Lavender Orpington project ....

[92RiversideFarm]

So I am very new to all chicken rearing. I have a small flock of Buff Orpingtons started and they are gorgeous.
I have managed to hatch two supposed lavender orpington chicks (they look very light grey to me) and I bought one small chick who I'm pretty sure is a young cockeral.

As the pullets are from different stock than the cockeral I had planned to breed them next summer to expand the flock.

In reading these posts though, it appears that the Lavender colouring is coming from mixing Black Orpingtons Lavender. Is that correct?

What would happen if I bred Lavender to Lavender?

THank you for feedback. I have no one in my area of Ontario who seems to have Lavender Orpingtons so I'm uneducated and so very excited!

Cheers

 

[92RiversideFarm]

The English Lavender Orpington looks like Winston Churchill

 

[catface]

So I am very new to all chicken rearing. I have a small flock of Buff Orpingtons started and they are gorgeous.
I have managed to hatch two supposed lavender orpington chicks (they look very light grey to me) and I bought one small chick who I'm pretty sure is a young cockeral.

As the pullets are from different stock than the cockeral I had planned to breed them next summer to expand the flock.

In reading these posts though, it appears that the Lavender colouring is coming from mixing Black Orpingtons Lavender. Is that correct?

What would happen if I bred Lavender to Lavender?

THank you for feedback. I have no one in my area of Ontario who seems to have Lavender Orpingtons so I'm uneducated and so very excited!

Cheers

We breed lavenders to black to improve the feather quality and bloodlines. Lavenders tend to have "fretting" which is a fraying of the feathers and breeding to black will improve that. You certainly can breed lav to lav but it's a good idea to throw a black in there every few generations.

 

[Ren2014]

So I am very new to all chicken rearing. I have a small flock of Buff Orpingtons started and they are gorgeous.
I have managed to hatch two supposed lavender orpington chicks (they look very light grey to me) and I bought one small chick who I'm pretty sure is a young cockeral.

As the pullets are from different stock than the cockeral I had planned to breed them next summer to expand the flock.

In reading these posts though, it appears that the Lavender colouring is coming from mixing Black Orpingtons Lavender. Is that correct?

What would happen if I bred Lavender to Lavender?

THank you for feedback. I have no one in my area of Ontario who seems to have Lavender Orpingtons so I'm uneducated and so very excited!

Cheers

 

[catface]

I love my lavenders. They are by far my favorites. These pics were taken through the window so a little washed out.

 

[feathersaloft]

My 7 Lavender orps are about 5 months old.

Some are considerably smaller than the others, almost bantam sized, while others are now the bigger birds in my flock.

My next plan is to catch all, and one by one decide if pullet or cockerel so I can see if I need to do some swapping

 

[Ren2014]

My 7 Lavender orps are about 5 months old.

Some are considerably smaller than the others, almost bantam sized, while others are now the bigger birds in my flock.

My next plan is to catch all, and one by one decide if pullet or cockerel so I can see if I need to do some swapping

What do you look for at 5 mos to determine gender? I have two that are just 2 wko and am wondering how soon I will be able to tell.

 

[WVduckchick]

What do you look for at 5 mos to determine gender?  I have two that are just 2 wko and am wondering how soon I will be able to tell.

My boys grew bigger faster, body wise, and their combs and wattles got red really quickly, compared to the girls. The girls didn't get red until several weeks after the boys.

 

[Ren2014]

My boys grew bigger faster, body wise, and their combs and wattles got red really quickly, compared to the girls. The girls didn't get red until several weeks after the boys.

I'm hoping I have one of each so I can watch for the difference

 

[WVduckchick]

I'm hoping I have one of each so I can watch for the difference

and you are incubating some now, right? I just started getting eggs from mine a few days ago.