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 get my chickens from a place called Chickens Galore in Norco, CA. I don't know what BYC's rules for posting links to businesses, but you can find their contact information through Inland Empire Craigslist. They don't have a website and only sell locally. Every single bird without exception that we got there has been healthy and non-aggressive. They run from friendly to stand-offish towards people, but none of the birds from there have ever hurt/attacked any of their flock mates. Good luck!
Wow. I'm surprised to read this about your experience. It is the exact opposite of my buff orps with the exception of the docility and sweetness. They are exceptional layers almost year-round (with no supplemental light). They are the first to warn the others of overhead predators and were screaming bloody murder when a fox came out of the woods after my smallest hen. They are also the ones who wander all over the yard, into the woods and I'm always rounding them up to join the others. And hardiness? What better breed to have in the cold Maine winters? All my others cozy up next to them for warmth. One of them does go broody every so often but after a couple days in a dog cage, she's "been there done that". I love them!
What a beautiful story! I agree with you and your husband, Taking the time to get to know these hens is everything, they are looking for loving companionship and I see they have found this in both you, You should be so proud! I too have 3 very special hens that I spent every evening talking and scratching them, they are truly the light of my life. I glad to meet others that feel these special hens needs the extra care. In doing so this makes you and I a very special chicken mom. Keep up the wonderful work. God see's what we have done...my you find the comfort in all wildlife! truly a bond! Louise Autumn Farm Orpingtons, Washington State
Best of love,
Louise
Autumn Farm English Orpingtons
I hatched out 12 from hatching eggs. And sold the 4 roosters, now I have 8 hens 10 weeks old. They love to be held. I will be keeping, them till spring. If I am getting to many eggs for us to eat, I will reduce my flock to 6 birds. Or I will sell the extra eggs as I do my quail eggs.
I bought 6 day old orpingtons back in April 2015 and I have been in love with them ever since! Unfortunately in May one of them contracted coccidiosis and passed. My current orpingtons are named Nugget, Butterbean, Porridge, Puff Wheat Pastry (I know it's a mouthful), and lavender. Lavender seems to be part Isa brown but acts like one of the crew. They have bold characters and a sassy personality that makes me laugh constantly! Even though they have very suttle differences in appearance I can still tell them apart. They get along surprisingly well with my silkies which are half their size and they have taken quite a liking to my old ameraucana hen. Overall, they are a good strong bird but be warned: They LOVE to eat!
I've not had a lot of Buff Orps, but I have had three different batches of hatchery quality, and mine were overly aggressive and not particularly good layers either. It really makes a difference in the line you get with Buff Orps, and not all lines are good quality. If I try them again, I would go to a good breeder or research a hatchery that is known to have good quality Orps.
I have my first Buff Orpington and she is pretty good. Her eggs are a bit small, but still on the average size. Personality wise she is sociable with the chickens and tolerable with me, if a bit standoffish. She is from a smaller family owned hatchery (or so I am told) instead of the bigger ones that TSC orders from, which might account for the different personality.
Hmm. I find it strange you have such sassy birds, because my Orps are either skittish or all over me (literally! I have 4 chicks and they love to sit on my shoulders and head!). My eggs were plenty large (except for my big fat hen who laid wacky-shaped eggs- they were all long and thin)
We had three buff orptingtons and two of them are 'doormats' as you say. One of them is a queen with a bad attitude - she went to peck the rooster on the head when he perched beside her and didn't she get a shock when he pecked her back twice as hard!
They all have interesting personalities, and like you said, they're very calm around strangers.
I have one buff orpington named Tofu She is actually jittery and does not like to be handled. She runs away from us a lot. I am hoping that she will calm down when she gets older...I would love to have one that would love me as much as I love them. But she is a doormat, as you said, and gets pecked on by just about everyone except our Road Island Red. I am excited for when she gets older and bigger and more feathery.
I have 9 Buff Orps, and their temperment differs from bird to bird....... The top bird in the pecking order is friendly and docile, easily picked up ...... the 3 at the bottom third are skittish, with the bottom bird (oddly enough, the largest bird in the flock) nearly impossible to catch. They are laying 4 to 5 eggs/ day with no supplemental lighting, but the first week of December I was getting 5 to 8 .....
I enjoyed reading your article about Buff Orpingtons. You have two lovely chickens. I have one BO and she is very nice and big. For me, she is not as friendly as my Barred Rocks but she's friendly enough. I'm glad I have her. Thanks for your article... Kay in NC.. 1.28.16
Thank you Kay! I also live in North Carolina Willow Spring. My BO are the friendliest of my flock. They are always tripping me up when Im out in the yard following me around. It is partly my fault because I always have treats for them.
