Are all Orpingtons friendly?

[Esrun]

Unexpected and with her nails.
I was moving hens from a group pen to breeding pens. Just scooped her up and she went battle mood.
Exactly what I did. Got both legs and carried her upside down to the pen. Questionable, sure. Was it supposed to cure anything, nope. Just a means to finish moving her without further scratches.

Wow! Sorry that happened. Hopefully she is otherwise not an attack hen lol

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I have a variety of chicken breeds & I've been blessed as they are all very nice with me. They do have their own personalities & quirks, too. I got many chicks from a local guy, who got them mostly from Amish in Pennsylvania. I also got several from Tractor Supply. My Buff Orpingtons came from Tractor Supply. Plus I bred some. All are so very sweet with me. The Roosters are sweet too, even a bit wimpy . They'll eat from my hand. When I sit them in my lap & check them all over they seem to enjoy bring fussed over. I treated 1 Roo for vent area mites & he did not enjoy that, but he tolerated it & I know he felt much better once they were gone. He is still a sweetheart, so they're very forgiving.

 

[RebelFord81]

Mine are! My speckled sussex are very friendly too

 

[Mother Clucker 69]

Last year and recently our baby chicks were from a local feed store. We ordered from McMurray 2 summers ago before it got to hot. We ordered the minimum (15) and all chickens were healthy on arrival. We ordered Easter Eggers because I love the eggs colors and they are very sweet. We have Orphingtons, Wyandotte, Brahma, Cochin, silkies, barred rocks, cuckoo marans. We have had good luck with our Easter Eggers as they are docile and sweet.

 

[Sylvester017]

what specific breed might be a better option

for a family with children, small flock that can’t free range, and is docile in order to mix with my bantams?

Wow! Lots of opinions on here re: different breeds as well as Orps. Every one has a story about their experiences. I have had different breeds over 13 years and liked most of them for different reasons -- some had good temperaments in the flock, a couple were bullies and re-homed away from our bantam Silkies, some breeds were good layers, others of the same breed not so good layers -- we don't regret the experiences as we learned from them all.

In mixing large breeds with Silkies we decided never to do that again to our Silkies. Silkies are mostly docile birds and larger chickens take advantage of that and can persecute the littles. Although our one remaining old Dominique hen is kind to our Silkies she will peck at them for food so we have to watch treat time to make sure she behaves. She knows we're watching her and she learned to wait her turn when we hand out treats.

Every bird has a different personality, every bird has their own laying style, every bird has either good or poor health issues -- on and on it goes. As for us, we've had birds from private breeders, local feed stores, and hatcheries and we've had good and bad birds from all sources.

We started out with two pet Silkies hatched by a home-school mom 13 years ago, we've cycled through 26 birds and different breeds in that time (Silkies, White Leghorn, Buff Leghorns, Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas, Blue Bredas, Cuckoo Breda, Cuckoo Marans, and Dominiques) and now in our senior years through attrition we're back to just Silkies again plus one old Dominique who has a forever home since she's good with the littles.

The White Leghorn was the best layer, Buff Leghorns not so much, Cuckoo Marans eggs were never the chocolate color you see in photos plus only a couple eggs per week, Ameraucana laid large pretty pale blue eggs but the hen only lived 3 years, the Dominiques and Bredas laid medium-size eggs about the same size as our Silkies -- so no brainer for us, we went back to all Silkies again since Silkie eggs are a good size for a larger bantam breed:

Silkies are fairly easy to handle, gentler temperaments compared to medium or larger breeds, won't fly over the backyard fence or fly out of the run, and they have no seasonal laying patterns. Our Silkies lay eggs, go broody, lay eggs, go broody -- year round so we're never without eggs. Each Silkie hen may not lay many eggs a year but with 1/2 a dozen Silkies we've never been a season without eggs in our skelter.

My suggestion is not to mix a heavy breed bird with Silkies. A 2-1/2 lb Silkie is at the mercy of a 7 or 8-lb Orp or Bielifelder. I mean, if our 5-1/2 lb Dominique was not good with our littles, we would've re-homed her but she has been behaving in her old age.

If you want Orps or any other large/heavy breed that you desire, I say go for your heart's desire! I just wouldn't keep them with Silkies like we did and learned the hard way not to do that again. In large mixed flocks a greater number of Silkies will go off by themselves away from larger breeds. But if there are only 2 or 3 Silkies in a big mixed breed flock of birds the littles will get picked on.

Let us know how it works out for you. If you have pics we would enjoy them!

 

[knoturavggrl]

I have English Jubilee Orpingtons and they were broody raised. I have two of each sex. They are HUGE and generally very mellow birds. I decided to try and see if I could keep both boys unless an issue arose. I have 11 hens and they do not overbred them and they get along with each and are human friendly. The girls are the same mellow and middle of the pecking order now that they are laying.

I got mine from Carolina Rare Chicks as hatching eggs. I think the lines matter for temperament and the general appearance. I am personally for the small hatcheries and small breeders.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Any chicken has the potential to be mean, aggressive or unfriendly regardless of breed.

I say, if they look like a bird you want, get them!

 

[Sylvester017]

Any chicken has the potential to be mean, aggressive or unfriendly regardless of breed.

I say, if they look like a bird you want, get them!

Yes, I agree, go for the breed of your heart's desire -- as long as bantams are not confined in a closed pen with standard or heavy breeds.

Silkies are especially prone to being bullied and a confined pen mixed with standard or larger breeds invites injuries.

A Silkie skull (as with many other crested breeds) are prone to an open skull bone with only skin covering the skull/brain. Any peck from an aggressive, large, or heavy bird to a crest-headed bird can cause injury to the brain, paralysis, or even death.

Silkies and Polish should not be confined with standard breeds of chickens and even in free-range where they have more chances to avoid bullies it's no guarantee they are completely free from big bird harm -- IMO.

Open skulls come in varying sizes from small openings to large.

SILKIE SKULL

POLISH SKULL

Polish Chicken Skull - a great example of a vaulted skull pathology. (Pinterest)

 

[IRBchickenmama]

I'd say odds are good but not guaranteed. Like you said, every chicken is an individual. Hatchery birds are not bred for temperament. If you want to increase your odds of a docile bird, look for a local breeder with English Orpingtons specifically.

I have the British Chocolate Orpington Heritage Breed. I find she's causing my other birds to not lay because she was so far behind in development. Now, her crop and wattle have just gone red. Current picture :
Please offer Orpington suggestions/your knowledge for me to get her to start laying now. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[knoturavggrl]

I have the British Chocolate Orpington Heritage Breed. I find she's causing my other birds to not lay because she was so far behind in development. Now, her crop and wattle have just gone red. Current picture :
Please offer Orpington suggestions/your knowledge for me to get her to start laying now. Thanks everyone for your help.

I am no Orp expert but I can share my experience with my own English Orps. Mine matured much slower than my original chickens. I have a variety of other heritage breeds and they all started laying by 6 months approximately. My Orps omg the were hatched May 6 th of last year. One of my girls began laying last month the other just laid her first fairy egg today.

My Roosters also developed just as slowly adult feathering took quite some time and particularly my Jr Rooster, he only started crowing about a month ago and he STILL has an older teen feather pattern.

I have read this is typical of English Orps in general and they are not typically considered full grown until the one year mark, some even say not until after their first molt.

I don’t think there is anything you can do about it, it is just a breed trait. Good news is though, they are likely to continue laying throughout the winter months. not a bad trade in my opinion.