red dorking chickens for sale

red dorking chickens for sale

Discover the Red Dorking chicken, one of the oldest and most cherished heritage breeds, originally from the Dorking area in Surrey, England. Red Dorkings are by far the oldest variety of Dorking, with a rich history deeply connected to the origins of domestic chickens. Chickens originated with the Jungle Fowl, and Red Jungle Fowl are essentially Black Breasted Red in pattern, which is not only the original, wild-type pattern but also one where the male wing pattern mimics that of a male Mallard’s wing.

This resemblance has led to the term “Duckwing” being applied to many breeds showing these patterns, as all chicken patterns are a variant of this Duckwing pattern. Due to their kinship with the Old English Game, versions of this pattern have always dominated the Dorking breed, making the Red Dorking the oldest color variety. Despite this, the Red Dorking was only admitted to the APA Standard in 1995, and throughout its history, different breeders and farmers kept their own versions of Red Dorkings, leading to at least nine known variations today.