Buff Orpington Rooster x Black Australorp Hen

[Circle D Enterprises]

I have a question for you breed "experts". If I were to cross a Buff Orpington rooster with a Black Australorp hen, what do you think I would come up with? What do you think the color of the offspring would be? What about temperament? And egg laying, what do you think would happen there? Would this be some sort of hybrid or would it be something in the Orpington family?

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

Ooooooh watching I want to know.

 

[Cheyenne97]

Following

 

[Cyprus]

Well, Australorps descended from Orpingtons and differ little in conformation. I imagine you would get a chicken looking more like an Orpington.
As for color, they would not be sex-linked. Neither buff nor black lies on the sex chromosomes.
I don't think you would get a primarily buff bird as black is epistatic and buff hides a lot of things, typically black. So, I would expect mostly black offspring with some leakage.
If you breed them well enough you could probably end up with something that would pass as a black Orpington.

 

[Cyprus]

Egg laying should be pretty steady; both breeds are excellent layers.
Temperament depends more on the handling by the owner than the individual bird. Cockerels tend to be more angsty.
I would expect broodiness. Both breeds are known to go broody ESPECIALLY Orpingtons, buff in particular.

 

[Aceoky]

They're technically both Orpinton breeds afaik, the coloring etc. I'm also very interested in all of that myself-following this,

 

[Cyprus]

They're technically both Orpinton breeds afaik, the coloring etc. I'm also very interested in all of that myself-following this,

Orpingtons are the original, Australorps are the descendant of Orpingtons brought to Australia and crossed with local breeds.
When classed, both fall under the English class. The main difference between the breeds is the conformation.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Well, I can tell you they would be black in color. Because black is dominant. (sometimes I wish it wasn't. It makes for such dull colors when crossing)

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

By the way, you should probably move this thread to the "General Breed Discussions and FAQ" Forum.

 

[JedJackson]

A lot depends on if you're using an English Orpington for the buff, or a typical production buff you see get from hatcheries. If it is the latter, then there wouldn't be much difference in size and body conformation between the two, so the offspring would look much like the parents. I agree they would be mostly black in color, maybe with a bit of leakage, and they would be good layers of light brown eggs.

It sounds like a fun cross. If you make it, I would love to see photos of the results.