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Member Reviews: Orpington

Positive Reviews

Keltara

Lovable, sweet and friendly

Posted
By Keltara

Pros: Heritage breed, friendly, gentle, good egg producers (even in cold winter months), winter hardy, beautiful in coloring.

Cons: None. This is a MUST HAVE breed for every flock!

Buff Orpingtons are so friendly, do well in winter, and are a "Heritage Breed".  I honestly believe that anything hybridized has been compromised.  Heritage breeds are more hearty than production or hybrid breeds.  They display more traditional chicken behaviors, like foraging for food, being good setters (going broody easily), and roosting.  Heritage breeds lay eggs for more years than the poor hybridized production birds, but at a slower rate.  Buff Orpingtons are a heavy breed which means they get large.  They also become heavily feathered so they do very well in winter.  They tolerate confinement well which is...
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savery

Favorite by far!

Posted
By savery

Pros: Friendly, calm, quiet, 4 eggs a week, soft and smart

Cons: tend to be on the lower end of the pecking order

I absolutley love my Buff! She is the friendliest chicken out of all my breeds. She even loves my collie. She is very smart and will let anyone hold her. She is also very friendly with all of the other chickens and I feel like I could introduce any chicken and she would welcome them. The only bad part is that because she is so friendly some of the other hens ocasionally pick on her. I currenlty have a buff chick that I am raising and it seems like she si turning out the same way, friendly, fun and smart!
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Negative Reviews

Firestone Creek

too aggressive

Posted
By Firestone Creek

Pros: good layer

Cons: too aggressive

I raised these myself--hatched them. They were still too aggressive. One jumped up in my son's face and flogged him when he was doing nothing at all to bother them. It scratched beside of his eye and nose, and it could have easily put his eye out. None of the others offered to do the same, but this one lost his life that day, and I sold all of the others. If you have children, I think there are a lot more docile breeds out there.
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Beekissed

Fat and Friendly, not much for laying and hardiness.

Posted
By Beekissed

Pros: Docile and pretty...the training wheel of chicken breeds, pet quality.

Cons: Too docile, not feed thrifty, average layer, not hardy, reproductive issues, not good on free range

Though pretty and sweet, the breed isn't much good for a utility flock of chickens.  They eat too much and forage too little.  Their propensity to overeat causes fat collection near the vent which often results in reproductive issues and poor laying performance.     They tend to be the only chickens in the flock with bare backs because they are either too fat to avoid the rooster or they are too docile and drop to be mated every time he passes by.     Too slow and docile to be good out on free range, they are always the last to make it to cover when the alarm is called and are rarely wary enough to notice danger on their own in a timely...
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Toro

Veeeeeerrrrrrrryyyyyy skittish

Posted
By Toro

Pros: Pretty, good layer

Cons: Very skittish, will never be held willingly

My buff orpington Buffy is very skittish and hates to be held. She is currently the roosters "favorite" hen and so has a bald back. I made her a sadle which she always manages to get off. She is not a very good chicken in terms of friendliness which I love most in a chicken.
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More Reviews

The4Chickeneers

great egg layer, friendly

Posted
By The4Chickeneers

Pros: doesn't peck; doesn't get pecked at, good egg layer, docile

Cons: always scrunches down and doesn't run when danger is nearby

I got one of these in may last year and she was docile from the beginning. We have never gotten a double yolk egg from her. she always lets you pick her up and will perch on your shoulder without becoming fiesty. she is escpecially good with small children who are gentle. very good breed, you should definately get them if you don't already. they really add some color to your flock
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Shalva

Great ladies

Posted
By Shalva

Pros: docile, quiet, great layers, sweet,

Cons: can get beat up by bossier chickens

I LOVE this breed.  I have pretty much decided that I will only keep orpingtons.  I am rehoming 3 of my other chickens because they are beating up on the orpingtons.  These guys will sit on my lap, they come running when I call them and are just overall great chickens BUT they may not do well in a mixed flock like what I have.  They are so docile that they tend to get pounded on by the others even with space to get away....  They are great layers and I have had 7-9 eggs per day all winter.  I will only be keeping orpingtons in the future. 
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barnevelders23

Orpingtons

Posted
By barnevelders23

Pros: REALLY FRIENDLY!! soo cute and fluffy and lay huge eggs even in winter

These are the cutest breed ever! My two are sooo friendly like giant cushions, and they are always willing for a cuddle! They lay huge eggs even in the winter and make really sweet noises as they strut around the garden!! Would recommend to anyone!
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QueenBeeMom

Her name is Goldie, of course!

Posted
By QueenBeeMom

Pros: docile, rather quiet, fluffy!

Cons: ??

Goldie is my snuggle girl.  She doesn't even mind my loud, goofy 5 and 7 year old boys' attention.  She'd probably plop on my lap for hours if I let her.  When my 4 girls were attacked by a hawk (through some team work and a very persistent Golden Sex Link, they are all fine), Goldie's feathers were everywhere.  It looked as though several chickens had been de-feathered all over my lawn and my living room (that's a funny part of the story).  The amazing thing was Goldie didn't look like she lost a single feather at all.  There is something to be said for a chicken with a snugglie personality and oodles of snugglie feathers to back it up.  She's a charm.
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newb-chicken

Favorite of three breeds

Posted
By newb-chicken

Pros: Sweet chickens good layers

Cons: non so far

Last year I decided I would like to own chickens again. I no longer live in Florida were I originally had chickens in the early 80's. I currently live in a suburb of the Chicagoland area, called Ottawa. I researched the county ordinances as well as the city and found that there were none about chickens. I then proceeded to ask my neighbors how they felt about me having some chickens, and to my suprise my immediate neighbors gave me the thumbs up. I checked with my local Farm and Fleet strore and they also informed me that I could indeed have chickens in my back yard, so I ordered six: 2 Buff Orpintons, 2Australorps and 2 Araucanas. Of the six chicks, who are now grown layers,...
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Cowgirl71

Wonderful Farm or Homestead Breed!!!

Posted
By Cowgirl71

Pros: Great layers, great foragers, great mother hens, great meat birds.

Cons: Eggs can be scarce during the summer months when many of the hens are too busy trying to hatch eggs or raise chicks.

Buff Orpingtons are very good layers of large light brown eggs.   They go broody often and make excellent mother hens.  My Orpington hens have hatched chicks, ducklings, poults, and keets with very high hatch rates (100% is not uncommon).  The Orpington's large size and profuse feathering allow them to incubate many eggs at once.   Contrary to what I've read, my hatchery Buff Orpingtons have proven to be my best foragers, voluntarily foraging widely in search of bugs and seeds and other tasty tidbits, thereby cutting down on feed costs and producing healthier eggs compared to hens fed a higher percentage of grain.  I've seen them foraging as far as a 1/3...
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kittycooks

Buff Orpington

Posted
By kittycooks

Pros: Winter hardy, sweet and docile, good egg layers

Cons: large birds, hard to tell apart without leg bands, bumble foot a concern

I love our buff orphingtons. Each hen provide us with about 5 large brown eggs a week. They are super friendly and allow the kids to carry them around, even though they are rather heavy. They tend to associate with their own kind and ignore my silkies with a regal turn of the head. Our birds are confined most of the time and they get along very well. All three of my buffs control the top tier of the pecking order, but do so with only a peck or two. Keep the perches low to avoid bumblefoot in large bodied birds like BO. They are very winter hardy.
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chickensrcool2

I love my BO's

Posted
By chickensrcool2

Pros: Docile, friendly lap chickens, good layers all winter (with extra light), hearty

Cons: none so far

I have 5 hens and 8 pullets and love them all. The pullets at 4 weeks were already showing that they were growing into lap chickens. They are friendly even to strangers and are good with the kids.
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snistersflock

Perfect companions!

Posted
By snistersflock

Pros: Beautiful, pleasant, docile, smart

We have two Orps at the moment and they are so wonderful!  Millie jumps up on my back and is as curious and intelligent as ever a hen I saw.  And then, MayBelle, is the mama brooder who loves showing how protective she is.  Both seek affection constantly, and love being with us!       Here are our two girls.
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