The black is used in breeding to keep up the feather quality. If breeding lav to lav, the feathers can look ratty after a couple generations. Breeding a lav and a black will produce a black looking bird that will carry the recessive lavender gene. = a black/lav split. Breeding that split to a...
Congratulations on the lav orp decision. I got my 1st lavs in 2014 and never regretted it. I love the shiny iridescence of the blacks and misty gray of the lavs. I have been breeding more towards the English standards because I just adore the the extra fluff - even though they’re a little more...
I ended up keeping the black lav split. He gave us a very nice lavender rooster.
"Dinner" was a good boy and very pretty. He ended up being a laced Isabelle orp. (Each lavender feather had a golden laced edge.) It was not a breeding project I wanted to explore, so I found Dinner a good home...
Yes. My lav orps lay pinkish eggs. Basically a brown egg with a pink bloom. My silver laced orps lay more of a brown egg.
My fav lavender hen is Darling. I love her round body and quiet temperment.
My lav pullet is Calamity. (Her blk/lav split sister = Chaos) She's not as pretty but her...
Trying to figure out which male to keep - - for now. I can use one for breeding until I can find a more prefect candidate.
I have my old man blk/lav split roo, who will stay on as a pet. He's not really doing his job fertilizing the flock.
Here are the only two choices:
One of the great...
Sadly no. She saw the rest of flock begin to rush the gate when they saw me enter the backyard. She was panicked that she might miss out on some treats, so she jumped down before I could rescue her.
Orps are so funny. They really, really like their treats. My big blue orp is very heavy so...
BTW- I just saw a very funny sight outside. A big fat lav orp up in a tree.
:lau
She managed to get herself up there & seemed clueless about how to get down. I guess she must have followed another chicken up before realizing that Orps don't don't do trees.
Yes, who can resist a pretty lav orp? Is one of those girls the gender? pullet you posted about earlier?
Out of out 8 lav chicks..... only ONE MALE - and he has some gold leakage. I'll have to breed blk/lav splits this year until I find a decent lav male.
Here's our only lav male: "Dinner"...
...appreciate my logical name. She calls him "Pretty Boy." She wants to keep him & I must admit, his unusual coloring is getting better looking.
*He's going through the typical, awkward-looking, chicken on stilts phase that all my teen cockerels share.
Here's the other one with the large comb...
15.5 weeks (same orps - just another week older)
Based on the comb & wattle size= 2 males.... which is what I'm hoping for
Based on body shape & saddles feathers = I have a pair.
For some reason the one on right just looks feminine. (the more angular face)
Yes, my orps don't really care about the pecking order. The only time they may use their size advantage seems to be when treats are involved.
Your lav will likely calm down when she begins to lay.
Yay, a pullet! :celebrateYes, by 20 weeks you should see hackle/saddle feathers if male.
Moose was/is a great boy. His shape, size, & color were impressive! His only flaw was that after he took control of the flock, he kept bullying the former head roo, Mr Dummy-pants (his father). The other...
BTW- Moose is the dad of all these chicks. There's a reason why they all have big wattles. LOL
Jewel came from a completely unrelated line. At 4-5 weeks, she had pink wattles!!! I thought she was male until 8 weeks old
Here are some 11 wk old lav orps. We should KNOW the gender by now.... (Usually by 6 weeks I can confirm the gender guesses that I had made at 3-4 weeks!)
Please tell me if you agree with my guesses:
Male (about the only one I feel confident about) Sadly poor quality, so he'll be off to...
He was 20 weeks old in the pic. (He was not as big as his bro, but the temperament was exactly what I wanted.)
Your "boy" looks like a girl to me, but time will tell. Perhaps a gender neutral name for that one! LOL Here's more 20 wk old pics taken on the same day.
The boys get all leggy &...