Breeding Orpringtons

[FC16]

I’ve only ever hatched eggs from my own chickens a couple of times and only to make some cool hybrids, I’m considering keeping some Orpringtons in spring and breeding them.
I’m not very clued up on the genetics side of chicken keeping so this may seem a stupid question to some.

If I were to have a variation of different colour Orpringtons (I actually want to get 1 of each colour) and keep them all in the same pen with an Orprington rooster (could be any colour not sure yet), would the colour of the offspring be: a mix of colours of the hen and rooster, the colour of the hen, or the colour of the rooster? (I assumed probably a mix but wanted to ask)

Also, would the offspring still have all the common traits of an Orprington (egg production, and broodiness) even if you’ve bred two different colours together?

Again, I usually just get some local hatching eggs or order online so I really don’t know much about genetics and this may seem silly

 

[CloneFly]

Oooh, this is an interesting question. Following!

 

[NatJ]

If I were to have a variation of different colour Orpringtons (I actually want to get 1 of each colour) and keep them all in the same pen with an Orprington rooster (could be any colour not sure yet), would the colour of the offspring be: a mix of colours of the hen and rooster, the colour of the hen, or the colour of the rooster? (I assumed probably a mix but wanted to ask)

It depends on what colors you start with.
Sometimes the offspring will match the father, sometimes they will match the mother, sometimes they will look like a mix, and sometimes they will not match anything you see in the parents.

I don't know what colors you have access to, but if you give a list of which specific colors you are considering, some people here can predict the offspring colors.

Several Orpington colors are based on black, with modifiers. For those, if you figure out how the modifiers interact, you know what to expect from the offspring.
Black-based colors include black, blue, splash, lavender, chocolate, cuckoo or barred, mottled, and some others.

Some other Orpington colors, like Buff, have a very different set of color genes than the black-based ones. Breeding a buff to any of the black-based colors has a good chance of producing chicks with a lot of black, and some buff leakage. Or white leakage in some cases.

Also, would the offspring still have all the common traits of an Orprington (egg production, and broodiness) even if you’ve bred two different colours together?

Yes, I would expect the offspring to still have those traits.

In general, if both parents have a particular trait, the chicks should have it too. Due to how genes interact, there can be some exceptions to that, but I don't think any of them would apply to the traits you are asking about.

 

[FC16]

It depends on what colors you start with.
Sometimes the offspring will match the father, sometimes they will match the mother, sometimes they will look like a mix, and sometimes they will not match anything you see in the parents.

I don't know what colors you have access to, but if you give a list of which specific colors you are considering, some people here can predict the offspring colors.

Several Orpington colors are based on black, with modifiers. For those, if you figure out how the modifiers interact, you know what to expect from the offspring.
Black-based colors include black, blue, splash, lavender, chocolate, cuckoo or barred, mottled, and some others.

Some other Orpington colors, like Buff, have a very different set of color genes than the black-based ones. Breeding a buff to any of the black-based colors has a good chance of producing chicks with a lot of black, and some buff leakage. Or white leakage in some cases.


Yes, I would expect the offspring to still have those traits.

In general, if both parents have a particular trait, the chicks should have it too. Due to how genes interact, there can be some exceptions to that, but I don't think any of them would apply to the traits you are asking about.

Thankyou for your response - very helpful. I would probably go for a buff rooster as there’s quite a few local to me. Then would probably breed to it to different colour Orpringtons, any colour Orprington hens I can get. Blue,black, buff and white are the ones I’ve seen advertised and would try and get them, I’m pretty sure there’s others too which I could try find.

 

[FC16]

I’ve just seen another thread saying that a black Orpington rooster gets nice looking offspring when bred with brown, blue and black hens. So maybe a black Orprington rooster might be what I need to try find

 

[NatJ]

Thankyou for your response - very helpful. I would probably go for a buff rooster as there’s quite a few local to me. Then would probably breed to it to different colour Orpringtons, any colour Orprington hens I can get. Blue,black, buff and white are the ones I’ve seen advertised and would try and get them, I’m pretty sure there’s others too which I could try find.

With a buff rooster and those hens, I would expect:

Buff x black, chicks with a lot of black and some buff/gold leakage.
Black x blue, half of chicks like the above, the other half with a lot of blue and the same buff/gold leakage.
(Either of those has a chance of showing white instead of the black or blue, because some buffs have a gene that turns all black into white.)

Buff x buff gives buff, of course.

White are hard, because there are several sets of genes that can make a chicken look white. It's most common to get either white chicks or black chicks from a cross with white, but some individual white chickens give other colors.

I’ve just seen another thread saying that a black Orpington rooster gets nice looking offspring when bred with brown, blue and black hens. So maybe a black Orprington rooster might be what I need to try find

That could also work.

Black x black gives more blacks.
Black x blue gives some blues and some black.
Black x brown depends on the genetics of the "brown," but often gives black chicks.

A blue rooster would give you a little more color variety than a black rooster would, because then the blue hens would give a few splash chicks to go with the blue and black ones. A blue rooster would also produce some blue chicks and some black ones with most other colors of hens, instead of producing mostly black chicks with them.

 

[FC16]

With a buff rooster and those hens, I would expect:

Buff x black, chicks with a lot of black and some buff/gold leakage.
Black x blue, half of chicks like the above, the other half with a lot of blue and the same buff/gold leakage.
(Either of those has a chance of showing white instead of the black or blue, because some buffs have a gene that turns all black into white.)

Buff x buff gives buff, of course.

White are hard, because there are several sets of genes that can make a chicken look white. It's most common to get either white chicks or black chicks from a cross with white, but some individual white chickens give other colors.


That could also work.

Black x black gives more blacks.
Black x blue gives some blues and some black.
Black x brown depends on the genetics of the "brown," but often gives black chicks.

A blue rooster would give you a little more color variety than a black rooster would, because then the blue hens would give a few splash chicks to go with the blue and black ones. A blue rooster would also produce some blue chicks and some black ones with most other colors of hens, instead of producing mostly black chicks with them.

The blue rooster does sound like a very good option now you’ve said it, thank you again for your help I will search around and see what I can find

 

[ColtHandorf]

I’ve only ever hatched eggs from my own chickens a couple of times and only to make some cool hybrids, I’m considering keeping some Orpringtons in spring and breeding them.
I’m not very clued up on the genetics side of chicken keeping so this may seem a stupid question to some.

If I were to have a variation of different colour Orpringtons (I actually want to get 1 of each colour) and keep them all in the same pen with an Orprington rooster (could be any colour not sure yet), would the colour of the offspring be: a mix of colours of the hen and rooster, the colour of the hen, or the colour of the rooster? (I assumed probably a mix but wanted to ask)

Also, would the offspring still have all the common traits of an Orprington (egg production, and broodiness) even if you’ve bred two different colours together?

Again, I usually just get some local hatching eggs or order online so I really don’t know much about genetics and this may seem silly

Resident English Orpington breeder chiming in:

If you want to keep Orpingtons and have them in a variety of colors, while not advised, you could have Blue, Black, Splash, Chocolate, and Lavender all in the same pen. You could even add birds of those varieties that are Mottled as well. Blue and Chocolate will yield Mauve chicks as well. I would not add any Buff or Red-based birds. I'd avoid Laced as well. If you happen upon some birds carrying Recessive rather than Dominant White, those can pop up from time to time.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I should mention if other varieties are mixed, and the resulting offspring do not meet an approved variety, I would say that they are non-standard Orpingtons. They are an Orpington, but not a recognized color.

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

It depends on what colors you start with.
Sometimes the offspring will match the father, sometimes they will match the mother, sometimes they will look like a mix, and sometimes they will not match anything you see in the parents.

I don't know what colors you have access to, but if you give a list of which specific colors you are considering, some people here can predict the offspring colors.

Several Orpington colors are based on black, with modifiers. For those, if you figure out how the modifiers interact, you know what to expect from the offspring.
Black-based colors include black, blue, splash, lavender, chocolate, cuckoo or barred, mottled, and some others.

Some other Orpington colors, like Buff, have a very different set of color genes than the black-based ones. Breeding a buff to any of the black-based colors has a good chance of producing chicks with a lot of black, and some buff leakage. Or white leakage in some cases.


Yes, I would expect the offspring to still have those traits.

In general, if both parents have a particular trait, the chicks should have it too. Due to how genes interact, there can be some exceptions to that, but I don't think any of them would apply to the traits you are asking about.

Can you clue me in tohowthe coloring/the genotype of the Jubilee if you have a clue obviously they appear to be mahogany with mottling/spangled type coloring just on observation, but I know that the genotype will not be that.