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.
They get super fat and fluffy! My chick Sage is an Buff Orpington and she is sooo soo sweet and I have another named Lucy not sure if he’s and she or what yet. I hope yours are pullets!
Thanks! Mine are about 11 weeks now, I'm pretty sure all are pullets. Also, they don't get fat if you feed them right, it just looks like it because they are really fluffy like you said.
We got 8 chicks 2 each of a few different breeds.
We have 2 buff Orpingtons and they are by far the friendliest and most affectionate of them all and they are only 4 weeks old!
We will be adding more in the future.
We got 8 chicks 2 each of a few different breeds.
We have 2 buff Orpingtons and they are by far the friendliest and most affectionate of them all and they are only 4 weeks old!
We will be adding more in the future.
We got 8 chicks 2 each of a few different breeds.
We have 2 buff Orpingtons and they are by far the friendliest and most affectionate of them all and they are only 4 weeks old!
We will be adding more in the future.
My two roos are great, albeit they are young and not crowing yet... Still I can tell they are going to be great pets. I'm currently building a better larger coop for my 22 Orp teens and their probably sooner-than-later laying episodes; they've grown so fast. I'll get back to you all soon. I'm loving this bird farming life.
I have four teens right now waiting to go into the yard, been putting them in the garden to get used to the others. All seems well so far, won't fully introduce them for another month or so.
One of my favorite breeds of chicken, a very calm, nice, and friendly breed. They are gentle towards other chickens and seem very accepting towards new chickens. Buff Orphington are motherly and like to keep the peace, they are very docile.
I would suggest that you get a Buff Orphington. They make great family pets and love people and kids. My buff Orphington was my favorite chicken that I ever had. I had her for 7 1/2 years. Her name was Sunset-Vulken, she kept everyone calm and loved getting her picture taken, she would even pose for the camera. She didn't mind it when I got new chickens and taught some of my other younger chickens what to do and where to lay their eggs. She was the leader of my chickens.
One of my favorite breeds of chicken, a very calm, nice, and friendly breed. They are gentle towards other chickens and seem very accepting towards new chickens. Buff Orphington are motherly and like to keep the peace, they are very docile.
