Blue Orpington

[athalia17]

Abq do you sell eggs?

 

[Abqorps1]

Abq do you sell eggs?

Hi,
I don't typically sell eggs as shipping eggs is pretty difficult, however I would be open to the idea of local pick-up. Let me know if you're interested.
https://www.facebook.com/abqorpingtons

 

[cowgirljr]

one of our blue laced hens with her splash baby- Sunny Side Up Ranch.com

 

[Our Roost]

Very nice! Not often does one get a splash from the effort. I will be crossing my Lemon Cuckoo orp roo with my blue orp hens this april. I think this will be the last somewhat sucessful blue orpington hatch from my blue orpingtons, My rooster is aging and maynot be as fertile. The small group I have of blue orps is subject to inbreeding so the lemon cuckoo orp will have to breed some new orpingtons! Excited to see what crops up from the mix.

 

[cowgirljr]

I have lemon cuckoos also! But they are only 3 months. That sounds very interesting to breed those 2 together. Let me know what happens! Www.SunnySudeUpRanch.com

 

[Our Roost]

Well, the result will definitely be orpington by nature, but what actually transfers between the birds physical attributes will be most interesting. I have taken a great interest in utility breeding of late and have a few breeds I want to introduce to other breeds in that effort. Some crossbreeding and some parent breeding within a breed. In other words, reintroduce a bird used in its making. Call it reverse engineering!

 

[Duck Drover]

I'm looking for good quality blue orpingtons, American. All I can find everywhere are English for sale. Do you know of anyone that sells any American orps, or sells hatching eggs? I'm really having a tough time trying to find anyone. I'm new, but committed to raising good stock that I could show- here in mn.

Sincerely,
Rachael Cochrane
612.207.8413
[email protected]

The Orpington is an English breed that has been imported to America. The American show standards are slightly different than the English standard but they are more similar than different. Someone can correct me if I am wrong but I believe the main difference is that the American standard requires that the undercarriage feathers are several inches off the ground while the English standard favors the Cochin type feathering with undercarriage feathers that touch the ground. I think feather stubs are not allowed in either standard but I don't recall if it is a disqualification or point deduction. I don't show but I do breed to the American show standard.

The American type is not considered desirable in show quality birds. An example is the hatchery buff Orpington that is a cross with a Rhode Island Red, if I remember correctly, in order to increase egg production at the expense of the basketball shape of the English Orpington. This American type is also a problem in project colors such as lavender Orpingtons.

Anyway, people with show quality Orpingtons are going to list them as English Orpingtons since that is the breed name. If you see listings for American Orpingtons it is most likely a production cross or a project bird and it will need work to bring it up to the American show standards.

 

[Our Roost]

Finding pure blue orp breeding stock could prove pretty difficult within the U.S. Most of what is out there is hatchery stock. Read up on the history of William Cook. He hailed from England and was the creator of the Orpington breed. This is why this breed sometimes carries the name English in front of Orpington. American Orpingtons are no different! Same breed, only transported over the continents. He died in 1904. His family carried on with presentation of the blue orps. Don't confuse the blue with the standard buff because they are not the same! Do some reading.

 

[Duck Drover]

Ours are all out of the Korfus line that Christina Korfus, Korfus Kluckers and president of the American Orpington Association, imported from England and then bred to the American show standard. You can find imported stock in the US without having to import them yourself but you need to know the lineage of your birds.

Getting second hand breeder discards is a good place to start because show breeders typically have quality birds that rotate through their breeding program before they move on to refine the next generations. My hen that was tagged by Christina Korfus was a beautiful bird but her eyes were not as dark as they needed to be to be a show winner. I would love to get birds direct from her but she is very selective about who she sells birds to so I got my hen after another breeder sold her to me with some of her Korfus descendents.

I am not interested in showing so I don't need the best of the best but I do want to raise high quality birds on a budget. People who show know far more than me because they show to win. I just like chickens and eggs.

 

[Duck Drover]

I did my research on Korfus Kluckers awhile back and now when I look up American Orpington Association I can't find anything. I saw Christina Korfus listed as secretary for the United Orpington Club though. I could be wrong if there is no such thing as an American Orpington Association. It looks like Christina started out with some birds from Cecil Moore.