Splash Orpington??

[MelissaBA]

Can someone confirm if this is a Splash Orpington...I bought him yesterday and he doesn't look like the pictures online.

 

[chicmom]

He's a beauty. It seems like he should be spottier, if you know what I mean.

Here's a link: http://www.orpingtonsuk.com/colours.htm

If you click on this, then go to the orpingtons, you can see the splash pics.

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, he is a splash Orpington. They vary quite a bit, splash has no standard, probably because it comes out in all sorts of ways.

Here is a thread with a young splash Orp out of my own blue rooster from a few years ago. You can see he isn't "spotty", more streaky.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/311816/thor-visits-the-vet

 

[MelissaBA]

Thanks so much guys...speckledhen, where are you from? I notice your profile says southern blue ridge mountains. I am in Virginia...

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks so much guys...speckledhen, where are you from? I notice your profile says southern blue ridge mountains. I am in Virginia...

I'm at the bottom of them, in extreme North GA, right at the NC line. Enjoy the big guy!

 

[donrae]

Can you get a better profile pic? I'd lean a bit more toward lavender, myself.

 

[speckledhen]

Hmm, I didn't think of lavender. He could be, but if he came from a BBS flock....but you know, some folks get that lavender gene mixed in with the blues and you get some like that, Rachel.

Melissa, did the seller say he was splash? Mention the flock he/she has? Lavenders have not been on my radar since most of them do not have good Orp body type yet, or they don't in my opinion. I don't think it's straight lavender, if it is at all.

He seems to have some sun fading/brassiness like blues tend to get which is one reason I still think he's splash, but Rachel could be onto something. I do think that lavenders have more even color throughout the body, or they should have, but if they mix with blue, this can happen.

My friend Jody's lavender rooster:

 

[MelissaBA]

The seller said splash, but the seller also had black orpington's and lavender orpington's.

 

[speckledhen]

The seller said splash, but the seller also had black orpington's and lavender orpington's.

I'm still saying he's splash, Melissa. I've seen so many different variations of splash and most folks know not to mix the lavenders with the blues. If they do, you get a blue carrying lavender, generally, if I remember my genetics. I've had a lavender bantam hen. The color is even throughout the body. He may carry lavender, depending on what the seller did with the birds, but I'd breed him as if he's in the blue/black/splash family. Some of my splash males had slate legs, some had white legs (different lines) so they can be all over the place.

Hopefully, you have him quarantined for 4-6 weeks so you can be reasonably sure he's not carrying anything. It's not perfect but it's a minimum you can do to keep your flock safe from disease.

 

[MelissaBA]

Also, where produces a splash? Is a splash a true breed just like lavender?