Dorking Chicks with 4 Toes??

[Cowdoggin]

Got a Mix 'bag" of Dorking Chicks from Sand Hill last Summer..Ordered Reds and Silver Grey..end up with some Red, Colored or Rose Comb Red (not sure which), Black Line (black, birchen and D. Grey) and I'm guessing, 1 from their Columbian Line. All chicks arrived w/5 toes..

SOOO this year, anyway, I am raising up Mixed color verity Dorking.. it will be interesting to see What the chicks turn out like..

Anyway...2 hens have now hatched out some chicks, for a total of 9 chicks..2 out of the 9 have four Toes, Not 5..

Answers 1st..
NO.. Their is No other Breeds of chicken, Except Dorking in that pen.

Yes..Did have bunch of Partridge Barnevelder, that SH sent me as Filler chicks for one of my orders.. But "Finally" got rid of them about 3-4ish wks BEFORE the 1st hen went broody. Did have 1 Barnie rooster out there Before I got rid of the ALL Barnevelders, but he was a complete Coward and stayed way for the hens, because the "white" and the Red Dorking roosters would beat him up.. the wimpy Birchen rooster would chase him too.. along with ALL the hens..they would "Go All Nija" on him Every time he tried..lol..the hens would even gang up on him..Poor Guy..(on the other Hand..we did have very wimpy Silkie Rooster actually get lucky enough to breed w/the 2 Favorelles hens we had last year..btw; they all found new homes last year.)

Yes.. Do have Belgian d' Avner Banties (aka Belgian Bearded and Belgian Antwerp) ...in a completely seperate pen.

NO!! Banty Rooster Loves!! his own pen and His Ladies..and Has NOT!! wandered into the Dorking Pen.. He doesnt Really wonder Any where..again LOVES His pen..

My question is... Do Dorking carry a 4 toed gene that Needs to be watched out for? I was thinking that I read some where that some Dorking Lines Do carry the 4 Toed gene, because of poor breeding in the past and Some Hatcheries mixing other breeds into the Dorking line, so you have to careful. ..So is this True Or False??

BTW: ANY birds with 4 Toes WILL be Culled..

AND Where can I get Red Dorking Chicks/hatching eggs other then Sand Hill.. and maybe some Black Dorking too

 

[Twistedfeather]

On five toed breeds getting four toes is recessive, I don't know if this is always the case or during the F1 generation. I've seen silkies with four toes, my friends hatch out faverolles with four toes and I'm sure there are others that have this problem. So purebred birds can have this problem and it's not only the crossbreds. I do believe the curled toes sounds like a recessive lethal gene. Yes I believe that hatcheries mix, to some it's quantity verses quality but I think even the best breeders get four toes in their lines, there has to be other evidence in the genotype and phenotype of the birds to know if this bird was crossbred.

 

[Degalisto]

I have 9 Red Dorkings from Sand Hiil and they are 7 months old. The roosters have the standard 5 toes..2 in the back forming the "k" and NOW they are developing a 6th toe like a regular rooster spur. Needless to say it is obvious that these have been bred with some other breed. I am really unhappy about this as I want to breed red Dorkings. The colored Dorking rooster is magnificent.. Funny too as I ordered REd Dorkings..Not happy at all.

 

[junebuggena]

And that's why if you are serious about breeding, don't source from a hatchery. Sand Hill is just another typical big hatchery, turning out mass quantities of chicks with little thought given to the actual quality being produced.

 

[Cowdoggin]

Honestly I am Amazed that you actually got the Red Dorking that you ordered.

Sadly I figured out the Sand Hill Preservation IS NOT the place to get your birds from... They ARE unfortunately breeding poor quality birds. Worse then any hatchery I have delt with. (Some of my Dorking Chicks, that I hatched out, also had a "6" Toe). Over 1/2 my birds were smaller then Dorking Should. And 1 got REALLY Thick Legs. 1/2 the Dorking were more aloof, instead of friendly, as Dorking ARE suppose to be, and some were very flighty (the chicks I hatched were even worse)..

WAS NOT Happy either, Got Rid of my Dorking in winter of 2015, because of all the issues.

Other Problems With Sand Hill. ( I place 3 Orders over 2 yrs for several different breeds)
** You spend ALL Spring And Summer Wonder IF you are even going to get you Birds.
** They NEVER Send You what you order or at least less then 1/2 of What you order.
** They Wait until late Aug to Oct to even send your order, AND to let you know What you are getting.. or at least Suppose to be getting.
** Then send 1/2 your refund in Nov/Dec so now ITs too late (cold) for you to order form someplace
** they chicks you do receive ARE Marked Wrong on the Order sheet..
** THEY SEND you breeds you never ordered..even though YOU put "NO Subsitute" on the order Form.. Then Charge for those chicks..
** THEY ALWAYS HAVE EXCUSES as To WHY they Couldnt Send you any or all of the Chicks/Ducklings that You ordered..

Finding Quality Dorking Breeders is hard, but here are two place that I serously considered, but I really didnt like the Texture of Meat nor their eggs.. SO didnt bother getting anymore. DID LOVE the Breed Though..
* Flip Flop Ranch
*Yellow House Farm (White Dorking)

BTW & BBW: I ordered Barnevelder Hatching eggs once from some WHO was suppose to be Breeding Quality Pure Dutch Barnevedler. These Birds turn out to be the worst Birds I ever owned, especially the Roosters. They were VERY territorial with each other.. Sadly the Lady WAS NOT watching "What" she was Breeding, and had bred serous Attitude Issues into her birds..