Australorps vs. Orpingtons

[Overeasyplz]

My BA roo is now 9 months old. He crows from the moment I get up and turn the porch light on(5am) till about 8-9am, when I feed and water, Then they are quiet and content but he'll get a wild hair and crow some more. It seems he doesn't even take a breath! I hope as he ages he gets tired of it before I do... lolol He is protective of his flock and takes his job seriously, sometimes I think he forgets that it's my feet he's charging at until I move and he realizes it's me and then kinda sidesteps away. They can be very aggressive. I haven't had a BO do it in the past that I can remember, but gramma didn't take any crap from roos and we probably ate them I do not emember..lol

 

[catdaddyfro]

Quote:
Well, kind a sort a, the Austalorp was developed in Australia from Balck Orpingtons in an egg laying program. They were called Australian Orpingtons then the name shortened to Australorps. They come in black, white and blue.

Anyway they are considered a breed of their own and are in the English breeds class.

I've got some BA hens now and they are docile and some of the more curious/serious types compared to my RIRs and GSLs. But I've only had one BA roo ever and he was a sweet boy and the hens just loved him like a god or something I never noticed any bad or nasty roo traits in him, good guy till the da@#!%&*med coon decided to raid the flock and took him out along with most all of the rest of my moms layers. I

HATE RACCOONS

catdaddy

I forgot to coment on Orpingtons, well I've only had 1 and she was old when I got her but she was the sweetest hen Ive ever had. I guess they are great chickens by everybody elses exp. I've gathered and I would prolly have some but just never have elected to get any maybe one day I'll get some and see for myself about all the good I've heard about them.

 

[nzchick]

I have 3 orpingtons (1 blue, 1 black and a buff/blue) and 1 australorp pullet. The orpi's are the most wonderful chicken breed I have, I find them to be calm, confident, relaxed and totally hilarious! And completely food obsessed! My australorp girl is still young, she seems quite relaxed but serious. All four are gorgeous birds and fantastic additions to my flock.

 

[siroiszoo]

Thankfully, I have tamed my Black Australorp Roos. I pet them & pick them up all the time; hopefully that will stick. It's just that I got 3 BA roos & 10 BA hens; then I also got 2 Buff Orpington Roos with 11 Orpington hens - all are 6 months old now.
I've been handling as many as I can every day since they arrived; but with 26 birds it's hard to tell if I've given all equal attention. The roos - definitely; the hens - well, some are shy but others are okay about petting & picking up.

Anyway, I've noticed that the BA roos are tough on the hens (young & old since I've mixed my old 4 year old Red Sex Links, Black Sex Links & Standard Cochin hens in with the BA & BO. All are the same size now anyway.) They are beautiful but tough on all the hens. And they are very vocal. Not that it bothers me, I sleep with a fan by the bed for noise and can't hear them. But I do worry about the neighbors (so far no complaints

)

On the other hand, of the two Orp roos, one seems to be developing a lot slower than the other. You can tell he's a roo but his tail feathers still haven't plumed out and his facial features aren't quite as pronounced as his sibling's. And I actually prefer their really quite & seemingly even more gentle nature.

I'm new to both Aussie & Orp breeds. (I've always raised strictly egg layers in the past.) And both breeds are beautiful. Just curious as to what's normal and which breed I want to focus on more. I do like both breeds but with neighbors so close by, I do want to focus on the quieter of the two. So I was wondering if I dwindle down the Aussies and increase the Orps if I wouldn't eventually run into the same situation I have now. Or if all of this will balance out over time.

 

[magentamomma]

I only have a BO roo, but I have both orps and aussie hens. I like the BO better. maybe its just the gorgeous golden color, I don't know. My Aussie hens are more aggressive to other hens, though none match my Wyandotte

 

[Mrs. K]

I have two BO and two Ausys, one BO very calm, the other fiesty, Ausys calm too, I think that it is the luck of the draw

 

[siroiszoo]

Quote:
My Update:

It's 2 years later and I had to sell my Orpington roo last year so the Australorp Roo didn't kill him. I only have one Orp hen left since I sold the rest with the roo. A friend that takes my offspring has wound up with a few of my roos. She's experienced the same problem I have with aggression. And now, every time one of my Australorp's roo offspring reaches close to 1 year old - the fight is on! At some point, I'll have to roll my flock from Australorps to Orpingtons' but for now, the roo is so beautiful that I'm running strictly Australorps for now. I find that the hens are in deed nice and docile but the roos will not tolerate another roo - no matter HOW many hens I have; also doesn't matter if they were raised as chicks together, nor does the the breed of the roo matter. I have 1.5 acres and it's not enough to separate them (2 hen house on opposite ends). I just had to cage one of the Austra's offspring. They were fighting so hard! I caged the younger roo for 2 weeks but a wildfire threat made me loose him. But several hours later, and danger of wildfire cleared, I had to recage the younger one because he'd injured the 2 yr old Australorp so badly. Now, that's just the 2 year old beautiful black Australorp Roo, the 10 month old offspring roo (half Australorp & half either Orp or Red sex link - but as large as the Australorps) + 30 or more hens. Thankfully, he didn't go after my Golden Comet for his hens.

I couldn't believe it! For more than 20 years I've raised everything from Rhode Island Reds to Standard Cochins to Sex Links to major mix of everything the feed store sells and never had roos that fought. I've always raised for brown eggs. Not until the Orps & Austras did I go for dual purp poultry. So I was a bit shocked at the aggression for a bird that is considered - quiet/docile.

My wonderful Golden Comet, the old timer of my flock, has had to be isolated with his own hens - mostly the ones that the Australorp was too rough on. The GC now has one eye thanks to the Australorp. And the GC and his hens now run with guineas to protect them.

Don't know if this is an odd experience or not but thought I'd update my post; in case anyone was interested.

 

[TwoCrows]

I don't have any Australorp roos, but I do have 4 Aussie pullets. I also did my homework this past spring on gentle chickens and thought that the Australorps would be the most docile of the chicken breeds.

Well one of the 4 girls, the flock leader named Pearl, is mean. Since I don't have a rooster, she must be taking the place of a roo and she will occasionally bite me very hard. Drawing blood. I swear, she is half hen half rooster!! (If she wasn't laying eggs, I would swear she was a rooster) She is also very aggressive with one of the pullets, who now is recovering from sour crop. Pearl has gotten so violent with this recovering pullet I have had to put Pinless Peepers on her to stop her from ripping the comb off of this sick pullet. If this hen grows spurs, they will have to be removed!!

I am not bashing the Aussie group however as my other 3 girls couldn't be sweeter! They are huge lap chickens, very gentle around kids and just love attention. So my opinion on the Australorp is very high. I would highly recommend them for someone wanting a quiet docile chicken. (Unless of course you have Pearl as the flock leader. Look out for a daily flogging from her!!

)

 

[Ole rooster]

I was planning on some BA's but I have been talked out it. My rooster is a GL Wyandotte and no way could I be happier with a rooster. He crows in the morning maybe for 30 minuites and that's the last I hear him. He does like the girls. Wow does he. No problem with him at all.

 

[littlecreekfarm]

I have australorps and orpingtons....love them both! My australorp is the sweetest thing, but I did work with her when she was a chick, my orpingtons are docile even without 'training'. I love them both but my favorite is a Black Australorp!

-Little Creek Farm