114 Dorkings. 



yellowness in the flesh and fat." Size is an important 

 point in Dorkings. Coloured prize birds weigh from seven 

 to fourteen pounds, and eight months' chickens six or 

 seven pounds. The White Dorking is smaller. 



They are not good layers, except when very young, and 

 are bad winter layers. The eggs are large, averaging 2| 

 ounces, pure white, very much rounded, and nearly equal 

 in size at each end. The hen is an excellent sitter and 

 mother. The chickens are very delicate, requiring more 

 care when young than most breeds, and none show a 

 greater mortality, no more than two-thirds of a brood 

 usually surviving the fourth week of their life. They 

 should not be hatched before March, and must be kept on 

 gravel soil, hard clay, or other equally dry ground, and 

 never on brick, stone, or wooden flooring. 



This breed will only thrive on a dry soil. They are fond 

 of a wide range, and cannot be kept within a fence of less 

 than seven feet in height. When allowed unlimited range 

 they appear to grow hardy, and are as easily reared as any 

 other breed if not hatched too early. If kept in confine- 

 ment they should have fresh turf every day, besides other 

 vegetable food. Dorkings degenerate more than any breed 

 by inter-breeding, and rapidly decrease in size. 



Dorkings are peculiarly subject to a chronic inflam- 

 mation or abscess of the foot, known as " bumblefoot," 

 which probably originated in heavy fowls descending from 

 high perches and walking over sharp stones. The addi- 

 tional toe may have rendered them more liable to this 

 disease. It may now arise from the same cause, and is 

 best prevented by using broad, low perches, and keeping 

 their runs clear of sharp, rough stones, but it also appears 

 to have become hereditary in some birds. There is no 

 cure for it when, matured except its removal, and this 

 operation fails oftener than it succeeds; but Mr. Tegetmeier 

 states, that he has in early cases removed the corn-like or 

 wart-like tumours on the ball of the foot with which the 

 disease begins, and cauterised the part with nitrate of 

 silver successfully. 



