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 feel that everyone is entitled to their opinion also. It's just some times better to be careful how we say things or word things. We cannot see your face to see if you are joking or agitated, and some word choices are inflammatory. Best to choose wisely if you don't want to upset anyone. Use the same language you would choose if you were talking to people directly.. Ya know?
We have 17 hens. 4 RIR's, 4 Buckeyes, 4 Buff Orpingtons, and 5 Dominiques. We mainly got chickens for pest control. We have A LOT of ticks in our area and I have been diagnosed with Lyme Disease this year. The Dominiques are the smallest of our chickens. We got the Buckeyes, Dominiques, and Orpingtons because my husband read that being heritage breeds that they would be hardier and would hold up in the winters here in NJ the best. He ordered our chicks from a hatchery. The first order of chicks (we got them this spring) was delayed in their delivery. They shipped them on a Wednesday and they didn't arrive at our local PO until the following Sunday. Most of the chicks were dead,, with the only surviving chick an Orpington. We didn't want it to be alone so off I went to the local TS store and since I had to purchase 6 chicks I bought 4 RIR's and 2 BO's. The surviving chick from the order died. We were left with the 6 from TS. The second order to replace the DOA order consisted of 19 chicks. They shipped extra BO's because they had a problem with the pullet orders. All but 2 of the 9 Orps were roos. Out of the 7 BO roos only 1 was nice. The rest were mean and went to the local livestock auction. We ended up re-homing the last roo. He was constantly on the hens and was extremely rough with them. We didn't want chicks anyway. Out of the 4 BO's we have now, we only have 1 really friendly one. She is the largest and sweetest chicken we have. She lays extremely large eggs. We also have 1 really friendly Buckeye hen. The rest mostly run away unless you have snacks. The Dominiques are very aloof. Only sneaking around you and run away as soon as you bend over to pet them. Unless you squat for long periods of time, then they sneak up on you and peck your butt. The RIR's aren't mean either. We have one that is extremely friendly, 1 that is extremely smart. The other two are indifferent with people. We averaged 16 eggs a day all summer and fall. Our egg production had only recently dropped off to about 6 a day now. The Orpingtons have been laying all along up until now. Anyway...I don't have anything bad to say about the Orps. Not all of mine are "pet-like", they all lay about as much as all of our other hens. They seem to be "broodier" than most of our other hens as I have to feel around under them alot for the eggs. They'll get up afterward and look underneath themselves and walk off when they see that the egg is gone so I think that they might make good mothers but we aren't planning to use them for that. We aren't planning to eat our hens either...
NO...he is doing his job. It is all about protection of the Girls. A Roo will fight to the end to protect his girls and anyone in the area is a suspect so he gets offensive.
Very cute! I'd love to have one but the only thing that stops me from getting them is:
1: My past Orpingtons were terrible
2: They never went broody, and they didn't lay many eggs
3: One lavender orpington chick is 30$ at the places I've seen *faints*
That's one of the reasons I chose Buff Orps as my new flock birds. I as it is just my husband and myself, I don't want to be inundated with eggs (if I can't sell off excess, they will be used as dog and cat food) and I wanted a cold hardy bird. I also wanted friendly birds as they will be handled daily being moved into a tractor daily to do their job of insect control in our orchard and berry arbor.
If I can get my hands on any color of Orpington Chickens, I will definitely add them to the flock.
Lots of folks tell me they don't understand who or how this breed (Orpingtons) are rated #1 but it's perfectly clear to me. First, they really are a pleasant enough bird and given that one has good quality, they make excellent pets and show birds but the real reason, in my opinion is the fact that we're talking about the most popular bird on BYC and not the WORLD.
If I didn't have my hands full, I'd certainly consider owning some, provided they came from the flock of a friend who raises exquisite birds and her show wins, over a few decades are basis enough.
I love Orpingtons! I have had hens mostly. I've traveled to Ireland to visit my sister, and we got an Orpington cockerel and he is the sweetest thing! So calm and gentle!
I have Buff Orpingtons and find them to be non-aggressive and lovely birds to keep. I also have Buff Orpingtons crossed with Rhode Island Reds. These chickens are better layers than the BO's but they are also very aggressive. They are forever chasing the other chickens in the coop and is the cause of many fights.
We have one remaining Buff Orpington hen and she is the friendliest and easiest to catch hen we have, out of 8 of our mixed flock. She will actually eat corn out of your hand while holding her under your arm! Also, she likes to peck at the buttons on your shirt, so we call her "Buttons". A very nice hen, and a good layer who stands up for herself! Excellent yellow bird!
