Rearing Dorkings. 
3 r 9 
well together, and putting no more of the acid than will mix up dry with the brimstone — give 
them a few dustings of this, and you will not see any more of the little plagues for some 
time, while the chicks will recover as if by magic. I also find it a good plan to water the 
house all over with water in which a little of the acid has been mixed, which purifies it as well 
as destroys all insect life. 
“ I prefer to set my own hens out of doors, in the same covered coop I mean the bird 
with her chickens to occupy after hatching, and allow her to come off at pleasure. I do 
not believe in their needing to come off every day, as many people make a practice of 
taking them off — the food they eat lasts much longer than when they are taking plenty of 
exercise, and if Dorking hens at least be left to their own will, they will only come off once 
in two or three days, If you put a feeding-hopper, there will always be food ready for them. 
If the weather is very dry, do not forget to sprinkle the eggs a few times, and pour plenty 
of water round the nest when the hen is hatching. I never take the chickens away, not 
being partial to chickens roasted on the hob or before the fire at that tender age. As soon, 
however, as all the chickens are out of the shell and are quite dry, they should be put into a clean 
nest, though this is still better done the day before hatching ; but they are better for not being fed 
till twenty-four hours old. 
“ As regards chopped egg, spice, and similar things — not for my chickens ! I have left 
them all off for many years. I get the best oatmeal and the best sharps, and mix together 
until it will break up almost like bread. I feed them upon this, with a few groats about 
twice a day, while they are small. As they get larger give them a little of the best wheat 
instead of groats ; but I never pamper them in any way with dainties, but bring them up 
on good sound meal and grain. I must say a little hempseed and buckwheat ground up with 
the meal and added at times is very beneficial ; but after all possible niceties have been got for 
them, I never find them do so well as on good plain meal and grain. I feed them all through 
life as above, with a little barley and Indian corn at times, and I find they will grow upon it to 
large-framed birds, never get too fat, and will stand showing well — quite as well as other 
people’s birds. 
“My experience as regards perches is just the contrary to what I generally see stated, and I 
much prefer to have them so small that the birds can easily grasp them with their feet. I never 
found that wild pheasants chose the largest limbs of trees to roost on, as I have seen remarked, 
but just the reverse ; and I remember well one case of my own, when I had a fine lot of Dorking 
pullets, which had grown up on my ordinary perches with breasts perfectly straight. Seeing so 
much in a poultry paper about broad perches, I thought I would change them, which I did ; but 
on feeling them again a month or two after I was disgusted to find they had all gone crooked, 
and I have never used large perches since.* 
“ I will only add that overcrowding is a very frequent cause of chickens not turning 
out well, and Dorkings suffer from it more than most breeds, especially when about two or 
three months old. If you wish to succeed at exhibitions, do not spare the knife when you 
see one that certainly will not make a prize bird ; for by keeping it the chick not only ' eats 
its head off,’ but is taking up the room a better bird should have, and actually helping to 
spoil that also.” 
Both rose and single combs may be shown in Coloured Dorkings, but of course all the 
* Our own experience has certainly been different from this, as we found on changing from small perches to larger a decided 
change for the better. There is, however, probably a “happy medium and the shape of the fowl’s foot should also be studied. 
