Chicken Breed Focus - Orpington

[thecarmiearmy]

Just got home from a 2 week trip. It feels so good to be back with my girls and Bung!

 

[kiara0927]

The popular Orpington breed originated from the town of Orpington, Kent, in south-east England, where the original black Orpington was bred by William Cook in 1886. (Mr Cook also created the Orpington duck breed). Mr Cook crossed Minorcas, Langshans and Plymouth Rocks to create a new hybrid breed, from which he selected to breed a black bird, that would also exhibit well, by hiding the dirt and soot of London.
The breed was shown in Madison Square Gardens in 1895 and its popularity soared. Its large size and soft appearance together with its beautiful colours make it very attractive breed and as such its popularity has grown as a show bird rather than a utility breed. Hens are fairly often broody and are good mothers. Although rather heavy, they are able to fly small distances but rarely do so.
The original breed colours/varieties are black, white, buff, blue and splash. Although there are many additional varieties recognised throughout the world, for example the Jubilee Orpington, only the original colours are recognised by the American Standard, the Buff being the most common colour. In the beginning of the twentieth century, Herman Kuhn of Germany developed a Bantam variety of Orpingtons and the Bantam retains the appearance of the LF Orpingtons, but in a smaller size. There is a large variety of colours in the Bantam version, including black, blue laced, white, buff, red, buff black laced, barred, buff Columbian, and birchen.

Details:
Purpose: Dual; Exhibition
Egg laying: 175-200 eggs annually
Weight: Cocks: 7.9-10 lbs; Hens: 5.9-7.9 lbs
Colours/Varieties: Black, Buff, Blue, White, Red, Splash, Jubilee (and more)


Pic by @lauralou


Pic by @allaboutdemchicks


Pic by @cherylcohen


Pic by @Fowl Visions


Pic by @wilds of pa

BYC Breed Reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/orpington

BYC Breed Discussions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/495402/buff-orpington-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/386051/the-imported-english-orpington-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/426353/the-bantam-orpington-thread/0_30


Do you own Orpingtons? Are you an Orpington breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

To me there is no other breed like the Orphington they are excellent mothers and can get very broody.My mom had all Buff Orphingtons and had raised them for yrs before passing away in 2010 so I took up her traits but instead of the Buffs I went for the Lavender blues and Splash and just like the Buffs they are an excellent breed. They are great egg layers also although it's said they lay around 180 eggs a yr my mom's hens laid halfway through winter time and would stop for a few weeks then back laying again, As for my hens the blue and lavenders lay just as good it is now January and they are still laying daily.I highly recommend this breed their temperament is excellent very calm, Although SOMETIMES not all the time lol the Roos may get alil aggressive the hens are so very calm and very sweet.

 

[thecarmiearmy]

To me there is no other breed like the Orphington they are excellent mothers and can get very broody.My mom had all Buff Orphingtons and had raised them for yrs before passing away in 2010 so I took up her traits but instead of the Buffs I went for the Lavender blues and Splash and just like the Buffs they are an excellent breed. They are great egg layers also although it's said they lay around 180 eggs a yr my mom's hens laid halfway through winter time and would stop for a few weeks then back laying again, As for my hens the blue and lavenders lay just as good it is now January and they are still laying daily.I highly recommend this breed their temperament is excellent very calm, Although SOMETIMES not all the time lol the Roos may get alil aggressive the hens are so very calm and very sweet.

They're all so pretty! Are the Splash a type of Lavendar? The colors look similar other than the splash of black.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

· What made you decide to get this breed?
I was planning to get 4 Black Austrlorps (< Spelling??) but when I went to TSC to get them they had none. I really didn't want to wait (Yeah, first timer) and so I got 4 Buff Orpington's and 2 Golden Laced Wyandotte's. Sadly, later that day one of the Buff Orps got sick me, not knowing what to do went back to TSC and gave it back in trade for another GLW. Then I had 3 BO's and 3 GLW's..... that's how it happened.
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
Yes, I own them for fun. I own 3 of that breed (plus GLW's) and they are a joy to have around! I got chickens for pets - eggs are just a bonus!
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
I love how calm and friendly they are. They are also pretty good egg layers and super pretty. They are a heavier breed so they don't flap around a lot. I recommend them for people just starting their first flock.
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

Find other pictures here: Clucky's Random Chicken Pics

 

[GenuineJo]

What made you decide to get this breed?
-So the coronavirus hit. My family is at home, kids are bored, I had been thinking about chickens since I heard that the companies stopped picking up chickens from the chicken farms because processing plants could not remain open (more than 10 people). I researched the types of chickens and settled on these for several reasons: dual purpose, friendly, quiet, relatively shorter time before maturity to lay eggs. Bonus is the beauty of the bird. A carton of 18 eggs was $5 and my husband agreed to get some for me. I have 10, still all alive after 3 weeks! I hope I am being a good chicken momma.

Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
-I wanted them for eggs, and to let the kids experience raising chickens, but like the idea of breeding and that they are dual purpose in case we need to raise for meat (plus they have a shorter, not the shortest, time before maturity). Added bonus is the fun of just sitting and watching them, its very calming and sometimes entertaining.

What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
-I do not know my flock well. They are only 3 weeks old. At least that is what I am thinking because I got them at Tractor Supply.

I will totally need help from this community sexing them.
This one, from what people here at BYC say is a boy

I have a few others who have started growing combs, but none as big as his. He is bigger than all of them. These are a few of the others.

Here is the day after I got them

Glad this site exists. I just joined today. I downloaded the app to my phone and will try to keep up with all the info!

 

[Alyanna77]

We got a mixed flock of 6 chicks last weekend & so far our Lavender Orp (Darling) is the absolute sweetest of the bunch! She fell asleep on my daughter's hand her first day here.

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[RebeccaRN]

We got a mixed flock of 6 chicks last weekend & so far our Lavender Orp (Darling) is the absolute sweetest of the bunch! She fell asleep on my daughter's hand her first day here.

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I want a lavender but can't find any

 

[LaFleche]

I want a lavender but can't find any

Here you go: https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/lavender-orpingtons.html

 

[RebeccaRN]

Here you go: https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/lavender-orpingtons.html

They were all out yesterday when I looked

 

[LaFleche]

They were all out yesterday when I looked

Try Cackle or any other reputable hatchery.