Standard
Varieties of Chickens:
Dorkings
This English bird is one which may be considered an
ideal bird for general purposes. It is a hardy fowl
and can stand almost any amount of cold weather,
providing the ground is not damp.
This is proved by
the fact that they do well in the northern part of
Scotland and in the extreme north of Ireland, among
the Cumberland Hills, and in other places equally as
cold and exposed. This should be remembered by those
who contemplate raising them, that the soil must not
be damp if success is expected with them. The
Dorking (fig. 33) is one of the oldest of domestic
fowls, if not the oldest. There are no definite
records to show when it first lived in England, or
whence it came, but the supposition is that it was
carried to England by the Romans, who evidently
possessed fowls of similar characteristics.
The chief distinctive mark of the breed is the
presence of a fifth or supernumerary toe, springing
behind, a little above the foot and below the
spur. It has been sought by various writers to
deprive Dorking of the honor of being the original
and principal rearing place of this justly
celebrated variety, and it is asserted that the true
Dorking fowls are raised at Horsham, Cuckfield, and
other places in the Weald of Surrey, and that the
ancient and superior white fowls from Dorking are a
degenerated race compared with the improved Sussex
breed. The feature in which this bird is most
popular is its table qualities. The flesh is white
and very delicate in texture. It is claimed by many
to equal if not excel the French varieties. The
broad, deep and projecting breast of the Dorking
admirably fits it for table purposes, and in the
respect it is conceded by some the rival of the
Indian Games. As layers the Dorkings are good, and
are careful sitters and attentive mothers. They are
splendid fowls for the farm and are profitable for
practical purposes.
There are three varieties of Dorkings - the White,
Silver Gray, and Colored. The White Dorking is
really the purest blooded of the three, as for years
this was the only variety which produced invariably
the fifth toe, although the Colored and Silver Gray
varieties seldom fail to breed this peculiarity. In
color the White Dorking is of clear, unblemished,
glossy white. The comb and wattles are a
bright-scarlet red; the legs are either white or a
delicate flesh color.
Silver Gray Dorkings are beautiful in plumage. The
head of the cock is silvery white; hackle, pure
silvery white, as free from stripes as possible;
comb, face, earlobes, and wattles, bright red; beak,
horn or white; eye, orange; breast, thigh, and
underparts, black; back, shoulder coverts, saddle
and wing bow, pure silvery white; coverts, greenish
black; primaries, black, edged with white;
secondaries, part of outer web forming wing bay,
white; remainder of feathers forming wing butt
black; tail, greenish glossy black; legs, feet, and
toe nails, white. The eye, beak, comb, face,
wattles, legs, feet, and toe nails of the hen are
the same as in the cock; head, silvery white, with
slight, gray markings; hackle, silvery white,
clearly striped with black; breast, rich robin red
or salmon red, shading off to gray in the lower
parts; back, shoulder coverts, saddle, wing bow, and
wing coverts, bright silver gray, with minute
pencilings of darker gray on each feather, the
shafts of the feathers white; primaries, gray or
black; secondaries, gray; tail, gray, of a darker
shade than body; quill feathers, black.
Colored Dorkings differ from others only in color,
the general color of male being black and straw
color, and the female is marked with black and mixed
gray, with breast of dark salmon edged with
black. The combs of Dorkings differ in the three
varieties; the White has a rose comb, Silver Grays
have single combs, and Colored Dorkings may have
either single or rose combs, but single is
preferred.
The standard weights for Dorkings differ. The
weights for Whites are: Cocks, 7 ½ pounds (3.4 kg);
hens, 6 pounds (2.7 kg); cockerels, 6 ½ pounds (2.9
kg); and pullets, 5 pounds (2.3 kg). Silver Grays:
Cocks, 8 pounds (3.6 kg); hens, 6 ½ pounds (2.9 kg);
cockerels, 7 pounds (3.2 kg); and pullets, 5 ½
pounds (2.5 kg). Colored: Cocks, 9 pounds (4.1 kg);
hens, 7 pounds (3.2 kg); cockerels, 8 pounds )3.6
kg); and pullets, 6 pounds (2.7 kg).
FOR
FURTHER READING...
The first two images below come from the Oklahoma State
University Department of Animal Science's Poultry
Breeds pages. The third image is
from the FeatherSite, "an on-line zoological garden of domestic poultry". The Dorking
page at Oklahoma and the Dorkings page at FeatherSite contain further information about this breed's
history and more images of these fowl. Clicking on
each image takes you to the page specifically about
that particular variety.
Image Credits
(from left to right):
Copyright © 1996, Oklahoma State University
Board of Regents;
Copyright © 1996, Oklahoma State University
Board of Regents;
Courtesy of Barry Koffler
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