Chocolate Orpingtons have been a great desire of mine for the past few weeks. There so, I've done a lot of research of this mutation and have found several dead ends. My first question is...Is there a difference between Chocolate Orpingtons and Brown Orpingtons? I know true Chocolate Orpingtons come from a gene in Blacks called CHOC, that when pure, dilutes black to the Chocolate color. But I've also found many reports of "Browns" coming from blue and buff parents. Would this bird still be considered a Chocolate Orpington even though It doesn't really Carry the CHOC gene? Also, would this color be inforced by crossing it with a white or Black orpington? If people start Pushing this color variation, would they be striving for a deep, dark brown...Or will people be striving to perfect a lighter shade of brown?
Feel free to discuss Chocolate Orpingtons as you please, though I really hope this helps clear some questions many of us have.
A Photo From CHIRPY CHICKS
http://chirpychicks.com/
http://chirpychicks.com/chocolate_orpingtons.htm
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12323
http://www.freewebs.com/breachdownpoultry/
http://poultrykeeper.com/orpington/the-orpington/the-chocolate-orpington.html
The Chocolate Orpington
Written by Tim Daniels
The Chocolate Orpington is a relatively new colour of Orpington and currently to my knowledge only exists in bantam size although I'm sure it won't be long before they are crossed into large fowl. The choc gene responsible for the chocolate colour was discovered by the late Dr. Clive Carefoot around 1993-1994. It is a rare Sex-Linked Recessive gene that is basically a dilution of black pigment. This means that out of a pair of genes, the female will be chocolate with just one copy of the gene but the male requires two copies of the choc gene to look chocolate. This also means that black males can look black, but be carrying the chocolate gene.
Chocolate Orpingtons are slow to feather up. This is thought to be a direct result of the choc gene. Black Orpingtons are slow at feathering up but Chocolate Orps are even slower. They lay a slightly tinted egg.
Chocolate Orpingtons breed true - but there are some breeding combinations that are worth noting:
* Chocolate Male X Chocolate Female = 100% Chocolate
* Black Male X Chocolate Female = 50% Black Males carrying Chocolate, 50% Black Females
* Chocolate Male X Black Female = 50% Black Males carrying Chocolate, 50% Chocolate Females
* Black Male carrying Chocolate X Chocolate Female = 25% Chocolate Males, 25% Black Males carrying Chocolate, 25% Chocolate Females, 25% Black Females
* Black Male carrying Chocolate X Black Female = 25% Black Males carrying Chocolate, 25% Black Males, 25% Chocolate Females, 25% Black Females.
Black males carrying the chocolate gene are called 'Split' cockerels.
^Thanks, knjinnm for gathering this information for us!^
Greenfire Farms is a breeder in the U.S., but they haven't started to sell them yet. I don't know of anyone else who has them in Chocolate. Their website is 
