The Dorking is a British breed of domestic

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

. It is named after the town of

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp ...

, in Surrey in southern England.

History

The Dorking is among the oldest British chicken breeds. It has sometimes been suggested that it derives from five-toed (rather than the usual four-toed) chickens brought to Britain by the Romans in the first century AD, but it is not known whether the Romans brought poultry with them, nor if they found five-toed poultry when they arrived. The Roman writer

Columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the ...

, active at that time, mentions five-toed hens as being the best breeding-stock: "they are reckoned the most generous which have five toes". The Dorking originated in the southern

home counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often inclu ...

in south-east England, and is named after the

market town A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

, in Surrey, from where birds were sent to the markets of London. It was the principal meat breed supplied to the metropolis until it was displaced by the Sussex in the early part of the twentieth century; it also became popular as an exhibition bird. It was among the breeds shown at the first

poultry show A poultry show is a specific subset of a livestock show that involves the exhibition and competition of exhibition poultry, which may include chickens, domestic ducks, domestic geese, domestic guineafowl and domestic turkey. Domestic pigeo ...

, at

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1831 or 1832, ...

in 1845. The Dorking was included in the first poultry standard, ''The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry'', edited by

William Bernhardt Tegetmeier William Bernhardt Tegetmeier FZS (4 November 1816 – 19 November 1912) was an English naturalist, a founding member of the Savage Club, a popular writer and journalist of domestic science. A correspondent and friend of Charles Darwin, Tegetm ...

and published in 1865 by the original

Poultry Club of Great Britain The Poultry Club of Great Britain is a registered charity founded in 1877. Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys". The club m ...

. In the late nineteenth century, separate breed societies formed for the various colour varieties; two of these merged to form the Dorking Club, and a Scottish Dorking Club also formed. By about the time of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, none of these remained active. Interest in the breed had decreased rapidly, and it drew close to extinction. The Dorking Club was restarted in 1970. Three colour varieties – coloured, silver-grey and white – were included in the first

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standar ...

of the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in resp ...

in 1874; the red was added in 1995. Three bantam varieties – coloured, silver-grey and rose-comb white – were added in 1960.

Characteristics

The Dorking has a rectangular body with short, five-toed legs. As with all single comb poultry, the comb points may require protection in extremely cold weather. Dorkings are well known for their versatility as a breed for both egg and meat production. It is one of the few breeds with red earlobes that produces a white-shelled egg. The skin colour beneath the feathers is white. The weight is for cocks, for cockerels and for hens. There are five recognised colour varieties: white, silver-grey, red, dark and cuckoo.

Gallery

Harrison Weir Harrison William Weir (5 May 18243 January 1906), known as "The Father of the Cat Fancy", was a British artist. He organised the first cat show in England, at the Crystal Palace, London, in July 1871. He and his brother, John Jenner Weir, ...

History

Characteristics

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading