Anyone know anything about Isabel Orpingtons? I could use some advice.

[Rooka_2]

Last year I hatched out 6 gorgeous Isabel Orpingtons, turns out I won the lottery and got all hens I would LOVE to be able to make some money and sell hatching eggs in the spring/summer with these beautiful birds but I've been looking since last fall for an Isabel orpington rooster and haven't been able to find one... until now.
He's GORGEOUS the lady is giving him away so I messaged her, told her my story/plan. She said she can't confirm he's pure because she got him off someone else for her Isabel orpingtons and 3 roosters has been too much for her 15 hens so she needs to offload one.
1. He's obviously Isabel cuckoo, so will the chicks be Isabel or Isabel cuckoo? Should I be mixing the two?
2. Is there a way for me to confirm he's pure? A blood test or something?
If not, how would you ethically sell them? Call them Isabel Orpingtons rather than pure Isabel orpingtons? Tell people you're not certain the roo is pure but send pictures of parents?
3. I've never brought in a bird from another farm, only ever hatching eggs, how would I assure biosecurity? How long do I keep him separated from my flock? Should I have him tested? What questions do I ask the current owner? Is this a super bad idea?
Here is a picture of my ladies and of the rooster

 

[The Moonshiner]

Bio security depends on how much risk you want to take and no matter what there's a risk. Most say keep him away from your birds for 30 days. I like 60 but that's soooo long. You want to keep them apart and do nothing that could transfer anything from him to them. So that's up to you. How far apart can you keep them? I always kept new birds in my garage. It's a distance from where mine usually are and it was in a pen inside the garage so double barrier. Some change clothes in-between chores from one to the other. You could do that or wear bio suits and burn them. Again it's up to you. I just did all my chores then did the new birds last. So the next day I was in different clothes but I usually failed because I never changed boots in-between. Mostly keep a close eye on him for anything off.

As for breeding cuckoo to non. I wouldn't say not too. They work well together if that's your only option because the barring gene is the only difference. A male can have one or two barring genes. Something you'll figure out when you breed him and hatch. If he has one gene he'll produce both cuckoo and non cuckoo. If he has two genes all his offspring will be cuckoo but with your hens the males will be cuckoo but only have one barring gene. That will be the case with his male offspring either way.
So eventually you can go either direction cuckoo or non. Or you can split to doing both.

Pure or not. There's no test. There really isn't anything like with animals. For birds if they look the part then they're pure. Find out everything about the breed and compare him and pick him apart for flaws. If he has major flaws you can say he's not pure or just a really bad example. If he just has a thing or two off he could be pure but with flaws you can breed to eliminate or improve.
For me I think it's just as important how he breeds. I don't care if he looks perfect but throws offspring that have unexpected results. Birds can carry recessive genes that don't show on them but will eventually come out in future generations.
So if he looks the part and produces offspring that also look the part he's pure in my book.
Just my opinion without more pics and without studying them he does look pure.

 

[Rooka_2]

Bio security depends on how much risk you want to take and no matter what there's a risk. Most say keep him away from your birds for 30 days. I like 60 but that's soooo long. You want to keep them apart and do nothing that could transfer anything from him to them. So that's up to you. How far apart can you keep them? I always kept new birds in my garage. It's a distance from where mine usually are and it was in a pen inside the garage so double barrier. Some change clothes in-between chores from one to the other. You could do that or wear bio suits and burn them. Again it's up to you. I just did all my chores then did the new birds last. So the next day I was in different clothes but I usually failed because I never changed boots in-between. Mostly keep a close eye on him for anything off.

As for breeding cuckoo to non. I wouldn't say not too. They work well together if that's your only option because the barring gene is the only difference. A male can have one or two barring genes. Something you'll figure out when you breed him and hatch. If he has one gene he'll produce both cuckoo and non cuckoo. If he has two genes all his offspring will be cuckoo but with your hens the males will be cuckoo but only have one barring gene. That will be the case with his male offspring either way.
So eventually you can go either direction cuckoo or non. Or you can split to doing both.

Pure or not. There's no test. There really isn't anything like with animals. For birds if they look the part then they're pure. Find out everything about the breed and compare him and pick him apart for flaws. If he has major flaws you can say he's not pure or just a really bad example. If he just has a thing or two off he could be pure but with flaws you can breed to eliminate or improve.
For me I think it's just as important how he breeds. I don't care if he looks perfect but throws offspring that have unexpected results. Birds can carry recessive genes that don't show on them but will eventually come out in future generations.
So if he looks the part and produces offspring that also look the part he's pure in my book.
Just my opinion without more pics and without studying them he does look pure.

This is beyond helpful. Thank you so much!
I can keep him apart from my other birds as long as needed, I don't want him to bring anything into my flocks.
So, quick question. I've never had cuckoo birds, im still fairly new to chickens. Can you tell if they are cuckoo from hatch day or it not until their adult feathers come in?
It will definitely be quite a while until I'm able to hatch any from this roo. He'll be in quarantine for 1 to 2 months, then he'll likely need 2 or 3 months with my hens as they're currently housed with my silverlaced orpington hens and roo. And then to actually hatch out some eggs and raise them up to see what they look like. I'm probably looking at next spring for selling hatching eggs.
Once you can tell if they are cuckoo or just isabel, if I get both varieties are you saying that any I hatch that are just isabel will be hens?