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.
How are they doing? Sorry you had this experiance. Two cochins I bought for my friend came with both lice and mites. I had to also treat them and it was not difficult to get rid of them, but it was tedious and I felt really bad for the little cochins.
I hope they feel better
I am really keen to have this breed with my frizzle chickens,
My daughter bought 4 off a lady, but she doesnt have any adults left.. only chickens a few days old.
If anyone has some they would like to sell,please message me.
thanks!
We have 18 hens, four of them are Buff Orpington hens. Three out of the four are the same as yours. The fourth is very sweet and loves to be petted. She comes right over when I call them. She is HUGE, the biggest hen we have. She lays jumbo eggs which always have double yolks. One even had three. I worry that this will have serious consequences as it is not normal, as you know.
Best wishes with that.. I am sorry to hear about your abhorrent Orp. My first ever chickens have been home hatched Lav Orps which are abiut 6 wks. old and they are everything that everyone has said they were, and more! If this is a hatchery bird (?) maybe try a private breeder or incubating them yourself to lessen the likelihood of running into that same temperment? The 'nice' ones are out there so glad you are not giving up on the breed.
Really? An aggressive Orpington? That must be unusual!! I have 2 Orpington hens. Both very sweet, friendly, and the best little girls. And one came from an abuse case.. Yours must just be rare, give the breed another go Maybe even adopt one and save a life instead of breeding a species that already has too many? Good luck
