384 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



fioorless ; now, through the earlier and damper 

 months, 1 coop all my Dorking chickens, and 

 indeed those of other breeds as well, in coops 

 with drawers at the bottom, covered daily 

 with fresh dry earth or sand. Some of them 

 have two drawers, usable alternately. These, 

 of course, are not necessary when the coops 

 are placed under the cover of dry sheds, which 

 in frost and snow I find a good plan. I 

 dislike small coops for Dorkings, and prefer 

 what vendors of poultry appliances call Bantam 

 houses. These when well ventilated serve as 

 comfortable and wholesome abodes for a brood 

 long after the mother has left them. 



" As I wrote in the first edition of TJie 

 Illustrated Book of Poitltiy, the mating of Silver 

 Greys for breeding requires great care, and 



knowledge of the pedigree of both 

 Breeding cocks and hens. In all sub-varieties 



Silver Greys, purity of blood is only a question of 



degree, and hence there is always 

 danger of ' breeding back ' to some points 

 distinguishing the common ancestor of more 

 than one stock. Never buy chance Silver Greys 

 for breeding, but select from a stock which has 

 long been bred with care. A cock to all 

 appearance correct in every point will often 

 produce pullets with red wings, or even sandy- 

 coloured all over ; while, on the other hand, 

 good-looking hens will breed cockerels with 

 speckled breasts and tails. For the most part, 

 it is true, both parents in these cases will pro- 

 duce birds of their own sex like themselves ; but 

 the penning of separate families for the produc- 

 tion of cockerels and pullets, now unfortunately 

 so general in the case of some varieties, is a 

 clumsy and disappointing method by no means 

 to be encouraged. I would select a cock as 

 silvery as possible, with pure black breast, and 

 mate him with hens of medium colour ; not too 

 pale, or many of the cockerels will have grizzled 

 breasts. But in any case scan verj.- critically the 

 birds of the opposite sex in the yards from 

 which your breeders come ; and if size has to be 

 dispensed with on one side, let it be on that of 

 the male bird. The experience of the interven- 

 ing quarter of a century and more does not 

 lead me materially to modify these views, and 

 these precautions in the selection of stock- 

 birds should secure a meritorious progeny." 



It is not necessary at the present day to 

 mate up two pens for breeding Silver Grey 

 Dorkings. When the very pale and silvery hens 

 were in fashion, black-breasted cockerels were 

 rarely produced from them, and had to be 

 bred from darker females ; and at that date 

 it was therefore quite usual to breed cock- 

 erels from dark hens, while the pale Silver 



Grey pullets were bred from silver females 

 and males more or less grizzled or speckled- 

 breasted. But since robin-red or rich salmon 

 breasts have been preferred, with the softer, 

 darker grey in the rest of the plumage, both 

 pullets and cockerels will come true to type 

 from the same mating, provided attention be 

 given to the pedigree or line of breeding. 

 This is of course always important ; in the 

 case of Silver Grey Dorkings too raw a cross, 

 even with birds that appear quite unexcep- 

 tionable in points, not unfrequently results 

 in pullets quite reddish on the wings. An- 

 other year's breeding back to either of the two 

 strains, however, will probably remedy this, 

 and sometimes even red-winged pullets will 

 come out quite clear at the second moult. 



Some people consider the Silver Grey 

 Dorking superior to the Dark in quality of 

 flesh. There is no doubt that it is now far 

 hardier than thirty years ago, as well as more 

 beautiful, and at the Poultry Conferences of 

 1899 and 1907 Mr. Cresswell connected the 

 improvement in the two points together. In 

 good specimens, he said, the cock's hackles are 

 no longer affected by the sun's rays, or tanned, 

 as they used to be. This was brought about by 

 steady selection for pure silvery colour, free 

 from yellow ; but this latter tinge he had 

 found, both in this breed and the White, to 

 be a sign of liver weakness. Hence breeding 

 for colour was, in this case, really breeding for 

 health and constitution. 



The White Dorking, as already intimated, 

 was in all probability the purest representative 

 of the original race, unless we except the Red, 

 at the time when Bonington 

 White Moubray wrote in 181 5. It alone 



Dorkings. — again perhaps excepting the Red, 

 which was never mentioned in those 

 days — from the first always bred the fifth toe, 

 and there are observable certain differences in 

 carriage, and a greater elegance of form, which 

 is usually rather lighter, and without that 

 massive heaviness which probably came largely 

 from the Surrey fowl. There is little doubt that 

 at one time the breed also received a little 

 crossing with Game, and it is curious that some 

 strains to this day lay eggs of a delicate pinky 

 or French white shade ; but certainly no cross 

 has taken place for many years. 



In this variety alone, a rose-comb is essen- 

 tial. This should stand up well, with a long 

 and straight leader behind, and be of good 

 shape generally. This is perhaps the most 

 difficult exhibition point, as a large breed like 

 the Dorking requires pushing on somewhat, 



