I want ONE breed...DUMB???

[Vicker]

One breed is fine. Orpingtons are great, but they still get picked off by hawks. They aren't as skittish and are a little bit slower, being so heavy. They do have a tendency to go broody, which is good for hatching but bad for egg production when several are broody at once. Australorps are the WORST about going broody in my flock!

 

[Judy Todd]

So if I go 10 lavender Orpingtons and 10 black Australops, what could be my strategy for getting out of the breed I don’t prefer?

Dont, know j0ow they price the lavenders whee you ae, but it is a rip off here in the PCNW . Paid over 15 dollars for mine a fw years ago and this year the farm store was charging $35, get real. They when they all did not sell, 50% off, crazy, $18 , boy what a deal.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

So I don't know if anyone told you yet, just know none of their chicks will show lavender. They'll carry it, but unless it's specifically lavender to lavender, or lavender to lavender carrying, they will be black birds

 

[NatJ]

If I get 5 of each breed female and 5 of each unsexed, I could end up with quite a few roosters. Will the excess of roosters become a problem before they are old/big enough to be butchered?

I don't remember if anyone addressed this point.

You can butcher them at any age, any size. They are always edible.

So if the males start to become a problem, you could just decide they are "big enough" and butcher them then. I'm guessing they will go at least 6-8 weeks before you have trouble, and they might go several months longer than that (some breeds mature faster than others, and some individuals mature faster than others.)

Be aware, if you butcher the ones that mature first, you will end up keeping a slow-maturing male, and his offspring may mature slower yet. So consider that before deciding who to butcher and who to keep!

 

[3KillerBs]

Be aware, if you butcher the ones that mature first, you will end up keeping a slow-maturing male, and his offspring may mature slower yet. So consider that before deciding who to butcher and who to keep!

Excellent point.

The male is half the flock so choose him carefully!

 

[BeanNoot316]

Yes, I was just looking into Delawares as well. I read they are pretty disease-resistant, which is a plus. The downside is that they are really noisy, where Orpingtons are relatively quiet (for chickens I guess). I think we would get annoyed at birds constantly cackling and roosters constantly crowing. But that should be a minor point.

Also, I don't care about their appearance whatsoever. If they are ugly and they serve their purpose, so be it. I just don't want them to be mean. I like the idea of my kids being able to handle or just be around them without fear of getting spurred or pecked!

I would take the “ quietness” of Orpingtons with a grain of salt. My loudest chickens are my Orpingtons. Whether it be my rooster or hens it seems like they are constantly making noise. My Easter egger and sapphire gems seem to be the quiet ones.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I would take the “ quietness” of Orpingtons with a grain of salt. My loudest chickens are my Orpingtons. Whether it be my rooster or hens it seems like they are constantly making noise. My Easter egger and sapphire gems seem to be the quiet ones.

Same. My orpington rooster is so. Freaking. Loud

 

[Lilbitsnpieces]

One breed is possible. But you MUST do your research..orpingtons are great dual purpose birds but are very fluffy..the also sit closer to the ground..so more chance for poopy butt and dirty undersides..quite the problems if you live in a wet or rainy area...also the fluff makes them more prone to heat stroke...so again research is very important..also when you finally make your decision..PAY PREMIUM for good heritage stock..this may be 20 to 45 dollars a bird..but this guarantees bloodline..everyone breeds but good genetics is the difference..a broody hen, large carcass size ect...Dominique's as well as Barred Plymouth Rocks come to mind..but again from a reputable source..not Tsc or bomgaars or any other "farm store"..these birds usually don't meet up to a breeds full measure....

 

[762]

Don't buy what they're peddlin! One of my Orps was the loudest lady ever.. preaching so loud before she laid.. my husband thought we had a goat dying.

All birds are individuals regardless of breed.. you may have to move out the noisy ones.. on to their new homes.

Please understand that inbreeding is not the same for chickens or poultry as it is for mammals.. Line breeding or clan breeding are both fine choices. Doing the cross correctly matters.. meaning son to mother or daughter to father.. but preferably not brother to sister. There is LOTS of information available regarding this subject. It takes several generations of CLOSE inbreeding in poultry before deformities start to pop up.. the first notable concern would then most likely show up in the form of decreased fertility or decreased vigor before deformities.

I also thought Orpington would be the perfect bird back when I started.. it sure was on paper. But in reality not so much.. they were slow to mature (*for table or laying), bossy in the flock, I experienced what I think was GENETIC fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome in one lady despite NOT feeding excess treats and using only high quality formulated ration.

For me.. I like straight combs.. but choose Wyandottes.. they grow fast and dress well for the table, raise their own chicks, cold hardy, forage well, etc.. available in so many colors as well.. you could even go with black, blue, and splash laced.. red wyandottes.. and keep a variety so you can tell them apart a bit but still have them breed true (essentially).. Or if keeping silver and gold laced could have them be sex linked.. via the silver gene.

Colored leg bands are commonly used to tell birds apart when keeping.

One quick note on the autosexing Bielefelder.. they grew very fast and dressing out well at 4 pounds at 16 weeks. However the ladies were extremely late to lay compared to other breeds.

The Deleware I tried.. didn't meet the paper perfection described.. in weight or laying.. but sample size may have been too small.

I haven't read the whole conversation yet, being barely on page one. I'm sure there has been lots of great feedback already.

Hope you are enjoying BYC!

I am but I’m already pulling my feathers out! Have an idea of a direction I want to go and then it gets blown to bits. I need to make a decision soon.

 

[TXChookstead]

I tried to start out with Black Australorps for the very reasons you have mentioned, 762. It was a nice thought, but it turned out that our rooster was probably crossed with something that produced blue eggs, making him an Easter Egger. We discovered this when his daughters started laying...mint green and olive eggs, as well as some brown! So much for the purebred factor, but the Australorp portion makes for prolific egg laying and the Easter Egger makes our egg baskets colorful. We can't really complain about either!

We added Cream/Opal Legbars last spring for a bit of blue, but keep the two flocks separate. That gets a bit complicated. I think my initial idea was a good one, but starting with really good verified purebred stock would have been essential to the plan, like Lilbitsandpieces suggested.

In the end, if everything goes "south," having good, dual purpose layers of any sort may outweigh everything else, breed included. But ideally, start strong and it will make the chicks and hatching eggs you may sell more profitable.