Dorkings from Sandhill Please help me know what varieties I have.

[tommysgirl]

In April I received 17 Assorted Dorking Chicks from Sandhill this is how they were labeled

5 Light Grey....what look to me like Silver Grey
5 Dark Grey
4 Colored Sandill says there is some variance in color with these
3 Black I have a pair but am having trouble figuring out who is my number 3...Sandhill's line also has some varience

So, two of the black are readily distinguished and so are the Light Grey (3rd pic) . But I am not sure who my other black chick is or who is colored or dark grey...can you help plese? These are the girls. I have boy questions too but I will save those for a different post. Th chick in the first pic is similar to the chick in middle in the last pic; dark body, dark salmon breast, some silver on the neck and hackles. . The second pic has a chick with a rose comb and a white breast and a lovely mix of black and grey...I think it may be a cockerel but I don't know what color variety. I separated them based on comb size but now this one is pinking up. See the second to last pic, that is the same bird. The third pic is what I believe they call Light Grey but is commonly called Silver Grey, the fourth chick is dark grey with a dark salmon breast, the fifth has a silver head and neck but looks like a dark brahma on her shoulders because Sandhill says they have variety in their Black due to outcrossing with the other color varieties I think she is my third black chick. So there we go. I have scoured the internet for photos of juvenile dorking in all colors and have not had much luck. Hoping you can shed some light for me. In this same pen I have Blue Andalusian, Lavender Orps, a Barred Holland and two Cuckoo Marans. They have been easy for me to ID Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo

 

[JedJackson]

I'll give it a shot, based on how the catalogue describes the different varieties and what the American standard says. I can't promise total accuracy but I'll give my take on things.

Picture 1- Coloured Dorking, and black behind that one

Picture 2- Light grey.

Picture 3- It's either coloured or light grey, but I think coloured because of all the brown in the plumage.

Picture 4- Coloured

Picture 5- dark grey

Picture 6- silver grey

Picture 7- in the middle, coloured. To the left, dark grey.

The main difference I see between coloured and dark grey is that the coloured will have brown and gold in their plumage whereas the dark grey won't. Also, coloured Dorkings should have shafting on the darker feathers (back, sides).

The light grey is Colombian, but most of these have a lot of silver leakage.

For the blacks, probably the darkest birds are them.

There also is the possibility of substitutions, which can screw things up, too.

 

[tommysgirl]

Thank you Jed, what catalogue are you referring to? I would really like to find more info about these more rare varieties. When I search I mostly find info on Red, Cuckoo and Silver Grey, a little about colored and nothing about the Dark Grey or the Black. I will be posting pics of my boys in upcoming days. What I want is a colored boy and girl(s) to build from but I am not sure who goes with whom. I do appreciate the help you have given in that direction.

 

[JedJackson]

Thank you Jed, what catalogue are you referring to? I would really like to find more info about these more rare varieties. When I search I mostly find info on Red, Cuckoo and Silver Grey, a little about colored and nothing about the Dark Grey or the Black. I will be posting pics of my boys in upcoming days. What I want is a colored boy and girl(s) to build from but I am not sure who goes with whom. I do appreciate the help you have given in that direction.

I looked at their website with descriptions of the varieties they carry. That's what I meant by their catalogue. In a way it's a guessing game because they certainly have not perfected their rare color varieties. The colored Dorking males should have a pattern similar to golden duckwing, in the American standard, and the females should be dark with shafting on the back, gold at the neck, and some dark lacing over the dark, salmon breasts.

It says the dark silver should be similar to the coloring of Dark Brahmas. To me that means no gold in birds of that color. So I think that is the best way to distinguish.

It would be great if you could get good coloring with the colored variety. Probably be lots of work, though. It seems to be extremely rare these days.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo

Sorry I didn't reply immediately!

I'll give it a shot, based on how the catalogue describes the different varieties and what the American standard says. I can't promise total accuracy but I'll give my take on things.

Picture 1- Coloured Dorking, and black behind that one Agree

Picture 2- Light grey. See blurb below this quote

Picture 3- It's either coloured or light grey, but I think coloured because of all the brown in the plumage. Agree that this is Colored

Picture 4- Coloured Agree

Picture 5- dark grey Agree

Picture 6- silver grey Did you mean Light Gray? I think this is the same bird as pic 2?

Picture 7- in the middle, coloured. To the left, dark grey. Agree

The main difference I see between coloured and dark grey is that the coloured will have brown and gold in their plumage whereas the dark grey won't. Also, coloured Dorkings should have shafting on the darker feathers (back, sides).

The light grey is Colombian, but most of these have a lot of silver leakage.

For the blacks, probably the darkest birds are them.

There also is the possibility of substitutions, which can screw things up, too.

Notes in bold above. It's mostly just that I agree.

But, just to throw a wrench into things, the bird in picture 2 looks a rather lot like the Dark Gray hens I ended up with. She does have more white on her than mine, but I also ended up with a rose comb in my Dark Grays so that further makes me think that's where she came from. It seems like Sandhill's non-standardized Dorking varieties are all over the place, though, so who knows? I also found their temperaments to not be as pleasant as the standardized colors, personally.

Here are my Dark Grays as pullets, around the same age, just for comparison:

I also got three cockerels (though for some reason I can only find pictures of two of them, oops) and they were all sorts of different colors. If you'd like comparison pictures of them, just let me know! I never got any Light Grays, so I don't honestly know how they compare. The picture on Sandhill's site looks like they would be Columbian, but again, their non-standardized Dorking varieties seem to be all over the place, so who actually knows?

 

[tommysgirl]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo Your girls are lovely! Thank you for your input. Do you know if Light greys start out as mostly yellow chicks? I lost one of those in the first 24 hours. The other 4 are cockerels and are most definately developing a Colombian pattern.

Do you breed your birds? I would like to connect with other Dorking Breeders and I am particularly interested in working with colored at this point, though I will be keeping at least one girl from each of the other color varieties and maybe a dark grey cockerel as well.

Please tune back in for pics of my boys coming in the next few days.

 

[tommysgirl]

I looked at their website with descriptions of the varieties they carry. That's what I meant by their catalogue. In a way it's a guessing game because they certainly have not perfected their rare color varieties. The colored Dorking males should have a pattern similar to golden duckwing, in the American standard, and the females should be dark with shafting on the back, gold at the neck, and some dark lacing over the dark, salmon breasts.

It says the dark silver should be similar to the coloring of Dark Brahmas. To me that means no gold in birds of that color. So I think that is the best way to distinguish.

It would be great if you could get good coloring with the colored variety. Probably be lots of work, though. It seems to be extremely rare these days.

You have been very helpful. I am so grateful to have other eyes looking at them. Thank you very much!

 

[JedJackson]

You have been very helpful. I am so grateful to have other eyes looking at them. Thank you very much!

You're welcome. Best of luck with your project!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo Your girls are lovely! Thank you for your input. Do you know if Light greys start out as mostly yellow chicks? I lost one of those in the first 24 hours. The other 4 are cockerels and are most definately developing a Colombian pattern.

Do you breed your birds? I would like to connect with other Dorking Breeders and I am particularly interested in working with colored at this point, though I will be keeping at least one girl from each of the other color varieties and maybe a dark grey cockerel as well.

Please tune back in for pics of my boys coming in the next few days.

I don't know for a fact, but Colombian chicks usually are mostly yellow as chicks, so I would wager that those are your Light Grays. Stinks that you got all cockerels, though!

I've unfortunately had a heck of a time keeping a Dorking male around, so no, I don't breed my Dorkings. I'm just a Dorking enthusiast right now! I would like to get a breeding flock of Colored Dorkings some day and another male for my Silver Grays, though! I actually ordered Colored Dorkings in my Sandhill batch and they substituted them with the Dark Grays because the Coloreds weren't hatching well, so that's how I ended up with those. Too bad, I love the look of the Colored Dorkings I've seen in pictures!

I'll keep an eye out for a post with your boys!