Dorking Chickens

The Dorking is one of the most ancient of all domesticated races of poultry. It was brought to Great Britain by the Romans with Julius Caesar, but was known and described by the Roman writer Columella long before it became a poplar breed in England. He spoke of the hens as being ?square framed, large and broad breasted, with big heads and small upright combs,? adding ?the purest breeds are five clawed.? The Dorking was most certainly one of the first fowls brought to the Americas by our ancestors. It is primarily a dual purpose fowl used for both meat and egg production. The hens by nature are wonderful mothers and the cocks great protectors of their flock. The APA admitted the Silver Gray, Colored and White varieties into the American Standard of Perfection in 1874. Although the Red Dorking is the most ancient of the color varieties it was not admitted into the Standard until 1995. 1998 saw the admission of both the RC Cuckoo and the SC Cuckoo into The Standard of Perfection. Currently the Dorking Club is working toward admission of several other old color varieties. The Dorking Breeders Club is dedicated to the education, improvement and enjoyment of raising and exhibiting all varieties of Standard and Bantam Dorkings.One of our purposes in this breed club is to support and promote the Dorkings. We'll do this through meets, encouraging public interests and publicity. To the members of this organization, we offer all this with our breeders directory and basic information via the newsletter with the intention to promote communication between fanciers of the Dorking breed. http://www.dorkingbreedersclub.com/