Ordering Day-old Chicks
ORDER YOUR SPRING 2013HATCHLINGS NOW!
Ordering information (scroll down)
2013 Offerings
We are sold out of White Dorking chicks for 2013; if you would like to be on our Dorking request list for 2014, please send us an e-mail so that you might be added to our folder.
We are currently accepting orders for day-old Rose comb Anconas.
You may order as few as 12 or as many as 25. If fewer than 25 chicks are shipped, we shall include a heat pack. Chicks are $7.50 each, and shipping for up to 25 chicks is $40.00. In the spirit of not counting one's chicks before they hatch, if fewer than 25 chicks are avilable, we will ship the chicks as scheduled, including a refund check for the omitted chicks at the rate of $7.50 per chick in the envelop containing your NPIP paperwork. Orders will be considered booked upon receipt of payment. In the interest of fairness, we fill orders on a first come, first served basis. . All chicks will be toe-punched as a means of tracking their lineage and to aid in setting up potential breedings.
Ordering Information
1) To order Dorkings (sold out for 2013) or Anconas, please contact us via phone or, preferably, e-mail before sending payment in order to insure availability of stock. Chicks will be shipped via USPS Priority Mail.
We are yet unsure as to when we shall begin shipping chicks. Before we are able to do so, we must first fulfil our own hatching needs. As it stands currently, we expect to begin shipping by the beginning of April, at which point we will commence shipping weekly.
Upon shipment, we will phone to alert you of their pending arrival.
2) Pricing:
Dorkings (sold out 2013), Rose comb Anconas: $7.50 each.
Shipping for up to 25 chicks: $40.00
3) For on farm pick up, pick-up days are Saturday between 9am and 12am. Orders are filled on a first come, first served basis. Upon receipt of your order, you shall receive a post card announcing the expected hatch date.
4) Send check or money order to: Yellow House Farm, 463 Washington Street, Barrington, NH, 03825. Be sure to include any appropriate contact information and pick up date if there is a preferred time. Any returned checks will be assessed a $30.00 fee.
5) Orders are not considered booked until full payment is received. An e-mail or phone call of inquiry does not constitute an order.
6) Orders are non-refundable.
7) In our selection of breeders, we pay careful attention to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfectionto guide us in our hope of developing the most "perfect" strain of White Dorkings in a hundred years. Having said this, it is important to state that our Dorkings are still in the making, and we make no claim that they are top show quality birds. Indeed, please find below a list of possible defects you may find in your breeding programs that we have on occasion found in ours. N.B. We carefully screen each chick before packing to try to ensure that they are free from any visible defect. However, because of a relatively recent outcross to other Dorkings varieties in order to improve vigor and fertility, the following defects may arise in your future breedings:
- Sex-linked blue shanks in females. This will happen rarely, but it is something that may appear. Culling is required, although such females could be saved for laying or as serrogate broodies. Such females should never be incorporated into a Dorking breeding program.
- Occasionally the fifth toe will possess a doubled toe-nail. This is cause for cull; such birds should never be incorporated into a Dorking breeding program.
- Although in the past, we have had single combs hatch out. In 2013 all hatchlings thus far have been rose-combed, which may be taken as sign that, on account of strict selection for rose-comb, our strain is, or is at least becoming, homozygous for rose comb, which will eliminate single combs. Single combed specimens should never be incorporated into a White Dorking breeding program.
- On account of the out-cross, occasional color sports may arise. So far this year we have seen only one chick, which betrayed a down pattern similar to a red pyle. Such specimens should never be incorporated into a White Dorking breeding program. We will do our very best to assure that all chicks shipped to you are white. Continued selection for white, and only white, will ensure the development of an excellent line of White Dorkings.
- There is still a level of variability in conformation. Only continued selection against the requirements of the Standard of Perfection will achieve the goal of a strain marked clearly by uniformity of type.
I mention the above in the interest of full disclosure and so that you will be best prepared as you begin your own program. The aforementioned defects are not the rule, but they may arise. Nevertheless, we believe that our strain of White Dorkings is among the very best strains of Dorkings in North America today. The growth of interest in them and their adoption by other breeders will certainly mark a turning point for these fine birds. Our chicks will arrive toe-punched so that selection might be made along proper lines. You will receive chicks from at least two clans for pairing purposes. Our White Dorkings are rich in bio-diversity, and we would highly dissuade the mingling of other bloodlines. From among the chicks you receive, it is our hope that you will attain either one strong trio or two pairs to begin your breeding program. We recommend that you retain your chicks as long as is feasible. The urge to slaughter some of the cockerels may arise, but as you are beginning, the longer you hold onto the stock the first year or so, the better idea you will be able to develop concerning the growth habits of the stock, which will strengthen your selections.
8. Our Rose comb Anconas are also coming along well. We have begun showing, and they have already won prizes for Champion Mediterranean and Reserve Champion Large Fowl. They have good coloring, strong type, nice feather quality, good weight, and are strong layers. We are still breeding for greater length in their tail and for the further perfection of their rose comb.