*Buff Orpington Thread!*

[Mountain Peeps]

Do BO chicks grow fairly fast? Mine are much bigger as compared to my other breeds of the same age. They are pretty bossy too!

Yes they do!

 

[andreanar]

Thanks for answering. I was starting to wonder if they were older than I thought.

 

[Brookshire11]

Do BO chicks grow fairly fast? Mine are much bigger as compared to my other breeds of the same age. They are pretty bossy too!

One of mine is very bossy (and vain! lol)
The other is a little more polite.

My bossy BO and my barred rock are the largest of my girls.

 

[Gldnrose]

I lost one of my Buff's the other day. I came home from work and was going to do some yard work so I let them out into the yard, everyone seemed fine and happy to be out. Only a few minutes later I noticed one of them under a bush just standing there. Only a few minutes later she was down. Seemed like she was panting, but it was not hot at all. I tried to get her to drink but she wanted no part of it. She could not stand up at all. I opened her mouth and couldn't see anything, she had no external wounds. She was gone in about 10 minutes. I am at such a loss as to what happened. They are only a little over a year old. I don't think she was egg bound, I had just gotten 5 eggs the day before (which means they all laid since I only have 5 hens). Nothing in yard has changed, as far as plants, never used chemicals, etc.

Has anything like this ever happened to anyone else? I just feel so bad.

RIP Red.......

 

[3goodeggs]

I lost a few orps that way. I have hatchery orpingtons and I think they have defects that catch up with them as they age. They started dying around the age of one or two. I think it was heart problems. or perhaps strokes.The ones that I still have five years later are fit and healthy.

I know I had one die from heat, but the others had no reason to just up and die. I did not do a necropsy because I do not know what I would have been looking for.

It was by no means any majority of the batch, just a few, and I started with 25. Odds are it will not happen to you again.

It is not anything you did or could have prevented.

I am sorry. They make such sweet little friends.

 

[andreanar]

Well my 2 BO's are still growing and growing! They are still a little leery of me, but today I found the way to their hearts-it's thru their stomachs! Yogurt makes a nice bribe!

 

[crazyhen]

I lost one of my Buff's the other day. I came home from work and was going to do some yard work so I let them out into the yard, everyone seemed fine and happy to be out. Only a few minutes later I noticed one of them under a bush just standing there. Only a few minutes later she was down. Seemed like she was panting, but it was not hot at all. I tried to get her to drink but she wanted no part of it. She could not stand up at all. I opened her mouth and couldn't see anything, she had no external wounds. She was gone in about 10 minutes. I am at such a loss as to what happened. They are only a little over a year old. I don't think she was egg bound, I had just gotten 5 eggs the day before (which means they all laid since I only have 5 hens). Nothing in yard has changed, as far as plants, never used chemicals, etc.

Has anything like this ever happened to anyone else? I just feel so bad.

RIP Red.......

I also had orps from hatcheries die last yr. No known cause and I am npip and A1 certified. This yr. I have ordered from Piglet. He has non hatchery orps. I am expecting them today or tomorrow. I can barely wait. He still has more if someone wants to order from him they are 8 wks old. He is NPIP too. Good luck all

 

[chickeelina]

Well my 2 BO's are still growing and growing! They are still a little leery of me, but today I found the way to their hearts-it's thru their stomachs! Yogurt makes a nice bribe!

Oh yea!! Yogurt!!! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks for the suggestions. Yogurt is great since it has acidophilus and easy on digestion! I am going to give that a try today.

 

[Gldnrose]

I lost a few orps that way. I have hatchery orpingtons and I think they have defects that catch up with them as they age. They started dying around the age of one or two. I think it was heart problems. or perhaps strokes.The ones that I still have five years later are fit and healthy.

I know I had one die from heat, but the others had no reason to just up and die. I did not do a necropsy because I do not know what I would have been looking for.

It was by no means any majority of the batch, just a few, and I started with 25. Odds are it will not happen to you again.

It is not anything you did or could have prevented.

I am sorry. They make such sweet little friends.

I didn't do necropsy either for the same reason. The only "sign" I saw was after she started to go downhill, and that was her comb turning blue. I knew as soon as I saw that that it wasn't going to be good. I only have 4 now and they are all hatchery stock so I really hope I don't lose anymore. Thanks for the kind words, it does make me feel better )

Well my 2 BO's are still growing and growing! They are still a little leery of me, but today I found the way to their hearts-it's thru their stomachs! Yogurt makes a nice bribe!

Oh Yes!!!! They love food, lol. They'll be your best friends if you've got treats for them. Mine love everything under the sun, but watch out if I shake the bag of meal worms! I think they'd trample me if they could. I use the meal worms for the bribe to put them back into their run, they just can't say no to them

I also had orps from hatcheries die last yr. No known cause and I am npip and A1 certified. This yr. I have ordered from Piglet. He has non hatchery orps. I am expecting them today or tomorrow. I can barely wait. He still has more if someone wants to order from him they are 8 wks old. He is NPIP too. Good luck all

Were yours young also? I sure hope I don't lose anymore, fingers crossed. I think when I am ready to get more again I will try to go the non-hatchery route also. Good luck with your new babies. Make sure to post some pictures!

 

[crazyhen]

Mine were from Mt. Healthy. Mine before had all been good but not last yr. I got them from a local farm store dealer and he got them in the day I was there. I got them from his box as he opened it, no chance of getting a disease there.
I can barely wait for these to come. As the saying goes they are in the mail. Heaven help them.!! I can not post pictures here. I have tried multiple times. Once they changed the format it just would not work with my vista sigh! Someday maybe I can afford to up date my computer but not now.
I have several other line bred orps. I love them too. I have a Blue and I have a solid white. From now on it will be buffs and Delaweres. I have Katys line. Since I found out they were rare I intend to try to get the poultry group here to let me give them some too. Just to increase their num. The more the better.