toed fowl with them.

It’s strange that the Romans liked these five-toed fowl so much because they were good to eat, but none of them live in Italy. One could think that the Romans brought the five-toed Ardennes chickens from Belgium, and that the Dorking breed is descended from these chickens.

We also know that before the Romans came to Britain, Phoenician traders from the Mediterranean came to Great Britain to trade chicken for tin.

There are many colors of Dorking chickens, but the oldest ones are the White, the Colored (or Coloured), and the Silver Gray. The American Poultry Association recognizes three subspecies of the Dorking chicken: white (1874), silver-gray (1874), and colored (1874). The average rooster is 9 pounds and the average hen is 7 pounds.

A lot of old writing suggests that the White Dorking chicken is the first type. We know that the Silver Gray Dorking came from the Colored Dorking, which is the largest type of Dorking chicken. There are also Cuckoo, Black, Red, and Speckled Dorking chickens.

The Dorking chicken is a unique breed with a long history, but it is now considered to be in danger of going extinct.

In the end, people who value the Dorking chicken breed must accept it. Dorking hens and roosters are multifunctional fowl.
This kind of chicken is a real sweetie, and it would be a tragedy to see it become extinct.

Pros:

1. Do Dorking chickens become broody when they have chicks?

Dorking Chicken Hen in front of a chicken coop
                                                                               via Flickr

The team here at typesofchicken.com values proper mothering above all else, therefore we’ve placed it as the #1 Pro.

Any chicken breeder who values nice eggs and attentive moms for their newborn chicks would do well to start with a flock of these protective and patient hens.

What we were saying before about good eggs…

2. Dorking hens lay medium to large quality eggs.

Dependant on the feed and the general maintaining of the hens of this breed, they are able to lay good-sized eggs with high quality. They get broody easily and are protective of their eggs.

Even if you are planning to keep chickens in order to get fresh eggs regularly for personal usage this breed can let you have that kind of pleasure.

Despite their reputation as a meat-producing breed, Dorkings may serve a variety of purposes. Hens don’t start producing eggs until they’re around 5 or 6 months old, but once they do, they produce between 150 and 180 eggs a year, reliably. 

In what color do Dorking hens typically produce their eggs?

Dorking hens typically lay white eggs, but sometimes one may have a little hint of creaminess. An unusual occurrence, given that hens with red earlobes seldom lay white eggs.

3. Dorking Chickens Make Great Foragers

One needs more than just the ability to discover worms and food in the run for a hen or rooster to be considered an excellent forager.

If a chicken is a good forager, it will be able to find its way home even if it gets lost and will be able to determine a friend from an enemy. We include “excellent foragers” because Dorking hens excel at the aforementioned tasks.

Read more

Buff Orpington Chicken – Pros & Cons

Cons:

1. They Require More Breeders ( this is not a permanent con-we hope )

Dorking CHicken
via Flickr

Most veteran chicken keepers would agree that finding pure Dorking birds may be challenging due to the small number of dedicated breeders. However, the difference between tough and impossible lies in the degree of effort required to locate a specimen of this breed.

2. They Get Dirtier Than Other Chickens (due to their low carriage).

Dorking hens grow dirtier and messier than other chickens since their carriage is lower. Inconvenience for busy poultry caretakers who can’t afford to give their birds sudden baths and clean them out when they become dirty.

3. A Bit Slower To Mature Than Other Breeds

Dorking CHicken
via Flick

In the experience of every chicken breeder, there comes a time when the hens begin to act differently. As they mature, they take this stuff more seriously, becoming either broody or protective of their offspring, depending on their sex. According to popular belief, Dorking hens take longer to reach sexual maturity than other breeds, which might have consequences for the social dynamics of the flock as a whole.

Conclusion:

Dorkings are a particularly good breed for those who live in cold climates, because these birds have genetically adapted to a cooler climate. Dorking chickens are a dual purpose breed–they lay lots of eggs and their meat is usually used for feasts. Seriously what’s even better than that. What is your experience with this breed? Share it with us in the comment section below.

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4 thoughts on “Pros & Cons About Keeping Dorking Chickens”

  1. I breed Silver Grey Dorkings & have always raised them with other youngsters- Plymouth Rocks, Hamburghs, Wyandottes & Orpingtons. I’ve never had a problem with them growing out within the mixed, same age groups. The young Cockerels tend to start challenging other cockerels sooner than other breeds, I have noticed. The roosters are crazy protective of their girls. One of mine even checks in regularly whilst each of his hens are laying. The roosters are also very territorial. On the flip side, the hens are sweet, docile and friendly. Mine always run to me and hang around whilst I do chores, occasionally having a gentle peck at my boots or pants. I have to be careful sometimes not to step on them! I have also found them to be incredibly reliable layers- much more so than a lot of the heritage and rare breeds. And yes, we need more breeders!! Also more public awareness of this awesome bird. 🙂

    Reply
    • Hey, About the roosters being crazy territorial, we had high hopes of keeping our dorking roo to breed with his girls, BUT he is MEAN to all the other chickens and has started running across the coop to attack us. He doesn’t have spurs yet, and Is still not quite full grown…Does this behavior calm down? Can we keep him in rooster jail for a bit till he calms down and then let him out? Or is this just a bad temperament roo that will be gracing our plates?

      Reply
  2. A pro not mentioned is that unlike many “laying” chickens, the dorkings are excellent table fare. I have several “duel purpose” breeds and the forking is really the only one I’d feed to company.

    Reply
  3. One thing I have to say about my dorking hens is they are super friendly. I agree with Lena you can easily step on them because they love to hang out with you. The roo on the other hand is the complete opposite. Not good with the hens ,my ducks or people. Hopefully he will simmer down a bit as he gets older.
    They really aren’t a very intelligent breed either . They don’t listen to the roos warnings, just stand around. One other thing is their eggs are on the small side. I’m hoping they will get bigger! They have only been laying for a month or two.

    Reply

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