Blue Australorp breeder (on very small scale) all the way from Western Australia

[hotlipshens]

Gorgeous photos of gorgeous birds! Can you tell me what color to expect my girl to be when grown? Will her beak and feet darken? TIA!!!

 

[CB and CG]

Hi @hotlipshens ,
If your baby is a genuine pure Australorp she will be a light blue or a splash and her legs will darken to a slate blue colour and her beak will go partly/mostly black depending on the genetics of her parents obviously. I find that light blue or splashes are sometimes born with lighter coloured features. Like I said before, this info will be true if she is a genuine pure Australorp. If not then her legs and beak could be any colour. If you tell me the colour of both of her parents I will be able to give you a better idea. Hope this has somewhat helped.

 

[hotlipshens]

Thank you so much! I stopped at TSC to buy grit and saw this bin of adorable chicks labelled "black australorp". New to chickens but want to try a bunch of breeds trying for variety and hoping to find favs for longer term...layer and Lyme tick control purposes. This girl stood out from all the rest with her coloration so I picked her. I knew nothing of the breed - went online and only learned then that there is a blue and they are stunning! Everything I've read about this breed sounds wonderful and I'm already in love with her friendly, confident disposition. Is it true they are good for free ranging? I'm also already quite attached to my buff orp chicks but read they don't fare well free ranging. We do have hawks so I even cover my puppies when they're still small and outdoors. I've bred and shown AKC champion English setters for nearly 30 years but have no desire to breed or show chickens so my untrained eye will always find her perfectly stunning - imperfections and all. As long as she's healthy and happy so am I I've never seen a photo of a speckled chick...will be funny if she grows up to match my setters! Again, thank you for your help...aussie experts are hard to find.

 

[TwoCrows]

You will love your Aussie! They are such fun birds to own. Very docile, friendly and very hardy over all too. Spend a lot of time with her as a chick. My Aussies are huge lap chickens. They just love to linger on my lap for all the lovin!

Enjoy!

 

[hotlipshens]

Thanks - I've spent a ton of time socializing puppies so know how valuable early life experiences are to final temperament. The buffs have been here 2 weeks and already fly out to my lap when I open the brooder door...just what I want I'm already in love and she's fast becoming my fav. Any name suggestions? I had a setter that I loved dearly who died from Lymes named Bindi (registered as butterfly kisses to honor her dad) and have a new girl puppy named Baci to honor her (Italian for kisses) so need to avoid the Steve Irwin theme!

 

[hotlipshens]

Look, they multiplied! TSC gave me 2 cornish rocks on Monday instead of plymouth rocks so they let me exchange them and now I have 3 adorable aussies! The first pic is of all three and the next 2 are the new peeps. Educated guesses on colors? TIA!

 

[CB and CG]

Looking at the new pics, all three of them are black. The first pics you put up we're deceiving because we could only see the front of your baby and it made her look lighter in colour than what she actually is. You definitely have three beautiful black Australorps. Just goes to show inaccurate photos can be when judging the appearance of a bird.

 

[hotlipshens]

Thanks so much! It will be fun watching them grow up and color out. My English setters are usually born solid white and develop color slowly...it's a fun guessing game except when you have requests for specific colors I'm guessing the black will be easiest to spot when rounding up from free ranging...especially if they spend as much time in my fallow field as I expect.

 

[Timandsophy]

I'd like to get in touch with you if possible please? We live in Perth and would like to buy some Australorps as backyard chooks and pets. I've heard they are great with kids. Do you have some for sale please? Thanks

 

[CB and CG]

Hi Timandsophy,
I currently have no stock available unfortunately. They are a very beautiful breed that are also very docile so great for kids. My Australorps are lap chickens and regularly seek affection from humans so I would definitely recommend them. They are a large breed though and small children are sometimes intimidated by them but they are actually gentle giants that also lay lots of eggs. Even my older girls are still consistent layers. The only thing you need to be aware of is that they have a large tendency to go broody. I see this as a good thing though as it gives their reproductive system a break. My birds also lay well through winter. Usually moult from March to May/June and are laying again well by July. In my bias opinion they are one of the most practical and beautiful breeds so I would highly recommend them. If you send me a PM I can give you the contact details of a couple other Australorp breeders in the Perth area that I recommend.