California - Northern

[torrelee]

Jeremy, your english orps are beautiful! I definately think that dual purpose birds are the way to go, and I was eyeballing all of the gray, lavender, blue birds on the breed threads earlier... Those may be a good way to go!

 

[simplyscrambled]

Quote:
I agree, a very nice segment. Yay for chickens!

 

[Laurieks]

Quote:
x2 but I'm thrilled at the rest. Thanks Rob for letting people know not to try getting just one!

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Thank you.

They're also the sweetest, most loving birds. They really are gentle giants, I know that term is used with other breeds, Cochins and Brahmas especially, but in my experience none compare to the calm demeanor and overall docile attitude of the Orpington.

The chicks produced from my birds will be Blue or Splash, as my cockerel is a Splash over 5 Blue and 1 Black hen, the odds of getting either color being approximately a 50/50 chance. Said chicks will also be pure English, so their type and confirmation to the British SOP should be spectacular. I'm expecting even bigger birds than their parents, with gorgeous lacing from the Blues. I hopefully will start hatching in early summertime, end of May, early June.

ETA: Have you ever seen Lavender or Blue birds in person? I've had both and I am much, much more partial to the Blue, Black and Splash birds. The Lavender color doesn't really look Lavender in person... more like a dishwater gray. IMO.

 

[gryeyes]

I agree with you, Jeremy. For the longest time I thought I had Lav Orps, but a knowledgeable person informed me they were Blues, and even provided photos of Lavs. Oh my. My Blues are much prettier!!

 

[HHandbasket]

I hatched some chicks from gryeyes' eggs, and I think one of them is a blue orpington. He/she is feathering in & is obviously very blue!

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Congrats! I love the Blues!

 

[HHandbasket]

My Olivia is also blue. She hatched from one of Wynette's OE eggs, but 25% of this batch had straight combs & lay luscious, dark brown eggs that look like BCM eggs. Olivia's parentage, I believe, is this: Blue ameraucana hen x blue penedesenca (I don't even know what that is LOL), then the offspring was crossed back to a BCM roo to darken egg color. She hatched from a lovely olive egg, and some of her siblings carry the blue egg gene and lay olive eggs, but Olivia does not. I'll have to post a recent pic... she's got a beard & muffs but a straight comb and is a gorgeous, almost lacey-looking blue with the darker blue hackle feathers. She's also my most docile girl and is very friendly, follows us around the yard, whereas most of the chickens really only love us when we come out with treats.

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
She sounds beautiful!

 

[BenAnnaMama]

I have a dozen eggs in the incubator right now and *if* they hatch will have a few chicks to house. I believe they will be mixed breeds because they came from a non breeder with many different types of breeds on his property. My question is, who takes these kinds of chicks? Most people on this website are breed specific but what happens to these little babies? I will probably keep a couple to add to my new flock but will need to home a few as well.