3So 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



general tone of colour of the hen must be 

 dark ; a light-coloured hen would not match 

 a dark cock. The majority of prize hens 

 now exhibited have a striped neck hackle ; 

 but a black neck hackle and tail, the back 

 and wings being of a dark grey colour, and 

 each feather edged or spangled with black, is 

 very taking. The breast colour may be of any 

 tinge from salmon to dark chocolate. It may 

 thus be inferred that any particular shade of 

 colour — of course, excepting a solid black — is 

 not to be criticised too severely ; the great 

 points being the true Dorking shape, short 

 legs, white feet, five toes distinctly formed 

 and matching, comb falling over or folding — 

 I prefer the latter — with the long and deep 

 breast bone, and the horizontal carriage of 

 body that should be found in all good 

 Dorkings, and size. I have never used other 

 hens than Dorkings for sitting, but they should 

 be gently and firmly handled, and have plenty 

 of room." 



The colours most often seen in Dark Dork- 

 ing hens are represented by Figs. 117 and 118. 

 Fig. 117 shows the nearly black plumage on the 

 back, with the wing-feathers bordered with black 

 round a greyish centre covered with marking, as 

 described in the Standard. At one time birds 

 were shown darker on the wings and cushion 

 than even this ; but that extreme has been dis- 

 carded as noted above. Fig. 1 1 8 shows the grey 

 marking carried more over the body, though 

 still margined with black, as described above by 

 Mr. Burnell, which is not only quite a permissible 

 colour, but certainly ought to be recognised as 

 such, though not mentioned in the Standard. 

 Some of the finest hens shown have been of this 

 colour, which is a better one for whiteness of 

 feet than the " nearly black " plumage. 



The following notes on breeding and rear- 

 ing Dark Dorkings were contributed by Mr. 

 Rufus Goodfellow, for long poultry manager 

 to Mr. Herbert Reeves, of Emsworth, Hants, 

 a prominent and successful exhibitor until the 

 latter's retirement from the fancy in 1910: — 



" I have now bred and exhibited Dark Dork- 

 ings for a good many years, and from my 

 experience they are one of the most valuable 

 breeds we have, being hardy and easy to rear if 

 well attended to. They are also very good 

 layers, especially in the winter months. For 

 some years past I have had a good supply of 

 eggs during autumn and in the winter, when 

 eggs are most valuable for breeding the early 

 chickens for the summer shows. I generally 

 allow my hens to sit as long as they like in the 

 summer for rest ; then they have an early moult, 

 which enables them to get strong before breed- 



ing. If careful attention is given to the birds in 

 the summer months, looking out those that you 

 intend to breed from, and giving them a good 

 run — nothing suits the Dorking better than the 

 unlimited run of a farmyard — then when you 

 mate up in the autumn with a strong cockerel, 

 eggs will be plentiful and mostly fertile, and 

 hatch strong, vigorous chickens that will grow 

 rapidly. 



" I always find the best results, as a rule, from 

 two-year-old hens mated with a one-year-old 

 cock, or with a cock of the same age ; but I 

 have also had some good results from pullets 

 mated with a cockerel. In the year 1897, for 

 instance, I bred my famous team of Silver-grey 

 Dorkings, which swept the deck at the Palace 

 that year, from a cockerel and pullets, thus 

 proving that Dorkings are not so delicate as 

 most people think. My Dorkings are kept on 

 enclosed or limited grass runs, but I always keep 

 them in good health, and hatch strong chickens. 

 I find that, as a rule, the January chickens 

 thrive much better than those hatched in March 

 or April, and have had cockerels put on half a 

 pound a week for six or seven weeks running, 

 and still keep well on their legs. I usually feed 

 my growing chickens in the main upon ground 

 oats and the best wheat, with a little cut fresh 

 bone once a day, and with this feeding I scarcely 

 ever have a chicken suffer from leg-weaknes.s. 

 That complaint used to be one of the greatest 

 difficulties in rearing Dorkings ; but if the 

 strongest and most active birds are bred from, 

 and careful attention given in feeding, I find 

 they scarcely ever suffer from this malady, 

 though my Dark Dorkings are as large and 

 heavy as those of most breeders. I have cocks 

 weighing twelve pounds and hens eleven pounds. 



" The Dark Dorking is not so useful as an 

 exhibition fowl merely, as some other breeds. 

 Although hens will stand a lot of showing, the 

 cocks and cockerels will not : if shown week 

 after week it soon begins to tell on them. Not 

 only the excitement of the show, but the small 

 pens now provided goes against them. Cocks 

 are usually no use for showing after three years 

 old, although I once bred successfully from a 

 four-year-old bird. Hens will be useful till six 

 or seven years old, and still win at the summer 

 shows. I had two old hens, one of which was 

 the challenge-cup pullet at the Palace in 1894, 

 which did some winning in 1900, when it was 

 still in good health, which illustrates how well 

 they wear." 



There can be no doubt that Dorkings of all 

 varieties are considerably hardier than formerly. 

 Part of the improvement may be traced to the 

 Asiatic cross introduced by Mr. Douglas, and 



