USA APA: Buff, Black, White, BlueSplash in not recognized at this time.Also there are a few other colors of Orpington Projects under way in the USA as of today.
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
English
Color
The original breed colours/varieties are black, white, buff, blue and splash
The popular Orpington breed originated from the town of Orpington, Kent, in south-east England, where the original black Orpington was bred by William Cook in 1886. (Mr Cook also created the Orpington duck breed). Mr Cook crossed Minorcas, Langshans and Plymouth Rocks to create a new hybrid breed, from which he selected to breed a black bird, that would also exhibit well, by hiding the dirt and soot of London.
The breed was shown in Madison Square Gardens in 1895 and its popularity soared. Its large size and soft appearance together with its beautiful colours make it very attractive breed and as such its popularity has grown as a show bird rather than a utility breed. Hens are fairly often broody and are good mothers. Although rather heavy, they are able to fly small distances but rarely do so.
The original breed colours/varieties are black, white, buff, blue and splash. Although there are many additional varieties recognised throughout the world, for example the Jubilee Orpington, only the original colours are recognised by the American Standard, the Buff being the most common colour. In the beginning of the twentieth century, Herman Kuhn of Germany developed a Bantam variety of Orpingtons and the Bantam retains the appearance of the LF Orpingtons, but in a smaller size. There is a large variety of colours in the Bantam version, including black, blue laced, white, buff, red, buff black laced, barred, buff Columbian, and birchen.
Orpington hen with chick
Orpington chick
Orpington hen
Orpington juvenile
Orpington rooster
For more about Orpingtons and their breeders's and owners' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here:
My orpington has the softest feathers ever and I love the color of the feathers too, she is big and cuddly. She is VERY hard to catch and hates me and the new chicks I introduced to the flock, though.
I love it , your orps sound great...! all depending on the size & amount of eggs they lay daily , i have been thinking of adding a few of them to my flock via a broody hen & switch them out with a few golf balls i give to the broodies if we dont want them hatching out chicks...lol yeah right : ) so im planning on doing the old switch a ro with some live chicks & the golf balls & was planning on getting a few orps of any color & see how that goes , i have never done that , but also im ready to take over and become the new chick mama if its not going to work out, but fingers crossed we will have a successful BA mama hen to raise the new ORP babies , and so i have this one question would any one in this group recommend this lovely breed for an egg business..? i mostly keep BA RIR RIW NHR DEL BR SLW and have hand raised all 70 of them by my self , and so what say you all about my question and thanks for all your help in advance : )
I love my buffs too, I just started feeding them out of my hand yesterday. I used a leather work glove, I tried it bare handed but they were to reluctant to do that, I will be feeding them out of hand everyday.
I so agree with you. I got my buff at 4 days old and they are as tame as can be. They are only 6 weeks now but I continue to interact with them daily, use my hand to feed them. By the way today was the first egg from my hens. Hurray! Let us know how your new chicks do
As a good all around chicken, Orpingtons are hard to beat. I have always enjoyed them for their personalities as well as egg laying ability. I have had decent luck with them going broody and being great moms. All of my Orpingtons have been very gentle and calm....but one of the hens I have now is pretty aggressive with my big New Hampshire hen and one of my Australorps and will be leaving the flock soon.
Can anyone tell me if they've ordered from Cackle Hatchery, especially any Rhode Island Reds (or Golden Comets, Buff Orpingtons, White Rocks, Barred Rocks, Wyandottes, or Easter Eggers)? I got a batch of Black Australorps from Chickens from Backyards (which has great service) that are extremely skidish and unfriendly. Also, if I get any new breeds again, I want to try to make sure that are somewhat friendly, fairly docile and/or at least will fit well in a mixed flock without much aggression (allowing for a normal pecking order of course) and be easy to handle.
how can i tell the difference between a blk austrlorp hen and a black O/split to lavender hen?
I think the orpington has more feathers around the base of the tail and the autralorp has longer, slimmer tail? right?
Actually... The Buff Orpington Breed Is One Of The First Breeds I Have Ever had!
I Had Started With One Buff Rooster And Two Buff Hens. Sadly, We Lost Our Buff Rooster This Year.
It Was Sad, He Was Infertile Too. But The Hens Are Still Very Much Alert And Alive. We Even Got Another Buff Hen, But She Feel Off A Perch In Her Sleep.
I Have Formed A Very Special Bond With My Buff Hen, Sophia, My First Baby To Care For, Was Her!
So... I Would Strongly Suggest This Breed For Any Backyard Flock.
Sadly Again, He Was Infertile... But They Still Went Broody And Were Very Motherly Hens. Never Gave Up!
I Assume If You Have A Fertile Rooster... Your Hens Would Make Wonderful Mothers!
Sincerely, I Wish You The Best Of Luck!
-The Angry Hen
I had a sweet, wonderful Buff Orphington as a kid. As an adult I have had two. They were with two different flocks. In my first flock, my Buff Orphington was rather stand offish. I did get my first flock as pullets, so I thought that it may just not have had enough interaction. My newest flock (10 week old) is a mixed flock of 6 that I purchased from a breeder at 1 day old. I handled them throughout their time in the brooder and continue to interact with them daily. My Buff Orphington is the most unwilling to interact with humans. She won't even eat treats that I offer her! (I'm not even talking about out of my hand - just on the ground!) Needless to say, she will probably be my last Buff Orphington.
I have a six month old lavender orpington rooster who is very afraid and scared of the hens. He was so stressed he developed cocci which we are treating. My four month old hens were never afraid when we intergrated them with the rest of the flock. Why is there such a difference?
Awesome breed, but ours have been known to drag all of the eggs into one nest (when/where they can) and sit on them. This sometimes results in them cracking a few.
Awesome breed, but ours have been known to drag all of the eggs into one nest (when/where they can) and sit on them. This sometimes results in them cracking a few.
I'm a little new to the chicken world, I've always wanted them and NOW I have backyard chickens!!
I enjoy my chickens so much of course I named them ALL!
I have two orps .. and various others! The Orps are my favorites! (I think)
I named my larger Orphington Mr. Roo (short for Mr. Rooster) he has a beautiful BIG red crest and a bright red floppy waddle...
I found two eggs this morning I was thrilled!!! (My first) If I sold it ..the going price would be $1000. AND I'd still be in the hole $ wise!! (I'm so okay with that)
I did notice the nest needed new straw just to freshen it up ... so i returned to replace it... Mr. Roo just walked right in past me deciding where he wanted to rest!!!!
He chose the fluffiest one and preceded to have a seat.. I eased out of the coop to let him rest his weary bones, I mean we had already been practicing crowing all morning YES, I'm teaching him and Mr. Stripe my other rooster to crow. They haven't got it yet, We had spent the morning practicing .. okay okay .. They weren't crowing BUT I DID!!... When much to my surprise Mr. Roo had obviously recovered from his lesson and was having a cackling fit!!! I thought sure something was after him... He strutted out of the coop ... you know how roosters are proud and puffed out? I stepped back in the coop to see what was after him .... THEN I saw it .... The third EGG ... Mr. Roo .... is clearly Miss Roo... I looked at her and apologized and said, OKAY .... your off the hook ... NO more crowing lessons for YOU!!!!
Thanks for the eggs Miss Roo, they were delicious!!!!
Side Note: Stripe the "Real Rooster" has learned to crow .. finally!!!
But he sounds like a teenager with his cracking voice just "croaking" lol #NeverADullMoment
#LoveMyChickens
I like my orpingtons. Beautiful birds yes but my buff orpington is so nasty with my hens, not even trying to woo them he is to hard headed than that. My english orpington on the other hand is the sheer essence of a gentleman, gives the girls special treats dances, crows and protects them. We've only had him a week and he has found his place in the flock nicely.
Awesome breed, but ours have been known to drag all of the eggs into one nest (when/where they can) and sit on them. This sometimes results in them cracking a few.
