Your Ultimate Guide to the Dorking Chicken Breed

Give me five, down low! The Dorking chicken is the best meat chicken since the Roman Empire. They are also reliable winter layers and great brooders. But these hefty birds have something extra that most others don’t have. It’s something you need to maintain in exchange for a bounty of eggs and meat. 

Get to know more about the good old Dorkings by reading this guide.

Dorking Chicken Breed In A Nutshell

Purpose	Eggs, meat
Average lifespan	7 years
Egg Production	150-200 eggs per year
Egg color & size	Creamy white, sometimes slightly tinted large eggs
Size / market weight	Hen: 7 lbs; rooster: 9 lbs
Beginner-friendly	Yes
Temperament	Docile, broody
Coop needs	Wide space
Cold hardy?	Yes
Health Problems	Single comb is prone to frostbite
Rarity	Rare-endangered

An Old English Dorking Tale

The Dorking Chicken is one of the oldest domesticated poultry breeds still available today. You can even trace back their origin to the time of Julius Caesar (1). These gladiator birds with a rare extra toe eventually made it to the United Kingdom in the 1800s during the Roman invasion. The British loved the Dorking meat, and so did the rest of the world. 

Today, the Dorking remains the tastiest breed of meat chickens. But chicken keepers like breeding them more for exhibition than practicality, too. 

The Appearance of the Dazzling Dorking 

There’s a lot to behold about the Dorking chicken breed. They’re big birds that sit low to the ground. Having a fifth toe and impressive plumage are definitely eye-catching too.

You can find these chickens in five color varieties and two comb types.  Other countries have different standards, so let’s focus on the North American Standards. Here’s the breakdown

Variety	Special Mention	Rooster	Hen	Comb Type	Large or Bantam?
Cuckoo Dorking	Looks like Barred Plymouth Rock.	They have a uniform feather pattern of alternating dark and light gray (2). Roosters have bigger combs and wattles.	They have a uniform feather pattern of alternating dark and light gray (2).	Rose and Single	Large Fowl
Colored Dorking	Rarest color variety	Straw-colored hackles and saddles with the rest of the body left black.	Black backs and tails, dark salmon breasts, and straw shafting.	Single	Large Fowl and Bantam
Red Dorking		Jet black feathers with a beetle-green sheen. Bright red hackles, back, and wing bows.	Golden, black-striped hackles and black tails. The remaining plumage is a deep red, spangled with black tips.	Single	Large Fowl
Silver Gray Dorking	Most popular variety.	Solid black chests and tails that contrast the solid white hackles and saddles (3)	Uniform gray back and body. But they have a salmon breast and black tail	Single	Large Fowl and Bantam
White Dorking	Most basic, and some say original Dorking variety.	Roosters have uniform white plumage all over—no streaks of other colors.	Hens have uniform white plumage all over—no streaks of other colors.	Rose	Large Fowl and Bantam

No matter the variety, all Dorkings must have five toes. This extra toe only appears in four other breeds and doesn’t have a special function. It doesn’t touch the ground and points upward (4).

Aside from unique feet, these chickens also have short legs and necks and a deep rectangular body shape. They also have white skin and pinkish-white shanks without feathers.

Owning The Dual-Purpose Dorking 

Let’s get to know these five-toed chickens even more. Get an inside look at what it’s like to own these chonky chickens.

The Docile Dorking

Dorkings are friendly and docile chickens. They get along with other chicken breeds and other animals they meet. Because of this, they can get bullied by more aggressive breeds. So keep an eye out for them.

One of the most interesting things about these chickens is that the hens go broody real quick. They are excellent mothers, adopting other eggs and even duck chicks. 

As for being moms, well, you can think of them as overbearing mothers. Dorking hens tend to keep chicks in their nest for a longer time than they need. Human parents aren’t the only ones that suffer from separation anxiety!

Winter Wonder Layers 

Before the hens turn into good moms, they are first good layers. 

Being a heritage breed means that it takes a while for them to get in the laying groove. But when Dorkings do, they provide you with large white or slightly colored eggs. 

A Dorking hen can lay up to 200 eggs per year consistently. Its egg production is not as good as the Speckled Sussex, but you can rely on a Dorking hen to give you eggs during winter. 

Dorkings: The Tastiest Table Bird Around

These chickens may not be the best egg-layers. But they are arguably the best meat chickens out there (5).   

Dorkings aren’t as big as Orpingtons, but they have tastier meat. They are known worldwide for their excellent meat quality. You just have to wait AT LEAST a few months to harvest the meat. Slow growing Dorkings sometimes take two years to fully mature!

Are Dorkings Noisy?

These short, hefty birds aren’t the noisiest. Roosters crow just like any other, but hens aren’t particularly clucky. They also don’t make any trouble that causes loud squabbles.

Caring For Dorking Chicken: What You Need To Know

Production-wise you now know the Dorking chicken breed is fantastic. Now let’s find out if these highly efficient chickens are also high maintenance.

How To Keep Your Dorking Chickens Healthy

You’ll be happy to know that Dorking chickens aren’t prone to any particular diseases. But these low-setting birds are not low maintenance. 

That extra toe that never touches the ground needs regular trimming. For some reason, the chicken gods decided to add a toe that is useless and points upward. It can also potentially poke the chicken’s butt if the nail gets too long.

Dorkings also get dirty faster than others. It’s easy enough to avoid. Just make sure they stay in a good place with no puddles or too much dust. So keep them dry to rule out skin and feather issues.

Keep in mind that when we say dry, we don’t mean dusty desert dry. Dust isn’t good for any chicken. But most especially Dorkings that are closer to the ground. They can develop breathing problems if you often expose them to dusty areas.

If you keep single comb Dorkings, make sure you keep an eye out for frostbite. 

Clean, healthy Dorkings live longer lives. So you get more eggs and tastier meat. It also means fewer vet bill expenses for you.

Feeding Your Dorking Hens

Grower feed is essential if you want to raise these birds for the table. But, laying feed is equally crucial for egg-laying hens. Since Dorkings are good foragers, let them out to graze on bugs for extra protein. 

Plus, overfeeding circles back to more health problems like fatty liver and lower egg production.  So, run a good backyard operation by doing a weight watchers segment for your chickens.

Dorking Dwellings

Speaking of backyards, Dorkings make excellent backyard chickens. They don’t like small spaces but also don’t wander far. So you can let them free-range without worrying that they’ll jump the fence.

Another bonus is that they don’t like scratching. So your garden plots are safe! 

If you want to keep them in a coop, make sure it’s big enough for them to move around. Allot around 20 ft² per regular-sized Dorking. Yes, it’s big; but these guys like to walk. It develops their muscles. So if you want tender chicken, give them their space.

Buying Your Dorking Flock: Dorking Chickens For Sale

Breeder clubs are your best bet of getting poultry show quality Dorkings. If you’re not raising them for competition, you can visit local poultry shops and hatcheries are great for sourcing this egg and meat breed. 

Most of these places have a minimum order to ship these birds as either chicks or adults. Here are some places you can check to get your Dorking starter flock:

• DC Heritage Poultry, Quebec – $200 minimum order
• Everyday Acres, Ohio – Limited availability
• Flip Flop Ranch, California – minimum of 5 chicks per order
• Mill Valley Chickens, California – by reservation 4-6 chicks
• Sandy Hill Preservation Center, Iowa – maximum of 10 chicks per hatch

The Bottomline

Dorkings are extraordinary all-around chickens to have in your backyard. They have an easy-going personality, excellent meat and egg production, and low feeding costs. Those characteristics outweigh any maintenance of occasional cleaning you may need to do for them.

Overall, there is very little not to like about these chickens. Get a few birds and enjoy the bounty they bring to your table.