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Orpington

The original Orpington, the Black, was developed in England in 1886 and brought to the US in...
Pros: Very sweet, friendly, good with children, good layer, awesome pet, cold hardy, beautiful.
Cons: Bullied by other hens.
I love my buff orpington Beverly so much! She is a true "dog chicken"... Jumps on my lap/back/shoulder... Whichever she gets to first! Follows me around, loves to be petted and hand fed. She is very sweet and patient with my very curious (and not always gentle) 18 month old tot. She is my favorite of my mixed flock! I do believe every chicken keeper should have one at the very least.
Oh, and they are also terrific layers. And cold hardy. And did I mention pretty??

The only bad thing is that she was bullied really bad by my other hens. I had to get rid of a RIR that was very mean to her! After a while she adjusted, though, and is doing great.

If you are looking for a great addition to your flock, or are considering keeping chickens, this breed is an absolute must.
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Pros: best all around bird
Cons: some of the hatchery orpingtons are not as good as the ones you can get from local sources
i have both American Orpingtons & imported English Orpingtons

they are the best all around breed hands down

they are the best IMHO because they do many things well unlike some other breeds

we fill our freezer with the extra roosters each fall

we only wish to use the best ones for breeding so the rest have to go off to "camp"
Purchase Price
5.00
Purchase Date
2012-03-03
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Pros: beautiful, great setters, and moms. great layers
Cons: can be subject to bullying
these hens, are great setters. They are reliable, and are great layers
Purchase Price
2.00
Purchase Date
2014-03-17
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Pros: All of above
Cons: Kinda loud
WE have bufforps and they are the best they are halariuos and love me they will chase me acrosst the yard when they want food or water and are very good layer in my opinion. Trying to hatch more
They are very lovable and will protect the eggs. NOT FUNNY when a a flap of your skin is pecked of. :( They are kinda loud and i love that about them the rooster is very high on the flurting with hens tough lol. I love my buffops dont get me wrong but im also ganna get some black sex linked chickens.
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Pros: Sweet, great egg layers, kind to people and other chickens.
Cons: none
I have 3 BO hens. They are 11 months old. They are the sweetest things. They were the first in my flock (we've now added 9 more chickens). Very calm, love people, great with other birds, awesome egg layers. They are a must have in any flock!
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Pros: Good temperament, pretty good layers.
Cons: Go broody often, don't lay the best.
I got some buff orpingtons, and have never really enjoyed them. They lay large eggs, but only lay about 4-5 eggs a week. Their personalities are awesome!!, mine are more of a pet rather than egg layer. I love their color varieties!!, Blue, Black, Lavender, all those.
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Pros: Cute, docile, great egg layer, great beginners bird, runs from danger, friendly,
Cons: N/A
Love this bird! Mine are raised free range, they run from danger, they are docile, they lay great eggs, they stay with the flock, etc! Love these guys! They do look alike though, that can be good and bad. It really depends on the person/owner. I found many ways to detect who is who with my girls. Once you get to know them its comes a lot easier! One is tail-less, on is huge, and one is normal sized! Love em'!
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Pros: friendly, good layers
Cons: didn't lay as long as others
Three years ago, I purchased two Buff Orpington and 2 Dominique pullets. The Dominiques had far and away the best and friendliest personalities. Big Bird and Itty Bitty (anything BUT once she matured!) were pleasant to be around, but were indisputably the "queens" of the chicken yard, as they continue to be. The Dominique continued to lay longer, although the remaining Dominique (Peep) and both the BOs are since "retired". As youngsters they were a little flighty and goofy, but as they grew up they were fine. Mine have definitely earned their keep and will live out the rest of their lives pecking around in the yard and herding guineas.
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Pros: Nice , friendly , great backyard pets
Cons: Prone to being bullied
I love my Orpington. Wish she would get picked on less
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Pros: friendly, fluffy, adorable, curious
Cons: can be aggressive towards others
I love my two Buff Orpington girls, Potato and Ms. Fluffy. Ms. Fluffy is the fattest, fluffiest bird in my flock, which is great. She is absolutely adorable with intense green eyes and evenly spread light blonde feathers. She isn't old enough to lay yet (just reached four months), but will probably be a great mama when she does because of her fluffy, warm feathers and her protective mentality. She is great, but kind of gets picked on by Potato, the lead hen. Ms. Fluffy is still probably the third one in the pecking order ( behind Eggy the rooster and Potato). Potato is the most protective hen, but a little small. She will jump in my lap and will let me pet her. She is more of a red-head than Ms. Fluffy, but is 100% just as cute. Potato is dominant, and can be very aggressive towards everyone but Eggy (he's probably the only one not afraid of her). They both love to eat Elephant Ears and Banana Palms (the plants). They love to dig and are just great!
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Pros: Vary Sweet & People Friendly,Beautiful coloration's,Lays small-Mediem Light Brown Eggs & Make Grate & vary Sweet Moms
Cons: Gose Broodie Frequently
My 2 Hens are Ideal examples for their Breed & are all of the above + Soft & Frendly
& not even close to being an overly protective mom when it comes to their humans or other chickens(unless that chicken is known to be a bully)
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Pros: Very social, friendly, pretty, smart, etc
Cons: They tend to be low on the pecking order and look almost the same.
I have one Buff Orpington right now, his name's Ginger. He will come when called, play the drums, let me paint his nails, come in the house and watch TV, heel, walk on a leash, and let me walk right up to him and pick him up. He is a very nice rooster. I think Buff Orpingtons are the best breed ever.
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Pros: Friendly, Quiet, Fluffy, Smart for a Chicken
Cons: Not the best layers, Identical
I have three Buff Orpington hens in my flock and they are an absolute pleasure to own. I really love their build and size...they are a heavier bird, and their chunky structure shows it. Because of their size, they are pretty bad at flying, which is an added bonus if they are confined to a backyard or urban area. The birds are very winter hardy, as their combination of fat and fluff/feathers keeps them very warm. My Buffs were wandering around the yard in 10-15 degree temperatures and were completely unaffected. They are also rather intelligent for a chicken. They have great foraging skills and are not picky when it comes to eating. They will pretty much eat anything that they can swallow, which helped me save on feed. I always offered them layer feed inside the coop, and when combined with free-ranging, they seemed pretty efficient for their size. These birds are also quiet. They don't make much racket like other chickens, and only really cluck when I come over to them, otherwise they are very relaxed and calm in the yard. My coop is oversized for the number of birds it holds, so I cannot say with certainty that they take confinement well, but my birds seem plenty happy in their house when they are not/unable to free range (like when there is 12 inches of snow).

As for their egg laying, I can say that I am fairly unimpressed. Some reviews say that they are great layers, and some say they are average. I would fall into the average column. My orpingtons took the longest to start laying...two began at 24 weeks, and one began at a few days ago, at roughly 8-9 months. Two lay a medium-sized egg, and one lays a large/XL egg. They lay anywhere between 3-4 eggs per week, and usually drop an extra day in the winter. I was under the impression that they were more prolific layers (and my expectations were high as I have RIR and Sex Links that produce a ton of eggs), but I would classify them as average layers. I believe that the egg size will increase as they get older, but I highly doubt that the production out of them will increase. The one orpington lays a freckled egg, which is an added bonus though!

One of the cons (which is easily fixed) is their identical appearance. Now I know many chicken breeds can look identical, especially the sex links, however these birds are just incredibly similar. Their personalities, shapes, and habits are all identical. I call mine the triplets, because naming them would be a lost cause. I will put legbands on them in the spring and officially assign their names to them. This is more of a petty concern, and not a strike against the birds. I would love a flock of only orpingtons one day, because they are easy to own, relatively productive, and really fun to handle and watch!
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Pros: My girls are really friendly, and lay well
Cons: No eggs while molting
I like Orpington birds easy to keep, very friendly specially for my family..... My rooster was aggressive, but he's calm down now.

I would like to get more birds, I have 5
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Pros: Lay large brown eggs often, are very sweet, are very smart, are cute and fluffy, have awesome combs and etc.
Cons: None!!
Orpingtons are beautiful birds! I have some Buff Orpingtons and they are lovely. One is very talkative, lol! They are both sweeties! I don't have any but I personally think Lavender Orpingtons are beautiful!!!! If you are just starting with chickens or not I request this breed! They are wonderful! Just 100% GREAT chickens!
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Pros: Nice, Great show birds, egg laying machines
Cons: NONE
You can't go wrong with these birds!!!! I've got the buff variety. They are about 1 1/2 and they lay double yolk eggs!!!!! They eggs are a beautiful brown. I your looking for an amazing show bird, I highly recommend these birds! I won 2 first prizes with this breed!!! While the other chickens flopped around wildly my chicken just sat there!!!! I was nervous before because I felt I didn't work with her enough, but I guess they're naturally tame!!!!! I love this breed!!!!
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Pros: Nice, easy to catch,
Cons: Dumb, look to alike, jumps on other chickens
I have three they are fun but very dumb. Don't eat that much. Nice yellow color
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Pros: Friendly, chatty, big and fluffy, Beautiful round body shape, 5 to 6 eggs a week
Cons: What cons?
I received one BOrp through an assorted heavy mix at MM. Boy was that the best surprise!

Big Mama is the best! She came with two Buff Rocks but the differences are very noticeable. She is the friendliest bird in the flock. I can't speak for other BO's but she is a consistent layer of big oval PEACHY-PINK eggs!
I adore this bird! She may not be the top of the pecking order but she holds her own, and is definitely at the top of my list!
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Pros: Nothing that I can see
Cons: stand around a lot making them boring, not a good layer, prone to disease, not a strong breed, hard time getting on with any other breed
I have about 10 different breeds and I have to say, my 2 orpingtons are my worst. There are many breeds that are better layers than them, better broodies than them, more active and fun to be with than them, better thinkers than them, more disease resistant than them, eat less than them and much better all rounders than them. They are just boring, Sure if you want something you can pick up and give a cuddle to, then get orpingtons, that's all they are good for. My orpingtons have given me more trouble and problems than the rest of my flock put together (even though I've had them for less than 2 months).
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Pros: lovely color, calm
Cons: pro-lapse, slightly mean
I have one Buff Orpington hen about 8 months old. Last Sept. she prolapsed when she layed her first egg. It took five days for the prolapse to stay in her. The whole while we treated her she was very calm and didn't struggle which was VERY nice :) Since then she has been fin and lays about three eggs a week. She can be quite bossy, especially with my Marans (which is funny because my Marans are almost twice as big as her). I am really hoping that she goes broody next year.
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