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Orpington

The original Orpington, the Black, was developed in England in 1886 and brought to the US in...
My hex nut (BO)
Pros: Great layers, loves to be held, not aggressive to the flock but still high on the pecking order, very cold-hardy
Cons: Tends to wander and is a bit of a nutter, slightly less heat hardy.
I love Hex Nut my Buff Orp. She's so pretty and lays lovely brown eggs. She does try to hatch them on occasion but since we don't have a rooster she gives up pretty quick! I love my bird!
Good birds... a bit overrated.
Pros: Usually sweet.

English Orpingtons are fluffy.

Fairly consistent layers.

Nice and “classic” looking.
Cons: Way overrated.

Hatchery Orpingtons, especially of the Buff variety, are low quality but highly rated. They lose all of their fluffiness, and are overall just plain overrated. That’s my opinion though.

Not always nice, and occasionally may bully other chickens.
Most of this is based off of my experience with Orpingtons. And all I have is one Buff Orpington. She’s fairly ok, but not as amazing as my other birds. Worth getting if you want the classic, yellow, chicken (buff)

All negativity aside, I really want a lavender Orpington some time. Here’s a few pictures of Emily, the BO
Purchase Price
3.00, I think.
Purchase Date
February 2019

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Barbara Cheetham
Barbara Cheetham
My Buffy is so smart she is learning to do tricks. I created a chicken agility course for her and she is just as responsive as a dog.
I love my buffs! Amazing layers and super sweet
Pros: -in my experience, great layers (4-6 eggs per week)
-super sweet
-so pretty!
Cons: So fluffy and cute that they might end up convincing you to hang with them instead of getting work done....
Talking about buff Orpington and what is good and bad about them
F
fingerandus
we have 5 black Australian Orpingtons lovely friendly best egg layers one hen holds the record 364 eggs in a year [not mine ] of course xx
Pros: Friendly, docile, hearty, personable
Cons: None
We have 10 birds total, three of which are Buff Orpingtons. They are by far my favorite birds of our flock. They are very energetic, love to be around us, and very curious. I start and end the day by feeding all my birds a few mealworms in their coop and every day, one of my Buff girls roosts on my arm simply to be with me and not particularly interested in the mealworms..more interested in being pet. They also enjoy our 9 year old's company. They are still young so I cannot speak as to laying abilities, but we are enjoying their company and personality at this point!
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Cinderloowho
I love my buff orp. She's such a sweet girl! She went broody a few weeks ago with nothing under her. I felt bad and stuffed an egg under her. Then I bought chicks to fool her with. Before I could get the chicks in with her, the egg hatched! I had no idea it was fertile! Guess it was meant to be. Oh, and she LOVES the sapphire gem chicks too, she just lifted her wing and they ran right under it when I took them out to her! Extended family!! lol!
Pros: Hardy, cockerels and hens both very placid, gentle birds, low feed consumption compared to their size. Very good for broodies
Cons: Not overly reliable layers, but overall is good
I have a GL orp hen and rooster and both are extremely calm, and never shown any signs of real violence.
The rooster is protective and placid and offers any food he finds to the hens
The hen is often happy and content and is a good broody. Always calm and when laying, produces good light creamy coloured eggs.
The rooster is in the foreground of the picture

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Pros: Good egg layers of med to lrg size brown eggs. Good mamas, broody if you want them to hatch eggs for you. Friendly and not flighty.
Cons: They are broody which cuts down on egg production. They eat a lot.
I love the buff Orpingtons. They have a beautiful blonde tan color and very fluffy butts. I have found that they are very friendly until you try and take eggs out from under a broody hen. 😉 The Roosters are beautiful as well and they are the same color as the hens. In my experience they don't protect the hens very well from predators. So make sure you make their pens and runs safe.
Purchase Price
$2-3 day olds
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Speckled_chick
Speckled_chick
Are you selling them??
Pros: Good layers, cold hardy, beautiful, friendly to other chickens in the flock
Cons: Aggressive rooster
I love my Buff Orpington hens. They are good layers, have a good personality, and are cold hardy. They are well mannered and get along well with everyone in the flock. However, I did have a rooster that was aggressive and had to re home. He was a beautiful rooster and treated his hens well, but was very aggressive towards humans.
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Pros: Beautiful Bird but that's about all
Cons: Hasn't laid an egg yet and is nine months old. Eats a ton but no production.
Beautiful bird to see however when no egg production becomes less beautiful to watch.
Purchase Price
$3.00 each
Purchase Date
March 2019
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Pros: Good attitude, large size, and beautiful to look at.
Cons: Mature slowly in my experience.
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The info on the breed was great! And I felt very informed!
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Pros: Good Layers; friendly
Cons: I've had several health problems with my birds.
There were two Buff Orpingtons among the first dozen or so birds I bought when I started raising backyard chickens back in 2015. I found one dead in the chicken yard about six months later for no apparent reason (at that time I didn't see any point in sending her off for an autopsy). The other one in that bunch is still alive and well and one of the queens of my roost.

They've been great layers and some of the friendliest birds in my flock - and that has led to some heartbreak.

I've had some girls I've really loved. We name our girls and color-code band them so we can tell them apart more easily. There was "Goldie" a Golden Orpington we got as a complimentary chick from our hatchery. She was my shadow when I was in the yard and sometimes would get in front of me wanting to be picked up and held. I found her a couple summers ago during our heat wave dead trying to get into our laying area. She was about a year and a half old.

Buffy was our drama queen. When she would lay an egg the entire area knew of it. I had to cull her when I caught her egg eating.

Then we had the Lavender Orpingtons - Lilac and Iris. I had to cull Lilac for egg eating (we had a bad outbreak a couple summers back - it cost us about a dozen birds); Iris got Bumble Foot. My brother is a vet and came over and helped me treat it doing surgery I didn't have the heart to do. We nursed her back to health just to have to cull her when I caught HER egg eating.

Since then, I have about a half dozen Buff Orpingtons who are doing well and are productive members of the flock. They have been lovable birds and productive birds with great personalities, but if and when something happens to the ones I have now I probably will not replace them with Buff Orpingtons.
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Pros: Smart, sweet, faithful, gentle - but not at the bottom of the pecking order, nor are they a bully. Beautiful gold feathers and plumage. Curious and gentle. The best chickens to have in a flock overall for temperament and egg laying.
Cons: They can go broody early, but they are not nasty (like some girls we have!) when you try to get the eggs from under them. Just some irritated clucks haha.
We have many types of chickens, and while they are all wonderful and different in their own ways, the Buff Orp is my overall, hands down, favorite chicken. They just have the best personalities. Love being held and petted, they are what I call "mid to upper pecking order packers". They are not bullies, but they don't put up with any bull, either! I have one girl HunHun, who is as faithful as my labrador to me. Every night, she requests to be "tucked in" haha. She likes me to pick her up and put her in the coop, on her perch. If I'm running behind, she'll come up to the backdoor and start pecking at it and looking in like "hey, mom, you ready to put me to bed? I'm waiting." It's adorable. They have the most serious little faces, too. I just love this breed so much, mostly because of the overall "hit the marks" they have. Excellent egg layers, great personality, mild temperament, and affectionate. They get along great with the other birds, too. We ended up getting several more after the first three we purchased were so awesome, and the newest members are turning out to be much the same. They love mama holding them and will even greet me at my car haha. Great birds, you'll love them!
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M
Michaelshamp
So good to hear. I will be starting out with 45 chicks from 4 breeds. Buff Orpington chickens will be almost 1/3 of my birds. The others are split between Light and Buff Brahma and Black Australorp.
Pros: Docile, good egg layers, beautiful
Cons: None
I love my orpingtons they're the best chickens I have!! I have so many varieties too love the colors
Purchase Price
40 for hens 25 for roosters
Purchase Date
N/a

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Pros: Super Friendly
I love Orpingtons and although mine are only 19 weeks old they are very friendly and curious birds. They are growing beautifully and have a gorgeous golden color feather. :D
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Pros: Broodiness, Size, Friendliness, Large Brown egg
Love my Orps they are my breed of choice for both meat and eggs. Great at laying and also at hatching out their own babies. Great mothers and wonderful free range birds.
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Pros: Sweet and social. Loving with relaxing disposition when held. Some will come to sit in your lap. Active; great foragers.
Cons: Heavy feathered; needs more care during hot months.
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I’ve got 3 ladies that I acquired in March as few day olds. They’ve been nothing but sweet, beautiful little perfect chickens! One has started laying just a few days ago. 7 eggs in a row every day like clockwork. Not bad for August in East TX where it’s hot. I have fans to ventilate and lots of hardware cloth/cattle panel and predator apron to keep my girls in an open “garden coop style” with dirt floor setting. They receive a probiotic/electrolyte drink 24/7 along with plenty of fresh water in pans and in waterer. I provide gallon ice blocks daily in there open igloo ice chest for when temps are over 90F or 90F heat index. This is all important to keep the girls less stressed and cool. I hope this review helps if you are thinking of getting some BOs, although I would do all this for any breed.
Purchase Price
$3.50
Purchase Date
March 2019
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Pros: They are friendly and very passive. Great with kids and tolerant to being picked up.
Cons: They can be loud after laying an egg. They are also prone to be broody so you need to be diligent about picking up eggs every day unless you want them to hatch the eggs. This can be a pro or a con.
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Pros: They are sweet birds and noises out of these birds are at a minimum!!
Cons: Buff Orpingtons have a low laying rate and they are known for going broody a lot
I think that the Buff Orpington chicken is a very sweet bird. They are gental and they will (once in a while) let me pet them and pick them up. However, they are chickens that have a low laying rate and they are known to go broody quite often. I have experienced this a lot with this chicken. Besides that reason, I recommend this chicken for people who are starting.
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Pros: Friendly and calm, quiet, good layer, nice to other hens
Cons: Goes broody so not a great producer, but i love her just the same.
Pros: They are wonderful forgagers, and fantastic broodies. They're also very sweet and good layers.
Cons: I can't think of any, Except they poop like all other chickens.
We love our buff Orpingtons, ours are always out foraging, so they don't seem to eat as much. They aren't skittish or freaked out by the sight of a human. Ours are constantly in the barn going broody, and are very good mommas too. Overall, they are great chickens, and we love them.

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