The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread - Page 1021

Just a guess but maybe they used Dorking for the short squatty look and of course the clean legs. I have heard about cochins in the recipe but maybe dorking was used to pull out the short leg gene to an extent. I have heard tho is some breeds, 2 short leg birds bred together can b lethal but dont know much at all about dorkings except they r short and long.

     You don't have to go to a lot of trouble except for a general interest sake. Not arguing that any of us on either side of the water know exactly what every individual breeder may have done. What we do know about the Orps is that more than many breeds the development of the different color varieties involved different breeds and different patterns of breeding the results. Cochin may or may not figure in. As a Cochin man my point was only where in the hell did these Cochin ancestors come from? The Europeans for the most part don't/didn't have Cochins that would impart what we think of as Cochin characteristics. As far as the Dorkings not trying to argue the point or beat a dead horse. Just that two pieces of information relayed from that article do not add up in a genetic sense. The yellow pigment and the fifth toe haunting one's efforts at four toes are both completely contrary to the genetics involved if a Dorking really were involved. That's all.

       No need to hide under a chair LOL. Keeping track of bloodlines and individual matings is an entirely appropriate discussion, especially when dealing with newly imported stock that we are seeing for the first time. I just didn't want for something to be said about what came from so & so that was better not put out there in a public forum.   I was not thinking in terms of birds as most regular hobbiests are not going to/able to import birds. Eggs are enough expense that even they are prohibitive to most. Though if getting eggs from one breeder with several different matings yes, I would expect some labeling so that I can ID the chicks as coming from this mating or that. What I was thinking of is the various folks offering stock from their own new imports. If I get a dozen say gold laced or two dozen am I to assume that they are all from the same sire? Or are there breeders putting together more than one mating and keeping track of what results both for them and their customers? We can always just get a bird or two or an unmarked batch of chicks we essentially know nothing about and go from there. Create our own square one so to speak. But it'd be nice to know sort of how are stuff is interwoven and related in case it becomes important some day. Would not knowing that I had birds from three different matings within a true family keep me from buying an unmarked batch of chicks or juveniles? Not on your life. I'm just curious as to what folks are doing. Part of this may come from my interest in other forms of stock where lack of record keeping is one extreme and formal stud books the other. I ask here because there are many who have bought from some of the original importers as well as some of those importers themselves.

your welcome nellie..those old books are a treasure..they are free for kindle, cornell free library..some nice little tidbits come out about what they were doing and why.what the creator of them had in mind ect...its all so interesting..im wiped out working way too much...so probably take a LONG break..

The origin of both the black and the whites, so far as breeds used to make them, are available in 'Orpingtons, Foul for the Future' by W. Cook if my memory serves. It and other books by William Cook are available at Cornell free library. That said, I now can't remember positively and am too lazy to look, but I think whites were made using Cochins and blacks were not. Like David said though, what they've been bred to in the interim in anyone's guess.

 

Here is a cheep shot at my Chocolate pullet, I think she is getting ready to lay, she will be 7 months on the 7th of this month.

Love these little birds !

 Pretty girl!

That is a very nice chocolate hen!

 

Marc

She's lovely Roger. I wish that I still had mine!