Orpington

I have five Buff Orpingtons, and I absolutely love them. They are very sweet birds, and so beautiful. Three of my Orpingtons are going on 6 years old, and two of them still lay eggs 4-5 times per week. My other two are six months old and I get 6 eggs every week from each of them. If I was only allowed to have one breed, it would definitely be Buff Orpingtons. I would recommend them to anyone.

My orp is a fluffy, friendly bird who appears neutral in the pecking order--I have never seen her peck and she rarely gets pecked. She is just a big marshmallow, and will cuddle with you--very soft and friendly. She started laying late and couldn't get it through her head that nestboxes were for eggs, but eventually figured it out. She is a great bird!

We originally got our Orpingtons about three years ago. Five unsexed chicks in that awkward lanky teen stage. Three turned out to be roosters and we had to get rid of the first two that matured because they were large and mean. More than once was I attacked by our most beautiful rooster and when he grabbed onto my upper arm while I was giving food I decided he had to go. We currently have one rooster and two hens from that litter and they're great. Not as tame as I want but that's completely my fault as I haven't socialised them as much as I wanted. They're great with my kids and wonderful layers.

Beautiful large medium/dark brown eggs if it's 39 or -20(with a heat lamp) out! Love these birds and would love to get more if we expand our flock.

She is a great layer, pretty, and funny/ fresh/ trouble maker. Only thing is that she does not like to sit in my lap or be picked up. A good breed though.

I LOVE these birds. They are just a wonderful addition to your life. They are not mean or aggressive that I've seen. The roosters are even gentle. Hens are not inclined to be fighters at all.

This is an excellent family birds if you have the room. Mine are very large birds. They need more room than most. The roosters are incredibly large, and when they go to garden, they can tear up a lot of it quickly with their large feet.

Mine lay a smaller egg than I would like for such huge chickens. They are consistent layers, laying even into the fall (so far into October). They seem to have more body so are able to keep warmer and lay longer. They do not lay every day--maybe 3-4 a week. Interesting to me, the eggs vary in color from medium brown to very light brown.

Roos are just amazingly big and beautiful. I want to have these birds forever. They are really beautiful with their solid gold color. They all look the same so you get very similar color, shape and actions out of them.

The roos are so big that I worry sometimes about the hens. I notice that the hens are not anxious to be bred by the huge roosters too often. But the roosters don't seem to be hard on the hens when breeding, and they are not mean or rough. They are just huge.

I love this breed. I hope to always have some.

I love my Buff Orpingtons! They are the most friendly chicken that I know. They love to get on my lap to cuddle and be petted. They follow me around the whole hard seeing what I'm up to. They love children (which is one of the biggest reasons I wanted buffs). I can't get enough of my buffs!

love 'em

I guess the title says it all. We had a bunch of these birds when we first started with chickens, wooed by the tales of their beauty and egg-laying prowess. Well, they were certainly pretty, but pretty is as pretty does. They ate a ton, were the most aggressive flock members, and only laid four eggs a week. We sold them all as soon as we realized that they weren't as great as their reputation led us to believe.

Loud, food aggressive and pulled out my australorp pullets feathers when she could catch them. She absolutely hated to be touched. When I first got her, she was shy and at the bottom of the pecking order. Once she got braver with the other hens, she became the Orpington Terror. I didn't like her at all and placed her. She ate a lot for what she produced. Although she laid nice brown eggs, I just couldn't stand the constant beating up of my pullets and her loud squawking drove me nuts.

My Buff Orphington has been raised from a baby and was handled almost daily and still growls anytime someone comes near her to pet or pick her up. She is the highest in the pecking order of the 6 and will actively chase off any bird that comes into the yard (little brown common birds to bid doves and pigeons) and keeps the 2 newly obtained Americanas we just got who like to pick on the babies of the flock. She also gets very feisty when it comes to food and will assault you if you have something she wants! haha

I had two Orpingtons, named Oodle and Doodle.

Doodle was the best chicken I have known, and she passed away earlier this week. However, she laid one to two eggs a day for me, came when called, and I was always holding her in the yard. She could be pet any time and never fussed. Even when my daughter roughly patted her, poked her, or sloppily attempted to pick her up, Doodle just stayed still, never pecking, running, or kicking. Oodle, the surviving Orp in my little flock, is also quiet and friendly, though much shyer than Doodle had been. Oodle allows me to touch her at least once a day and comes when called as well, although she walks away when I move too fast or my daughter pulls her tail feathers. Still, no aggression what-so-ever, and she gives me an egg a day!

I would buy Orpingtons again, as a good family chicken breed.

I've had my Lavender Orpington pullet "Chumley" for about 4 months. She has not yet begun to lay, and I've read this is a broody breed....so the jury's still out on egg production / quality as well as how my sweet girl will handle the moods and urges of motherhood. Meanwhile, however, she is one of the two birds (out of my seven) with the best disposition (the other being a Brabanter). She's as equally easy-going with me or my kids as she is with her flock mates. Chumley is one of our favorites and is a great ambassador for her breed. I almost didn't get an Orpington on account of the broodiness factor, but she will be worth the potential hassle, I think. Fingers crossed!

I got my girls in March of this year; they're about five months old now. I have three EE's and two Buff Orpingtons. The Orps have always been the easier ones to handle and approach. Even as one day old chicks, they were much easier to pick up and handle. One, my Jojo, has always been a snuggler. She's an absolute LOVE. I adore her. I love picking her up and putting her in my lap because she automatically settles down and relaxes. Her "sister," Nugget, is a kook. She's still easier to approach than my EE's but she is pretty darn headstrong, especially when it comes to food. To put it plainly, she's a pig -- she HAS TO be the first one to inspect new foods. Everyone else can stand side by side and share a fresh peach, but Nugget has to get in there and attempt to rip the entire peach away for herself. You'd think she never eats! I'd highly recommend this breed to anyone -- they're extremely patient and tolerant of my five year old, letting her pick them up and hold them. They're just wonderful. Thankfully, for me, I only had two to tell apart and they were different enough in personality that I could go by that for quite a while before realizing that their eye color was different. Now their combs are different, too.

I got my first buff today and im very happy. shes really sweet and fluffy. she doesn't run much when I try to pick her up like our other girls.they also go very broody. I cant think of anything negative except shell probably go on the end of the pecking list.

I ordered 27 chickens last spring and gave most to my grandpa, keeping roundabout 6-7 for myself, and out of the whole bunch of miscellany breeds, my buff orpington was the sweetest of them all. she was the most eager to follow me, loved being held and petted and wasn't as loud as the rest of the girls (as in she didn't run around the yard screeching when she'd laid an egg, modest lol). She wasn't picky about house scraps, and did I mention friendly? I found later on that my grandpa's favorite was a buff orpington too. Sadly my orpington, Peaches died around her first birthday, I was heartbroken. R.I.P Peaches, but I highly reccomend this breed especially to a novice chicken keeper.

The Buff Orpington is by far my favorite chicken. I only have one roo and he is a BO as well. When I purchased my roosters, I bought three. My BO was so superior to the other two in personality, looks and friendliness that he is now my only roo and the king of the hen pens! Had I known how much I would love the BO's, I would have only purchased this breed. LOVE MY BUFFS!!

The Orpington breed is a very fun bird to own and have around the barnyard per say. Although the buff color is most popular, a variety of blue, black, splash, lavender and mixes are available. A bit rarer to come by but beautiful adages for an already great breed. A buff rooster in full bloom is absolutely stunning in the sun to look at as well as great protectors of the flock. Finding a docile rooster yet gentle with the ladies may be hard to find amonst this breed. Mine was a bruiser! This is a great bird for beginning a flock of chickens to raise. They handle heat and cold very well. Their fluff butts will win you over!

I had them as a kid and loved them. I have 3 right now, and they are maybe only a few weeks from laying. Out of my original flock of these, Production Reds, and Black Sex Links, they were the ones that explored and foraged the best, even from a young age. They didn't mind filling their tummies with things they found foraging, and wouldn't sit next to the feeder waiting for it to get refilled. They are very nice, and their noises they make are absolutely adorable. I love mine, and can't wait for them to start laying soon!

I am a firm lover of the Buff Orpington Chicken!

They lived a healthy, loyal and fun lifestyle running around the pen and playing.

One of my buffs went broody, and was extremely defensive before and after it's hatch.
It was also slightly hostile to new arrivals too, but got used to them over time.

They were twin buffs and great friends together, and were never seen alone really!

Would largely recommend them as they are beautiful loving chickens

I was not a chicken person til these I got a group of 5 of them. A Roo and 4 hens. As soon as I saw the Rooster, I named him Fabio because that's exactly what he reminded me of. A big guy with long golden locks! He was as sweet as he could be. never an aggressive move even though he didn't know me. he was super watchful of the sky and around the yard. At treat time, he never tried to take anything from the girls. He just stood back and watched over them to be sure that they were okay. He seldom even tried to get a treat for himself. if he did go for one, and a hen beat him to it, he'd just kinda look up at me like "did you see that?" so i'd try to toss drop several in one spot for the hens and toss him one a little farther away. He caught on to that game real quick so he was never left out unless he wanted to be. The hens, although a little greedy about treats, were just as wonderful. They were never ugly in any way and realized very fast that I was the Official treat giver so anytime they saw me they were at my feet to see if I'd brought them anything. if I didn't, that was fine, they were content to follow me until I rectified the situation.

The ONLY issue we had and it wasn't an issue for me, but for my boyfriend. As social as they were, if I wasn't outside they were all over him and he couldn't get work done without falling over them lol. That and he didn't appreciate the huge poops in his workshop, on his tools and lumber...........oops!

When I first got mine they didn't lay at all. But they were severely protein deficient at the time due to being kept in a cage and not getting any free range time. Which made their social skills all the more amazing. They were NOT used to attention but they sure acclimated to it quick! So I suppose that could be one downside, they require a good deal of food, lots of protein and time to scratch in the dirt and be a real chicken! It took me about 2 to 3 weeks of a good high protein feed schedule and extra scraps before they started laying daily and completely stopped picking each others feathers.

If you like full size chickens and have time to socialize with them they are fantastic!