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Faraday40 said:
I'll play!

What birds were your #1 favorite?
Chickens. Love many breeds but big fat fluffy English Orps are my fav. Son loves Appenzeller Spitzhauben & Daughter is a Silkie fan. Throw in a few seramas, a piano-playing Modern Game Bantam, and a feisty, 7 yr old Sebright who is the top hen
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What have you kept?
Only kept chickens with occasional (seasonal) quail & turkeys (2-3 at a time)
Hatched: chickens (big orps & Bielefelders down to tiny seramas and many breeds in between), ducks, quail, turkeys. Love to hatch!! - best when we do it for others

What didn't work out well?
Love-Hate relationship with turkeys. Cute poults, annoying and hysterical antics, great flock protection, they eat a lot, can be bullies to the chickens, and taste delicious. Every fall I'm counting the days until their departure. But spring hits and I soften, then decide to hatch some again.
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What would you like to keep someday?
Rabbits. I had a Flemish giant as a kid. Also some Netherland dwarfs.
Maybe.... Maybe... If I had the property.... trying a few goats or sheep.
Click to expand...
May I ask how you go about finding English orps and if you need to have pure parent stock to get good, heavy framed orpingtons with non- shredding? I am getting hatching eggs from someone tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to them for many reasons. I'm curious if mine will ever look as full as yours. I've read people say that breeding them takes a lot of time but it's possible and others say you'll never have good feathers and frame unless you start with show quality.
 
Oh, and my favorite birds are ducks if we're going by personality.
If we're going by any other trait, it would be any bird other than ducks. :lau
 
Jego said:
May I ask how you go about finding English orps and if you need to have pure parent stock to get good, heavy framed orpingtons with non- shredding? I am getting hatching eggs from someone tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to them for many reasons. I'm curious if mine will ever look as full as yours. I've read people say that breeding them takes a lot of time but it's possible and others say you'll never have good feathers and frame unless you start with show quality.
Click to expand...
Technically all orps are English, but the UK standards have a lot more fluff. More rounded - almost like cochins. It was very costly to get imported Orpingtons into the US back in 2011. In 2013 I got my 1st orp = a lavender with 50% imported English bloodlines because that's all I could afford. The next year I was able to add from Ewe Crazy Farms (now that line is at Carolina Rare Poultry) by splitting the cost with a friend. He also had some birds from Greenfire Farms. We swapped eggs a lot and enjoyed all the different colors. I personally love the big fluffy look so that's what I bred for. I spread my flock around to other friends, as "back-ups" in case of tragedy / predators. Breeding does take time so I didn't want to lose a decade of work.

Shredding can happen with lavenders so it's vital to keep black orps as well. I would hope most people breeding lavender would know they need some black/lav splits around. The APA standards are different, so the imported English bloodlines may not show well. (However, it depends on who's judging. Last year we entered a blue rooster, black hen, and black pullet. All earned class champs last year with our hen receiving grand champ in our county.)

Orps take a long time to fill out, so a hen will look nicer than a pullet. However, hatchery "buff orps" will never compare. *Note: A lot of people think they're called "Buff Orpingtons." They will ask me, "What color of 'buff Orpingtons' do you have?" :lol:

If you want to start breeding, I'd recommend investing in good stock. There are many ways to decrease cost. (Buying retired laying hens, picking up fertile eggs, or even getting shipped eggs) Why waste years trying to breed when they are easily available today? If you just want a friendly, docile pet to lay eggs then any orp will do. Just avoid hatchery birds because they're bred for quantity not long life-span.

Although they are beautiful, my Orpingtons do have some negatives:
Cost (You won't find them as chicks in feed stores for $3-5)
Poopy butt (All that fluff needs a little more bathing)
Food intake (They are bigger so more food & poop; Can free range but they don't go too far from the food bowl)
Dumb & Docile (Take longer to learn to roost, use nest boxes, find their way out of the chicken tractor to the coop. We train our chickens. Orps just need a lot more practice.)
Sensitive to changes (a flock member dies or gets sold - laying stops; chicks are added - laying stops; new feed - laying stops; new feeder - laying stops) Sometimes it's just a few days or a week; other times, they'll decide to molt for 1-2 months.
Production (Eggs are huge, but only 3-5 per week. Most breeds lay best during their 1st two years. My orps are OK layers 1st season, better the second year, and year 3 they're at their best production.)
 
Faraday40 said:
Technically all orps are English, but the UK standards have a lot more fluff. More rounded - almost like cochins. It was very costly to get imported Orpingtons into the US back in 2011. In 2013 I got my 1st orp = a lavender with 50% imported English bloodlines because that's all I could afford. The next year I was able to add from Ewe Crazy Farms (now that line is at Carolina Rare Poultry) by splitting the cost with a friend. He also had some birds from Greenfire Farms. We swapped eggs a lot and enjoyed all the different colors. I personally love the big fluffy look so that's what I bred for. I spread my flock around to other friends, as "back-ups" in case of tragedy / predators. Breeding does take time so I didn't want to lose a decade of work.

Shredding can happen with lavenders so it's vital to keep black orps as well. I would hope most people breeding lavender would know they need some black/lav splits around. The APA standards are different, so the imported English bloodlines may not show well. (However, it depends on who's judging. Last year we entered a blue rooster, black hen, and black pullet. All earned class champs last year with our hen receiving grand champ in our county.)

Orps take a long time to fill out, so a hen will look nicer than a pullet. However, hatchery "buff orps" will never compare. *Note: A lot of people think they're called "Buff Orpingtons." They will ask me, "What color of 'buff Orpingtons' do you have?" :lol:

If you want to start breeding, I'd recommend investing in good stock. There are many ways to decrease cost. (Buying retired laying hens, picking up fertile eggs, or even getting shipped eggs) Why waste years trying to breed when they are easily available today? If you just want a friendly, docile pet to lay eggs then any orp will do. Just avoid hatchery birds because they're bred for quantity not long life-span.

Although they are beautiful, my Orpingtons do have some negatives:
Cost (You won't find them as chicks in feed stores for $3-5)
Poopy butt (All that fluff needs a little more bathing)
Food intake (They are bigger so more food & poop; Can free range but they don't go too far from the food bowl)
Dumb & Docile (Take longer to learn to roost, use nest boxes, find their way out of the chicken tractor to the coop. We train our chickens. Orps just need a lot more practice.)
Sensitive to changes (a flock member dies or gets sold - laying stops; chicks are added - laying stops; new feed - laying stops; new feeder - laying stops) Sometimes it's just a few days or a week; other times, they'll decide to molt for 1-2 months.
Production (Eggs are huge, but only 3-5 per week. Most breeds lay best during their 1st two years. My orps are OK layers 1st season, better the second year, and year 3 they're at their best production.)
Click to expand...
Ah, so much good information here. Thank you! The more I learn, the more intriguing they get.

I mainly wanted Orpingtons for the sweetness and broodiness, but I just love the look of the well bred lavenders I've seen. I didn't know what to look for with eggs, so even though she's a breeder, I'm not sure what to expect from the ones in getting.

I thought I knew more about chickens than I do... I didn't realize until this week there's a HUGE difference between breeding and having egg producing pets!

I am pretty fascinated with how much variation there is, though. To my untrained eye, it seems like there is more difference between poorly bred Orpingtons and good stock orpingtons than with other breeds. These look like a fun challenge if I do end up going that route some day.
 
Jego said:
Ah, so much good information here. Thank you! The more I learn, the more intriguing they get.

I mainly wanted Orpingtons for the sweetness and broodiness, but I just love the look of the well bred lavenders I've seen. I didn't know what to look for with eggs, so even though she's a breeder, I'm not sure what to expect from the ones in getting.

I thought I knew more about chickens than I do... I didn't realize until this week there's a HUGE difference between breeding and having egg producing pets!

I am pretty fascinated with how much variation there is, though. To my untrained eye, it seems like there is more difference between poorly bred Orpingtons and good stock orpingtons than with other breeds. These look like a fun challenge if I do end up going that route some day.
Click to expand...
The "sweetness" can easily be achieved by handling your chicks. Orpingtons LOVE their food, so treats will win over almost any aged Orpington. I only had one Orpington hen who disliked being touched. I admit I never held her as a chick. She was beautiful, but wild. She would come running when I called and take food from my hand, but would squawk loudly if I dared pick her up or run away if I pet her. She was appropriately named "Chaos." Her sweet, curious sister and side-kick was named "Calamity." Calamity would follow me around the yard and had to inspect everything I was doing. Chaos tagged along but would stand back unless treats were dispensed. When I sold Chaos, I decided to also sell Calamity. I visited them a couple months ago and both came running when they heard my call. Perhaps Chaos liked me a little bit.

In general, Orpingtons do follow their people around so walking by the coop with chickens underfoot can be a challenge. Even the roosters are gentle and always posing for the camera. It's rare to have an aggressive one. (Again most breeders won't tolerate aggression, so those boys would be culled.
 
Absolutely adorable bunnies Chinchilla x Lionhead in Jeffersonville....... FREE!!
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Hey Hoosier friends!
Central Indiana here.
Relatively new to BYC, since Sept. 2022.

We have a flock of now 14 (down from 20). Dealing with a few predators :-(

We have RI reds, barred rocks, speckled sussex, marens, leg horns, and amercanas. Just lost an austrlorp today. We have been chicken farming for about 18 months now,and are way to invested. Loving every minute.
We built our coop, and our girls free range most days for at least part of the day.
 
The head hen said:
Hey Hoosier friends!
Central Indiana here.
Relatively new to BYC, since Sept. 2022.

We have a flock of now 14 (down from 20). Dealing with a few predators :-(

We have RI reds, barred rocks, speckled sussex, marens, leg horns, and amercanas. Just lost an austrlorp today. We have been chicken farming for about 18 months now,and are way to invested. Loving every minute.
We built our coop, and our girls free range most days for at least part of the day.
Click to expand...
Great to have you! What sort of predatory issues are you having? Perhaps we can help.
 

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