Chonky Boy (?) the Lavender Orpington Chick

[K0k0shka]

I had some LO's last year, I can post pictures at different ages if you want. I don't remember them being particularly hard to sex (or late to show), in my experience Orps in general are pretty easy. I have rose comb chicks for the first time this year (Wyandottes) and am preparing myself to wait a loooong time

It's very very very hard to find LO that don't show any shredding. Even the ones that (supposedly) have good breeding. It's just very hard, not to say impossible, to completely breed it out, even if you breed to black. I have a LO hen right now that's about 1 year old and comes from a fancy breeder bursting with confidence who swore left and right that her LO's have "no shredding". Well, this hen has horrible feathers, and not just shredded feathers but also some that branch out and have two tips (WTF), and some that seem to come out backwards with the tip of the feather looking like a shaft and sticking out longer than the rest of the feathers (WTAF). She's a total mess, and incredibly skittish and fearful despite my efforts to socialize her. I'm sad, but I'm gonna have to eat her at some point, she's just not worth the trouble.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I had some LO's last year, I can post pictures at different ages if you want. I don't remember them being particularly hard to sex (or late to show), in my experience Orps in general are pretty easy. I have rose comb chicks for the first time this year (Wyandottes) and am preparing myself to wait a loooong time

It's very very very hard to find LO that don't show any shredding. Even the ones that (supposedly) have good breeding. It's just very hard, not to say impossible, to completely breed it out, even if you breed to black. I have a LO hen right now that's about 1 year old and comes from a fancy breeder bursting with confidence who swore left and right that her LO's have "no shredding". Well, this hen has horrible feathers, and not just shredded feathers but also some that branch out and have two tips (WTF), and some that seem to come out backwards with the tip of the feather looking like a shaft and sticking out longer than the rest of the feathers (WTAF). She's a total mess, and incredibly skittish and fearful despite my efforts to socialize her. I'm sad, but I'm gonna have to eat her at some point, she's just not worth the trouble.

I got some hatching eggs from Carolina Rare Chicks this year and have 4 English LO chicks. I'm keeping 1 and selling the rest but am very curious to see how they look grown.

 

[K0k0shka]

I got some hatching eggs from Carolina Rare Chicks this year and have 4 English LO chicks. I'm keeping 1 and selling the rest but am very curious to see how they look grown.

I'm curious, too! Do post pics as they grow, and tag me if you don't mind Mine is English, too, and I had a lot of hopes for her, but she's failing in both departments that matter to me - personality and looks...

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I'm curious, too! Do post pics as they grow, and tag me if you don't mind Mine is English, too, and I had a lot of hopes for her, but she's failing in both departments that matter to me - personality and looks...

Will do

 

[YellowRoseFarm]

4-week update! 2 have really thick legs and their combs are taller and pinker than the others. Chonky Boy is now 3rd in size and still behind all of them in development. Chonk's wing feathers are coming in really strangely. I'm hoping for at least 1 pullet. I'll have to re-home any roosters. Initially, I thought I'd keep a rooster, but I've been convinced that it's not a good idea with toddlers around. Someday, when the kids are older, we'll consider a rooster.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

4-week update! 2 have really thick legs and their combs are taller and pinker than the others. Chonky Boy is now 3rd in size and still behind all of them in development. Chonk's wing feathers are coming in really strangely. I'm hoping for at least 1 pullet. I'll have to re-home any roosters. Initially, I thought I'd keep a rooster, but I've been convinced that it's not a good idea with toddlers around. Someday, when the kids are older, we'll consider a rooster.

I'll have to get a good pic, but I have a 2 week old english lavender orp with a comb bigger than those. Hoping you've got some pullets in there

 

[K0k0shka]

They seem to have the shredded feathers typical of lavender orps. It’s still too early to tell, but most of them are looking suspicious to me, based on the combs… Lola Belle has the most potential to be female, in my opinion. Stormy is a boy. Stella is probably a boy, too.

Here are mine from last year at 4 weeks:

Boy on the left, girl on the right:

Boy (and girl in the background, note her almost complete lack of comb):

Boy:

Girl (she almost has no comb by comparison, or wattles):

 

[YellowRoseFarm]

They seem to have the shredded feathers typical of lavender orps. It’s still too early to tell, but most of them are looking suspicious to me, based on the combs… Lola Belle has the most potential to be female, in my opinion. Stormy is a boy. Stella is probably a boy, too.

Here are mine from last year at 4 weeks:

Boy on the left, girl on the right:
View attachment 3506227



Boy (and girl in the background, note her almost complete lack of comb):

View attachment 3506230


Boy:
View attachment 3506228



Girl (she almost has no comb by comparison, or wattles):
View attachment 3506231

Those are exactly my thoughts. You can't help but guess, especially regarding chicks from the straight-run bin. I suspect Lola Belle is a pullet. She (?) also tends to hang out by herself on the roost while Stormy and Stella bump chests and flap around. Chonk is suddenly timider than the others, and with such delayed development, I'm not willing to even guess on that one.

 

[K0k0shka]

Those are exactly my thoughts. You can't help but guess, especially regarding chicks from the straight-run bin. I suspect Lola Belle is a pullet. She (?) also tends to hang out by herself on the roost while Stormy and Stella bump chests and flap around. Chonk is suddenly timider than the others, and with such delayed development, I'm not willing to even guess on that one.

This sounds very similar to my bunch. I had 1 girl out of 7, and she'd hang out by herself, too. I had one late developer, too, who was an assisted hatch. He lagged behind for a while but caught up at some point (ended up male as well).

 

[ColtHandorf]

I'm keeping 1 and selling the rest but am very curious to see how they look grown.