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Australorp

The Australorp Breed was developed in Australia at the end of the nineteenth century with Black...

General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Average
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
High
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly, Easily handled, Calm, Bears confinement well, Quiet, Docile
Breed Colors/Varieties
Black, Blue and White are recognised in the Australian Poultry Standards
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
English
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The Australorp is an Australian breed which was developed from Black Orpingtons imported into Australia starting around 1890. The egg laying ability of the Orpingtons was emphasized by the Australian breeders, and other breeds including Minorca, Leghorns, and Langshans were bred into the lines to increase egg production and decrease broodiness. The result was a bird with exceptional egg laying ability. They were popular entries in egg laying contests in the day and for years Australorps held many of the world egg laying records, one hen famously laying 364 eggs in 365 days.

These "Australian Black Orpingtons" were given the name Australorp around 1920. Australorps were exported in the US and England in the 1920’s, where they were an immediate hit because of their great egg laying ability, and they remain a very popular breed to this day.

Australorps are a medium sized breed. The APA recognises only one color, the original Black, but there are several other colors developed by breeders, including Blue and White, which is recognized in Australia.

They tend to be calm, docile, fairly quiet birds, with nice temperaments and they make good pets. The roosters are generally good natured. They are dependable winter layers of big brown eggs, fairly heat tolerant despite the usually black feathers, and quite cold hardy. They generally do not fly well and take well to confinement. The hens will occasionally go broody and make good mothers. They are very popular with backyard flock owners looking for a friendly productive brown egg layer, and small flock owners looking for a duel purpose breed with hens that have excellent laying ability.

It was recognized by the APA in 1929 and it is on The Livestock Conservancy's Recovering list.

First egg laid by an Australorp pullet:
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A male and female Australorp, aged 11 weeks:
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Australorp rooster:

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Australorp hen:
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For more on this breed and owners' experiences, likes and dislikes, see our breed discussion here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-australorp.988347/

Latest reviews

Pros: Pretty
Calm
Cons: Attacks people
I have a black australorp rooster, Chanticleer, and he's a good guy...for the most part. Only con I have is that he attacks us every once in awhile.
Pros: Very sweet
Good with other chickens
Good for a showbird
Cons: None
I have one black australorp named Phyllis, went broody in the summer of 2023, was a great mom. Gets along great with other chickens, rooster loves her.
Purchase Price
$4.00
Purchase Date
March 2019
Pros: Calm
Easy to handle
Cons: Can be mean to other chickens.
They are very easy to handle, very calm and are good layers.

Comments

I wish to review many of the reviews, both favorable and not so favorable. I have raised Ausralorps for more than 35 years and it surprises me that people pose an opinion on a breed based upon what they observes while owning a couple or perhaps 25 birds and then only for a short while. What's with that? I know.....first Amendment argument but I hope all of these 'reviews' by folks with very limited experience are taken with a spoon full of salt...lololol
 
I actually have found most of my Australorp hens to be fairly small. Compared to Orpinton's, Brahma's and Sussex. They are a little larger than hatchery stock RIR though. Now my breeder Rooster(Big Daddy) is massive he is as big as any Orpington I have.
 
My black Australorp is way bigger than my other 3 hens (1 Leghorn 2 RIRs). She gives great brown eggs with strong shells. Once in a while she'll lay a huge, double yoke one! She's so pretty and much calmer than the other hens.
 
combs aren't what I would call large esp not in the hens. Mine laid throughout the winter last year too so not sure what this means.
 
My Australorp Maude has all of the pros mentioned and none of the cons. It's a great breed. It's so nice to have one chicken out of my four that I can reliably let Children pet and hold.
 
This review was the thing that helped decide to get our Australorps. Living in KY i was concerned about what would do well in our climate. Thanks for the review. We absolutly love our Australorps.
 
Wow, everyone in the negative section has problems I have never had with my favorite hens. (my favorite hens are Australorps) Bantams are small, therefore they will be pecked by LF. Personally Australorps are my favorite breed! :)
 
We have two Black Australorps and have also noticed how friendly and un-flighty they both are. They just started laying and can't comment on the egg size yet. They have a beautiful iridescent blue-green shine in bright sun. They also have the softest feathers of any of our birds (silkies, ameracaunas, barred rock, welsemer, cuckoo marans).
 
Broods are generally easy enough to break...It's very odd that a cock bird wasn't obvious long before 10 months of age.
 
My Australorp hens are the sweetest ones. Very friendly and peck my foot to pick them up! I agree they aren't as adventurous it seems as my Rhode Island reds (which escaped from the pen once) TheAustralorp rooster is sweet but is skittish about me touchin' him.
 
I have one Australorp and she is an awesome layer. She lays an egg every day. Except when she is molting. Normal.....She never gets broody. Probably because I am generally quick to pick her eggs out of the coop. Australorp's are one of my favorite breeds.
 
No culling :) I am just surprised that your girls are so loud. Mine are totally quiet don't even always sing an egg song and they are hatchery quality. Are yours from a breeder? I always recommend ALs to people who want a quiet chicken maybe I should do more research. :)
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
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Views
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Comments
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Reviews
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Last update
Rating
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