Russian Orloffs

These are such pretty birds. I keep reading how sweet they are. Are they intelligent (as birds go) as well?

Our 1st orloff chicks (3 of them) are only 2.5 weeks old, but having kept 9 other breeds (thus far), I'd vouch for them being one the most intelligent breeds I've ever met, thus far. We can already call the little winged fluffs and they come, they already know the sound of the mealworms container (and also come running). They're highly inquisitive, and if one of the chicks learns or figures something out, the others will immediately mimick and jump on board.

We put a lot of time into handling all of our chicks young and often, because it makes dealing with them and adults so much easier, and none of our others have ever been "dumb" birds, per say, but we've never had any pick up and learn so much so quickly. In our experience, Wellsummers and Dominiques have been the next most savvy, but still weren't as quick and sharp as this group of ROs.
 
So far, I'm liking everything about the LF that I've read and seen except the size. People that breed them seem to like them taller and taller. I don't like handling LF generally but when they get to 24-27" tall, they aren't even being considered. RO bantams seem to fit the bill in size but most everyone that has been really straight about it has told me the cockerels are randy in the testostrone stage, and perhaps during the mating season. Most are coming from the same lines as there are only so many bantam RO lines. But there has been a couple that have mixed bantam RO lines.

I've had Salmon Faverolle bantams that the roosters were mean as snakes, which seems contrary to a Faverolles temperament in general - at least for the LF. Had enough turds and boogers.
 
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I don't think that anyone will ever convince me that a rooster isn't prone to being a rooster, and no matter their physical size, they all have HUGE egos.
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Yes, some breeds and even some lines are more prone to having calm or aggressive roos, but I usually interpret "prone" as a 51/49% chance of being whatever behavior they're supposed to be prone to rather than the usual 50/50%. And when a cockerel hits puberty, even the calmest will occasionally lose it (like most species' males at that point in their lives).
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Personally, I like LF because they're easier for me to handle and generally seem less flighty/spooky than banties, though I've not had any XP with RO bantams. ROs tall, upright posture is one of the things I find particularly attractive about the breed, though, and living on a mountain in the woods with a lot of predator variability, the better view they have and bigger they are, the better. In general, though, I think ease of handling really depends on how much you do so from day one (LF or bantams), and the younger, the better. The more they know you and associate you with positive things, the less likely a roo will auto-target you as a threat or rival every time it lays eyes on you.
 
Okay, Russian Orloff enthusiasts, help me out.

The Russian Orloff Society of USA and Canada has a bunk website that no longer works. Is there a new website that I'm unable to find, and can someone post a link if so? Otherwise, does anyone know of any Orloff breeders in the US besides High Hopes and (hopefully in the future again) Sandhill Preservation? I'm just looking for more options.

Also, the UK has black mottled RO, and I'm in love. Is anyone in the US working on this color variant?
 
This thread looks to be inactive for a long time. Where are all the Russian Orloff peeps?!
Anyhow I've recently been researching the breed and there's definitely less info out there on them than common breeds.
Then today I was at TSC and they had unsexed Russian Orloff chicks!
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I'd love to get one that's got more white in the spangled plumage. (So she looks different from my Speckled Sussex haha).
My question is can you tell from the baby chick color what their adult coloring will be?
If I get a lighter one, will she be lighter (more white)?
 
If I remember correctly usually lighter chicks turn out males. At least that's the way it is with Partridge colors. BTW Orloffs stand very tall. Go on feathersite.com and look up Orloff in the chicken breeds section. I don't know why the feathersite table of contents calls them just "Orloff" while the actual breed page does title them "Russian" Orloffs" -- go figure?!

Gorgeous roos but our urban yard is too small for such big birds, although I understand Orloffs are timid and not aggressive temperaments. Post pics if you decide to get Orloffs. Years ago I used to know a woman named Marion Orloff and if I ever got an Orloff female I was going to name her "Marion." :)
https://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Orloffs/BRKOrloff.html
 

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