Colored Dorkings were one of the 3 original Dorkings in the Standard of Perfection. Colored, as described in the Standard of Perfection, is the Golden version of the old fashioned Dark Grey pattern, and because they are genetically Golden, they can not breed true. Similar to blue genetics, with Black and Splash, these require Dark Greys and Dark Reds to achieve the proper color of both males and females. Coloreds came into being due to the mid 19th century desire to distinctly separate the Dark pattern from the then emerging Silver Grey. Nevertheless, Dark Dorkings come from a time when chickens were free ranged and every farmer wanted a distinctive flock. This has been the most important influence on the group. Many old-time breeders selected their breeders for type and pattern first and let the color take care of itself. This was particularly true when selecting female breeders, and only keeping the best Colored males. Others had various mating systems, or simply maintained Dark Grey and Dark Red flocks, and routinely producing Colored birds for show and sale by crossing Dark Grey males over Dark Red Females. Colored Dorkings need more dedicated breeders. Breeders that want a diverse and hardy flock, and aren’t afraid of a few years of work to achieve a goal. An order of Colored chicks may include both Dark Greys and Dark Reds. My flock also throws the occasional Red and Silver Grey. These breed outs can be used in their respective pens. I try and breed for as many Colored chicks as possible. The Colored Dorking is truly a genetic treasure. Please see the bottom of this page for more photos of Colored Dorkings.

Dark Greys, unlike CoIoreds, will breed true. The Colored is the golden version of Dark Grey, but due to the Dark Red version of the Black Breasted Red pattern involved, the cream and light golden found on a Golden or Golden Duckwing are replaced by light straw and straw. Dark Grey males differ from Colored males, in that anywhere there is light straw, straw, red or maroon, or for that matter bronze, should be replaced with white or silvery white. In females, replace straw with white and brown or dark brown with dark grey. In the Laced version (pictured above) of either pattern, the female body feathers are stippled in the center. With brown grey for Coloreds, dark grey for Dark Greys, and then laced with black. There are no major differences between the males. Both the Laced and plain variants are maintained in my flock.

Dark Red Dorkings, have been around for many, many years and like the Dark Greys, they breed true. Their genetics are essential to breeding proper colored Coloreds. There are about a half dozen different versions of Red with only one, the Stippled, being standardized in the American Standard of Perfection. Of these 6 or so versions of Red, the females are where the differences lie and all the males appear nearly identical, except the Dark Red. The Dark Red males, like the Dark Greys, possess the dark stripe in the hackle and saddle feathers, (Standard Red males have clean red hackles and saddles), pushing them to the opposite end of the Dark spectrum. Their color can be described by changing any mention of white or silver in the Dark Grey male to various shades of red. White also becomes red in the females and grey becomes a reddish-brown.

Dunkel is German for “Dark” and these are very similar to the German standard. This version of the Dark pattern often appear in my Colored flock, though they are mainly females. They are very similar to the Colored female but they lack the straw lacing in the hackle and they should be darker overall. They should still have straw shafting in the body feathers, and a salmon breast. The males are similar to the Colored as well, but they should have black hackles, some only showing a small amount of gold or straw in the back and saddle. This is another very old color variant that deserves to be saved. These birds can be used in a Colored mating if they are large and of good type but will push the flock into a darker shade. This of course is beneficial if your males lack good rich striping in the hackle.

Red Dorkings are by far the oldest variety of Dorking. Chickens originated with the Jungle Fowl and Red Jungle Fowl are essentially Black Breasted Red in pattern, this is not only the original, wild-type pattern but one which the male wing pattern (not the color) mimics that of a male Mallard’s wing. Thus the term “Duckwing” has been applied to many breeds showing these patterns. Actually all chicken patterns are a variant of this Duckwing pattern. Due to their kinship with the Old English Game, those versions, in which the Duckwing pattern is still discernible, have always dominated into the Dorking breed. Because of this history, the Red is definitely the oldest color of Dorking, but is also wracked with the most controversy; only having been admitted to the APA Standard in 1995. For most of it’s history, many of the breeders and farmers who kept Reds kept a different version Red than their neighbor. To date, there are at least 9 different known versions of Red with all of the females exhibiting the differences and all of the males, except the Dark Red, looking nearly identical. These include of course the American standard or Stippled Red, Dark Red, English standard Red, Spangled or Speckled Red, Slate Red, Red Pyle, and the solid colors of Clay, Tawney, and Brown. The breed club had to come to a consensus for the Red’s admittance in the Standard, approving only ONE version to admit. Every breeder was fiercely proud of his flock and because there were so many versions of the Red pattern, no one wanted to say their birds weren’t worthy. Please see the next 6 columns for photos and descriptions of most of the other Reds. I am currently working with 3 lines of Standard Red Dorkings.

The Slate Reds have been around for many years but never gained much popularity. The reasons of this are beyond me; I think this is one of the most strikingly beautiful chickens on the farm. This color pattern is known as Blue Breasted Red in any other breed and like all Blue chickens, these will throw Splash and Black variants as well. The Black version is just a Standard Red and can be shown in standard classes. The Splash versions are beautiful, being a dustier take on the stunning Red Pyle. Bruce Lentz and John Norris often mentioned Slates to my friend Craig Russell, but they were speaking of them in the past tense, believing the color was extinct. Craig was able to acquire his flock of Slate Reds from a lady in eastern Canada whose husband had died. His family had kept Slate Reds (along with the resulting Reds and Splashes) as their only chickens for generations. In 1984, not wanting his birds to go away after his death, the man's wife reached out to the Tilt family, well known Dorking aficionados at the time. Being older folks, long past retirement, they declined her offer to take the birds, but referred her to a younger guy, Craig Russell. The lady and her brother-in-law, made the drive from Canada to meet Craig part way and he has faithfully maintained them since. I find these birds stunningly beautiful. An order of Slate Red chicks will usually include some Standard Reds and Splash Reds as well as Slate Reds.

These beauties are the classic Red Pyle pattern with white replacing the black in a Black Breasted Red. These often appear with rose combs because of their relationship to the Whites though I have both rose and single comb birds in my flock. This variety is not well known today, but has easily been re-created by crossing Reds and Whites. After a few years a breeder must breed back to a good Red to keep the color rich and full, therefore many old flocks were mixed, including Reds, Pyles, Whites, and sometimes even Silver Greys, Golden Greys and Slates.

Tawneys are one of the many versions of Reds that have been around for centuries. Like most of the different Reds, the males are just like that of the APA standard Red, but the females are very different. The females are a rich, darker take on Wheaten. They lack the stippling that our standard calls for and the feather shafting is nearly the same color as the feather itself. Their neck feathers have a touch of the black and gold like that of their Red sisters. Craig Russell originally acquired these from Louis Compton in the mid 70’s, having been in Louis’ family for years. Some flocks of standard Reds will throw these still today, which is where my start originated. I’m working on selecting the clean Wheaten pattern. These are certainly a work in progress, but a beautiful work nonetheless.

In most parts of the country, the different farmers who kept Red Dorkings often had flocks that included Brown variants. Harrison Weir mentions them a handful of times in The Poultry Book and refers to them as “old” even then. This version has recently popped up in my flock of Coloreds. Being similar to European Brown Leghorns, the females lack stippling and are a soft even shade of cocoa brown with clean shafting. Their neck feathers are richly colored with gold and black. When breeding this color, chicks should be toe-punched so the males don’t get confused with males of the other Reds, because like the other Reds, the males are identical.

These were often created by using a Silver Grey male over a Slate Red female. The first generation would produce mostly Golden males and females, along with Silver Grey Females, with about 50% of the whole brood turning out Slate, just like a Blue to Black mating. There would be enough genes present from their genetic Red ancestors to have some straw in the hackle. After a few generations, the breeders could breed Slate Golden or Silver Grey males on the resulting Slate Silver females. There are no known flocks of these still alive today but they would be easy to create as long as you had access to Slate Reds and Silver Greys.

Clay Reds have shown up in Red flocks for years. Like most of the Red variants, where the males appear the same, the females are where the differences can be found. The Clay hen should be the rich, even color of red clay, lacking the stippling required in the standard Red. Some shafting in the feathers is ok, though it should be as close to the clay feather color as possible. Also, a little black in the tail and wings is acceptable. Her hackle can have some black and gold lacing, but this should not continue down into her body. Her wings should be free from any white. If kept alongside a flock of standard Reds (or any of the other Red versions for that matter), these should be toe-punched so the males don’t get confused with the standard Reds with which they share a nearly identical appearance. They will look the same, but will be more likely to throw hens that have too much brickiness in the wings, a fault in standard Red hens. Craig first acquired his start of these from Steven Gerdes of Toluca, IL back in 1973. Steven was another poultry enthusiast, being especially fond of the rare colors of Dorkings. Over the next few years, while wandering around with Bruce Lentz, Craig also managed to gather up a few of these flocks from retiring farmers and families of folks who had died.

These are similar to a standard Silver Grey, but darker overall. Harrison Weir talks of them in The Poultry Book describing them akin to “The Old Kent and Sussex Five-Toed Fowls”. The Hens have more dark or black feathering in their body plumage, and richer, and more broad dark stippling while maintaining the striped hackle like a Silver Grey. This makes them appear more rustic and less elegant or refined than a Silver Grey. The hens should not have a black head and hackle although many of mine do. The males are nearly Identical to a Silver Grey but perhaps a bit darker, though they should not have striping in the hackle or saddle like that of a Dark Grey. My Colored flock can occasionally throw these and I also received a second line from fellow Dorking enthusiast, Frank Norman at our 2021 annual meeting, “Dorking Days”. Craig brought us a load of cool birds that Frank had generously donated to the club.

Spangled (aka True Spangled) Dorkings have an old history, but there is only a little written about them. Spangled and Red Speckled are both mentioned in Martin Doyle's 1857 edit of the work, The Illustrated Book of Poultry, but most notably, Weir talks about them a few times in The Poultry Book, 1904, and refers to them thusly: “Thus in the red the hens are black spangled (this is referring to the modern English Standard Red), so in the browns, the grays, both light or dark, and others; and often this is so in all shades; but when the black tip is changed to white this is then the speckled or white spangled, one of the many colors for which the old Kent, Sussex, and Surreys were fancied.”. Some of the old lines were like that of the Speckled Sussex, with crisp black and white speckles on a rich chestnut mahogany base. Over 30 years later, Lewis Wright discusses them in The Book of Poultry 1893, saying “… the Red-speckled Dorking, a variety of great frame, exceedingly clear and white in the leg and foot, and of the most hardy constitution. True it is, these fowls were wont to be marked somewhat irregularly, the feather being a deep chestnut, with a white crescent-shaped tip; but for hardihood they could not be outdone, besides which, the quality of flesh was unsurpassable and most abundant.”. I recently discovered a large flock of these in a rugged mountain town in north Arkansas. The couple were so generous to share with me a small starter flock of these birds. They have maintained their flock, closed, since buying their birds from the late Jeannine Peters in the late 90’s. These birds need some work, but are a valuable beginning. Another take on Spangled which was probably the most historic was the version like that of the Spangled Old English Game. These, with the black and white spangling on a Black Breasted Red base are very striking though a shade or two brighter than the first. The old-time breeders often named their colors quite literally. That traditionalism in naming the Dorking colors brought the Spangled to the same standard as the Cuckoo Breasted Golden Cuckoo which are known as Crele in any other breed.

Although they are not nearly as old as the Reds, the Silver Greys are one of the three original varieties admitted into the American Standard of Perfection. The Silver Grey is derived from the much older Grey or Dark Dorking, which I refer later to as the Old Fashioned Grey. It is also believed that through selection for a cleaner hackle in the males, and softer, lighter grey stippling in the females, the Silver Grey helped to push the Colored forward to prominence in the first quarter of the 19th century. In Lewis Wright’s Book of Poultry, 1893, he tells us that “When the somewhat lighter coloured hens(…)were generally bred and even the ‘Old Grey’ colour of the original was not unfrequently seen, very beautiful clear-grey hens were often produced; and by judiciously selecting these, the breed was finally established which is now termed ‘Silver-Grey’…” Being the same pattern as the Silver Duckwing Old English Game, some breeders have traditionally utilized a double mating to produce the best of both sexes. Historically, it is written that the Silver Greys have lacked in size and vigor when compared to the Coloreds, but many breeders of Silver Greys would heartily disagree. In the last 30 years or so, the Silver Greys have shown well in the Dorking classes at shows and have been the primary variety in many hatchery catalogues. This popularity has unfortunately waned, and to my knowledge, there is now only one or two hatcheries offering them. At the Ohio National Show in November 2021, there were no Silver Greys entered. I am working with 4 lines, all of which need some work, but there is a great light at the end of the tunnel. I have a line from McMurray Hatchery, two distantly related lines from private breeders, and I am building a line that was thrown from my Colored flock of all things. These birds that are out of my Coloreds are by far the largest bodied.

An intensely sharp variety originally achieved by crossing Red males over Silver Grey females. Some first generation males may be Grey with a few red feathers rather than Golden. As long as they are of good size and type, these males can be used in a breeding pen preferably with nice Red hens. Once you get some decent Golden Grey males, they will produce mostly Red and Golden Grey daughters though the occasional Silver Grey daughter will pop up, the Red and Silver Grey hens can be put back in Red or Silver Grey pens respectively. This color would be nearly the same as Golden Duckwing in Games or Golden in Leghorns and Phoenix. Also, the males are often a richer and brighter shade than Colored males as well, often being confused for Colored males and occasionally beating them in shows when entered in the Colored classes. The Golden female is a more richly colored version of Silver Grey with more red in the body. Once established, a Golden Grey breeding should produce only Golden Grey males, Golden Grey females and Red females. At one point, these were popular and were often kept mixed in with flocks of Reds and Silver Greys.

Light Greys, or Very Light Greys as Harrison Weir described them, are yet another of the very old patterns in the Dorking breed. Their color is based on the Columbian pattern, quite similar to that of Light Sussex or Light Brahmas. While traveling through England in the 70’s, Craig Russell remembers this as another color variant that was often referred to in the past tense by the old farmers, as it was generally believed to be an extinct color in many of the areas he travelled to. A good number of his contacts recalled flocks of these, but no one knew of any still in existence. In the mid 1970’s, Stephen Gerdes, of Toluca, IL, contacted Craig and told him he had some. Craig acquired Stephen’s stock, and has been working with them since. At the time, the birds were big and had good Dorking type but their color had been let go for many years. They had been bred to the point of being Black Tailed White instead of their hackle and tail colors being richly black contrasting a clean bright white body. I think a Black Tailed White bird is beautiful, but the Light Grey pattern was old and historic, so to get back to the proper coloring, Craig used a cross of Silver Greys and another cross of Light Sussex. The line I am working with is pretty small, type is shot, toes are less than mediocre, and the color is smutty in the backs and has some red in the wings. In addition to a pure breeding trio of the best Light Greys, my 2022 breeding pens will also include a pen of all of the Light Grey females under a really big Silver Grey cock. I’m hoping this will help improve size and type without ruining color more than it already is. Needless to say, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to improve their type, size, and color, but with some determination, we can get these back to their beautiful, rich color and their once grand size and type.

The White is one of the three original varieties of admitted in the first Standard of Perfection. Though not nearly as old as the Red and it’s variants, the White has still been around a long time. Mr. B.P. Brent describes them how he knew best in The Poultry Chronicle, Vol 1, 1854, “Comb rose, square shaped, and evenly sprigged and terminated in a single point behind and not falling on either side; gills and wattles moderate; earlobes whitish (mouldy); beak, shanks, and toes white; shanks short; toes five in number, the third hind ones being double, well defined, and raised slightly on the shank; plumage spotless white; neck short and full; wings and tail ample; back broad, stout across the loins; breast full and large, and the nearer the body approaches a parallelogram the better. The White Dorking is an excellent farmyard fowl, being a good layer, a close sitter, and an attentive mother; the chickens grow rapidly, and are most excellent on the table. The pure White Dorking may also be considered as fancy as well as useful, because they will breed true to their points.” Even though the White is only standardized with a rose comb, there are still old lines that have a single comb. I maintain both single and rose comb birds within 3 lines. If all things are equal, i.e. size and type, a single comb bird deserves just as much pen space as one with a rose comb. When selecting a single comb White, I use the same parameters as with the other varieties that possess a single comb, six points, well balanced, appealing, etc. Harrison Weir defends the single comb White in The Poultry Book, he describes them as such “Moreover, there were from time immemorial white fowls in Kent, etc., with rose or single combs; many of the old writers, after describing the five-toed fowls of the period, warn their readers against having whites as being of less worth, etc… the old Kent and Sussex farmers were proud of their breed of white fowls and ducks. The former mostly had a rose comb as indeed did many of the colored, but they generally were not in favor, as the single comb was preferred.”. Last autumn, I acquired flocks from a friend in ME, and a second flock of nice pullets from a friend in NH. This winter, I acquired a third, larger flock of birds from a friend in IL. This day in age, the White Dorking needs all the cheerleaders it can muster, this variety is in desperate need of preservation.

Black Dorkings and their variants have been around for a very long time. Many old breeders and especially cockers or cock-fighters would have simply referred to the Dark Birchen Grey and Brown Red as Black because their plumage was predominately black. A common and controversial occurrence we should discuss is the darkness of leg color in predominately black breeds. Yes, white legs are standard on every variety of Dorking in the APA Standard. The Black, Dark Birchen Grey, and Brown Red (you could probably include a few others here as well) all can show up with dark slate or black legs. Consistently and efficiently breeding a white skinned, jet black bird (no unwanted white plumage or under-color showing), with pure white legs, though possible, is quite a challenge to say the least. The fight over leg color is undeniably why the Blacks were never admitted into the standard despite many years of trying. These are jet black in color and are mentioned in many old writings. From my experience, these are exceedingly hardy and productive birds, coming second place to my Coloreds in eggs production. These females are great broodies as well. Breeding stock with dark grey or black legs will yield a bird that has stunning pure black plumage and a bird with clean white legs will often yield more birds with white or light gray feathering and under-color. Many times, these were petitioned to be admitted into our Standard, but the debate over leg color has gotten in the way every time. Some strains can throw Birchen and Brown Red though I select against it in my flock. For more information on Black Dorkings, check out the first post in The Farm Journal blog.

Most references do not mention the Cuckoo as far back as some of its Dorking cousins, Harrison Weir believed it to be an "old variety" and it had a stout presence on farms and in show halls. Despite some exhibition attention, the Cuckoo remained what Dorkings had always been, a first-class utility fowl. Even amongst the other Dorkings, the Cuckoos were noted as a hardy, productive fowl and remained a popular farm fowl in England well into the 20th century. In North America, the Cuckoo's claim to fame may very well lie in it’s contribution to the most American of all fowl, the Dominique. Like Dominiques, yet unlike many other cuckoo fowl that have darker females, the color shade should match in both sexes of Cuckoo Dorkings. By the time the APA was organized, the Dorking was still common but many people were moving to the newer composite breeds. Although, it held onto it’s local popularity as a utility fowl and remained fairly common in shows through the first half of the twentieth century, the Cuckoo Dorking was never as popular as it's Red, White, and Grey relatives. Craig has told me that his friend, stringman, and Dorking enthusiast, the late Harold Shuert, used to mention a farm near Syracuse, NY, that raised Dorkings commercially. Craig says “When Harold visited there as a young man, they would have four or five hundred young Cuckoos out on grass each fall. Today, few ‘common’ breeds of purebred fowl could muster a flock to match. And, if all the Cuckoo breeders I know of had a big year and you counted before they culled, I doubt you would find 500 Cuckoo Dorkings in the entire country.” The Cuckoo is in dire need of dedicated breeders. As of last count, and including myself, I know of only 5 flocks of Cuckoos in this country. Please let me know if you know of more.

The Golden Cuckoo is an old version of Cuckoo, but is pretty much unknown these days. I received a big, pullet of good type in a pen of Cuckoos that I received from my friend Trey Lewis. Golden Cuckoos possess the golden gene, like that which shows up in Golden Greys. Genetically speaking, the Golden Cuckoos are not the same as the Golden Cuckoo Marans which have cuckoo barring on a golden pattern but are instead cuckoo barred on a golden buff ground color. Whereas a similar pattern, the Crele (known as Cuckoo Breasted Golden Cuckoo in old Dorking circles) is made with Cuckoo on a Black Breasted Red base. This year I will just be hatching and raising a few to see what I can get. They are another historic and very pretty variety indeed, deserving some attention and a little pen space.

Although Dorking bantams have a fairly long American history, the present bantams all date from various breeding projects in the 1960’s. The earlier Dorking bantams had survived the second World War but as older breeders passed away those bantams slipped out of existence sometime between the mid 1950’s and the early 1960’s. Bruce Lentz was a noted poultry breeder and his fame included a number of bantam breeds and varieties. Never the less he had often noted that bantams were not real chickens. However he was of the opinion that the world was a poorer place without these particular fake chickens and urged his friend Dale Rice to recreate them. Dale had created many bantam breeds and varieties and more than a few types of large fowl. It was never to hard to convince Dale to start a breeding project. Fast forward to 2023 and my friend and fellow Dorking enthusiast, Jimmy Parker made the tough decision to get out of his bantams. He called me up and asked if I wanted them. I’m typically in the camp that bantams aren’t “real” chickens, but since they are Dorkings, I couldn’t pass them by. I now have a nice little flock of Reds, so there is a solid start. They aren’t perfect, but they are sturdy little chickens.