Welcome to BYC and so very sorry for your loss.
I think Orpingtons are an excellent choice and they do quite well here in California.

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I bet you'll really enjoy it then. Nothing like watching them just be what they are meant to be!!When I say I am a newbie, I am referring to raising chickens as a hobby. I paid my way through private school by caring for thousands of layers in the school's egg producing "factory". Hated cage and wire-birds who never touched the ground upset me greatly. I guess I want to make amends with my own humanely treated flock.