Any of my current Buff Orps worth Breeding?

[tiki244]

I don't know. I ate a fairly young homegrown chicken about 3 years ago and it was the last one I ate. The first and the last. It was tuff and I hated killing it. They dont have the benefit of all the tenderisers they pump into the meat at the grocery store. (By the way I am not a big fan of grocery meat. In fact I don't eat it

) I think the cornish X rocks might be pretty good to eat though. I don't know what the secret is to cooking homegrown chicken meat though.


So you got a cockeral farm going on?

I think one roo could probably take on, um, maybe ten hens?!

 

[DawnSuiter]

I really DO have a cockerel farm here! They certainly outnumber the girls... BOYS>>> ANYONE NEED BOYS? LOL

Seriously, I'd like to thin down to around 4-5 permanent residents.. 1(or2) blue, 1 black, 2 buff.. plus I think I'll keep an australorp rooster in the hen house with all the girls... maybe.
That makes about 13 excess cockerels for me this first season... Oh yeah.. I'll have to keep at least the GLW Cockerel & Hen pair... so that'll be 6 cockerels I close the season down with.

The ultimate goal is about 25 hens & 5 cockerels... I'll be short on hens this season but not by too much.

 

[roosmom]

Hello, I would like to know your plans in the breeding area. I have no idea how to go about doing this either. I have a lg Roo, that I named ROO. I think he is perfect, But I saw a pic of a prize winning BO roo and they dont look the same. No offense but my roo looks like your BO's. We have 51 chickens also three and a half months old. All BO's. Same plan as you it seems, 25 - 28 hens and 3 roosters is what we plan on keeping. We will let a clutch of eggs hatch once a year to renew our freezer stock. So if you have a plan, let me know, if you could.

 

[augiedranch]

first and second pic. the one in the middle and second pic the one on the left.

 

[DawnSuiter]

Roosmom, sorry I didn't see your reply!
Our roosters will have full time pens for when they're not ranging, and during breeding season, I'll move 3-5 hens into their pens and add a nest box set and that's about all I have planned for now.

For this winter we'll have 6 roosters staying, 2 groups of 2 and 2 singles... the two sets of brothers will stay together as long as possible, one of the singles will be in the hen house full time and the last remaining single lives on our porch now and will stay there all winter. In the spring I'll have to fashion perhaps one breeding pen only and I already have the materials I'll need.

Photo update 4.5 months! I chose who to keep and got rid of the rest of the guys.. this is who we have left... what do you think?

1st Place Rooster (can't crow yet, although #2 is desperately trying to teach him and somehow this one is 2nd in the pecking order)

2nd Place Rooster (our lead crower and pack leader)

and Stubby... who is finally getting some curve to those tail feathers (stubby is last in the pecking order and loves our attention the most)

Opinions please... I need to keep only 1 and I'll need to decide who sooner than later... I could probably give it another month

 

[KKluckers]

I like the first rooster better. Does the second one have some dark feathers coming threw on his tail feathers? 2 has a little better type than one, but both still are young and have lots of filling out to do.
3 looks really light in the hackels but looks like ones twin LOL.

 

[DawnSuiter]

They each have a little pepper in the tail, Stubby has the least.
I am very suprised by how different a shape #2 has... he also has a very pretty comb... which comb is more normal for the orps?

 

[mom'sfolly]

Stubby seems awfully blond to me, in his hackle area. I think BO are supposed to be a deep orangy gold through the hackles. Number one's back looks a little long for typy BO, so I think #2 is the best bet.

Roos are supposed to have a single comb with 5 distinct points.

However, I am no orpington expert, and there are many here. I would wait for jody, speckledhen, missprissy or others to weigh in.

 

[DawnSuiter]

mom'sfolly :

Stubby seems awfully blond to me, in his hackle area. I think BO are supposed to be a deep orangy gold through the hackles. Number one's back looks a little long for typy BO, so I think #2 is the best bet.

However, I am no orpington expert, and there are many here. I would wait for jody, speckledhen, missprissy or others to weigh in.

The one and only thing that I think I know about Buffs, is that there is no correct shade of buff.... only that the ideal buff in regards to color is one who displays the same uniform color throughout from feather tip to shaft. Mine are obviously not good on the color uniformity, plus the sun has made them really brassy.

I have two other buff cockerels still in the hen house.. coming out next week. Their color is very uniform, it's a pale beige buff and it's nice, they look NOTHING like these guys.

So everyone thinks #2 has the better shape huh.. he's cute for sure.. squatty little bugger... he looks tuff

 

[KKluckers]

Quote:
The one and only thing that I think I know about Buffs, is that there is no correct shade of buff.... only that the ideal buff in regards to color is one who displays the same uniform color throughout from feather tip to shaft. Mine are obviously not good on the color uniformity, plus the sun has made them really brassy.

I have two other buff cockerels still in the hen house.. coming out next week. Their color is very uniform, it's a pale beige buff and it's nice, they look NOTHING like these guys.

So everyone thinks #2 has the better shape huh.. he's cute for sure.. squatty little bugger... he looks tuff

Orps should have a medium comb. I like 1&3 better. They should be smaller combs. You should get me some pictures of there combs close up. Front and side views. 1&3 are probably just late developers.