Are Dorkings good for showing?

Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's **English** class in five varieties (White, Silver Gray, Colored, Red, Cuckoo), judged on their long, low rectangular type and correct **five-toed** feet. Match comb to variety — rose comb on the White, single comb on the Silver Gray.

How hard are Dorkings to hatch?

No harder than any chicken — about **99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch**, with no breed-specific quirks. A bonus is that Dorking hens go broody readily and make excellent mothers, so you can let a hen set her own clutch.

Why do Dorkings have five toes?

The extra fifth toe is an ancient inherited trait, generally traced to the Roman fowl believed to have been brought to Britain around two thousand years ago. It's the breed's defining feature: a correct Dorking has a well-formed, separated fifth toe on each foot.

Yes — the Dorking is a **threatened heritage breed** on The Livestock Conservancy's list. Once one of England's leading table breeds, it declined with the rise of industrial meat production, so most keepers today raise it partly for conservation.

Very much so. Dorking hens go broody readily and are known as attentive, long-caring mothers — a practical plus if you want a hen to hatch and brood chicks, but a limit on total egg production.

Dorking: The Ancient Five-Toed English Breed

Q: What color eggs do Dorkings lay?

**White to tinted (creamy)** eggs. Dorkings are one of the few red-earlobed breeds that lay a pale, non-brown shell. They're moderate layers, and broodiness reduces the number of eggs you'll actually collect.

Verified September 2026White eggs

The short version

The Dorking is one of the oldest domesticated chicken breeds — a heavy English-class table fowl defined by its fifth toe, a long, low, rectangular body on very short legs, and a white to tinted (creamy) egg. The APA recognizes it in White (rose comb), Silver Gray, Colored, Red, and Cuckoo. Hens are notably broody and excellent mothers, and the breed is calm and friendly. It is listed as a threatened heritage breed, so most breeders keep it as much for conservation as for the show pen.

APA class: English

Egg color: White–Tinted

Broodiness: Frequently broody

Varieties: 5

Egg-color genetics

The Dorking is one of the few white-earlobe-adjacent English breeds that lays a white to lightly tinted (creamy) shell rather than the brown egg most of its classmates produce. There is no blue or brown-overlay pigment involved — the shell is laid pale, so expect white to soft cream depending on the individual hen and the strain.

The fifth toe: what makes a Dorking a Dorking

The Dorking's most defining feature is its fifth toe. Most chickens have four toes; the Dorking carries an extra hind toe on each foot, a very old trait usually credited to the Roman fowl thought to have reached Britain nearly two thousand years ago. On a correct bird the fourth and fifth toes are clearly separated, with the fifth toe pointing upward and back rather than doubling or twisting.

The rest of the bird is built for the table: a long, deep, almost rectangular body carried low on short legs, giving the breed its characteristic boxy, close-to-the-ground stance. That short-legged, long-bodied type — plus the fifth toe — is what breeders and judges are protecting.

What color eggs do Dorkings lay?

Dorkings lay a white to lightly tinted, creamy-shelled egg — unusual for a breed with red earlobes, since red-earlobed birds more often lay brown. Production is moderate rather than heavy (roughly a couple hundred medium eggs a year at best from good laying strains), and hens are prone to going broody, which further limits how many eggs you'll collect. Keep them for type, meat quality, and conservation as much as for the egg basket.

Breeding notes

The fifth toe is the breed's signature: a true Dorking has five toes on each foot, with the fourth and fifth toes distinct and well separated (the fifth pointing upward), not fused. Select breeders to fix clean, correct five-toed feet and cull birds whose extra toe is doubled, twisted, or joined to the fourth.
Breed to the long, deep, near-rectangular body carried low on short legs — this brick-like table type is what makes a Dorking a Dorking. Long-legged or narrow, upright birds have drifted from type.
Comb type is variety-specific: the White is a rose-comb variety while the Silver Gray is single-combed, so keep pens separate by variety to hold both comb type and color true.
As a heritage breed on The Livestock Conservancy's watch list, prioritize genetic diversity: keep several unrelated cock lines, hatch enough birds each season to select hard, and don't bottleneck the flock through a single popular sire.
The breed can be slow to mature and is not a heavy layer, so plan hatches early in the season to give replacement breeders time to develop before fall shows.

Showing notes

Dorkings are exhibited in the APA's English class; enter by variety (e.g. 'Silver Gray Dorking, large fowl'). Recognized varieties are White, Silver Gray, Colored, Red, and Cuckoo.
Judges look first at type — the long, low, rectangular body on short legs and a broad breast — and at correct five-toed feet. A missing, doubled, or malformed fifth toe is a serious fault against the breed's defining trait.
Match comb to variety: rose comb on the White, single comb on the Silver Gray. Keep white plumage clean and free of brassiness, and present the short legs and feet clean so the fifth toe reads clearly to the judge.

Hatching & incubation

No breed-specific incubation requirements — treat Dorking eggs like any chicken egg: about 99.5–100°F forced-air, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch.
Because Dorking hens go broody readily and mother well, many keepers let a hen set and raise her own clutch rather than running an incubator; a reliable broody is one of the breed's practical advantages.

Recognized varieties

White (rose comb)Silver GrayColoredRedCuckoo

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Dorkings lay?: White to tinted (creamy) eggs. Dorkings are one of the few red-earlobed breeds that lay a pale, non-brown shell. They're moderate layers, and broodiness reduces the number of eggs you'll actually collect.
Are Dorkings good for showing?: Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's English class in five varieties (White, Silver Gray, Colored, Red, Cuckoo), judged on their long, low rectangular type and correct five-toed feet. Match comb to variety — rose comb on the White, single comb on the Silver Gray.
How hard are Dorkings to hatch?: No harder than any chicken — about 99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch, with no breed-specific quirks. A bonus is that Dorking hens go broody readily and make excellent mothers, so you can let a hen set her own clutch.
Why do Dorkings have five toes?: The extra fifth toe is an ancient inherited trait, generally traced to the Roman fowl believed to have been brought to Britain around two thousand years ago. It's the breed's defining feature: a correct Dorking has a well-formed, separated fifth toe on each foot.
Are Dorkings rare?: Yes — the Dorking is a threatened heritage breed on The Livestock Conservancy's list. Once one of England's leading table breeds, it declined with the rise of industrial meat production, so most keepers today raise it partly for conservation.
Are Dorkings broody?: Very much so. Dorking hens go broody readily and are known as attentive, long-caring mothers — a practical plus if you want a hen to hatch and brood chicks, but a limit on total egg production.

Sources

Dorking Chicken (heritage breed profile) — The Livestock Conservancy (Reference)
Silver Gray Dorkings (breed overview & egg production) — Murray McMurray Hatchery (Hatchery)
Dorking chicken (history, varieties, five-toed trait) — Wikipedia (Reference)

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