I bought my breeding trio from a show breeder who bred them for looks and temperament since they would be handled regularly at shows.
While none of my birds like being handled, I haven't had a single one of my Darks bite me once I have a hold of them. Both the males and females have a nice, heart shaped body and thick, stocky legs. The double lacing on the females is gorgeous! This is what they looked like at 6 months when I got them.
This is them at a little more than a year.
This is one of the Cockerels I'm saving for next year.
This is a pullet I hatched this year. Her coloring is too light for her to make it as a breeder next year, but the lighter coloring shows of the lacing very nicely.
They grow out slow, but their carcasses have really nice meat on them. Please excuse the bad butchering job. This is a 6-7 month old cockerel. The younger cockerels (14-15 weeks) also dressed out nicely, they weren't as big (half the size), but were just as plump.
While none of my birds like being handled, I haven't had a single one of my Darks bite me once I have a hold of them. Both the males and females have a nice, heart shaped body and thick, stocky legs. The double lacing on the females is gorgeous! This is what they looked like at 6 months when I got them.
This is them at a little more than a year.
This is one of the Cockerels I'm saving for next year.
This is a pullet I hatched this year. Her coloring is too light for her to make it as a breeder next year, but the lighter coloring shows of the lacing very nicely.
They grow out slow, but their carcasses have really nice meat on them. Please excuse the bad butchering job. This is a 6-7 month old cockerel. The younger cockerels (14-15 weeks) also dressed out nicely, they weren't as big (half the size), but were just as plump.