Lavender Orpington project ....

[hinkjc]

No, that's the way commercial farms think. I have hens that are 8 years old and still laying eggs. I have had even older ones that continued to lay well past 10 years. If you don't force them to lay constantly with lights, they can lay a very long time. I wouldn't use those older hens for breeders, but they can still produce lots of good eating eggs.

If people got rid of their hens after the first laying year, they'd never see the true egg size a hen can produce. Plus, you have to remember Orps don't reach full maturity until about 18 months old.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I had a Buff Orp that was 13 years old, she still layed an egg every week.

.. Until something killed her ..

 

[Beth G.]

Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

I had a Buff Orp that was 13 years old, she still layed an egg every week.

.. Until something killed her ..

That is awesome!! I think that is the oldest chicken I've heard of!​

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Beth G. :

Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

I had a Buff Orp that was 13 years old, she still layed an egg every week.

.. Until something killed her ..

That is awesome!! I think that is the oldest chicken I've heard of!​

They're 'my' first chickens.

I think I had 1 EE hen, a pair of Doms', 5-6 Black Aussies, and a Silver Spangled Hamburg roo -

I Think ...

 

[Newyorkrita]

I have two black splits hatched with my four lavenders. Love the lavenders. They are all two weeks now. One of the black ones had so much more white than the other, even at hatch. And it keeps showing more white as it grows. Its the first chick, the darker is the second.

And here is one of the lavender chicks. Gosh, I think they are just so pretty. Its the color that really appeals to me.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Quote:
They're

*I don't need Lavender Orpingtons ... I DON'T NEED LAVENDER ORPINGTONS .... .... .... i need lavender orpingtons

*

 

[hinkjc]

Beautiful little ones!

The varying degree of white on black chicks is quite normal. They often get initial white feathers as well in juvenile plumage, but lose them by adulthood. I love the lavender color too. It's hard to imagine just how gorgeous the plumage is until you see if it person. I hope you enjoy them.

 

[Newyorkrita]

Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

Quote:
They're

*I don't need Lavender Orpingtons ... I DON'T NEED LAVENDER ORPINGTONS .... .... .... i need lavender orpingtons

*

Everyone needs Lavender Orps! So very pretty

 

[Newyorkrita]

Quote:
Hinkjc- I have seen pictures of yours young lavenders in large groups for growout. They look so fabulous. I wish I could breed here but can't keep a rooster. So really, I will never be part of the project. I just like my beautiful baby lavenders so much I keep posting weekly pictures here. Plus I like to look at eveyone elses pictures and lurk. But I will need help as they start to grow up to sort my girls from my boys so will be posting more pictures again in the future.

I did pick them because the pictures were lovely but when I actually had chicks I was amazed that they looked even better in person. At least in my mind. As you can see from my pictures, they are just starting the feathering out. In fact it seems slow to me as my prior hatch were some Black Copper Marans and olive easter eggers with mostly Marans blood and they were this feathered out at one week that these are at two weeks.

Good to know about the blacks but I just wish that one would stay the way it is marked now as I think its so pretty. Well, who knows. They could be roosters. Time will tell.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I had some eggs shipped to me this summer. After hatching them I noticed a couple looked odd, I called the breeder and she had thought maybe her blue splash maran got into the orpington pen during some pen renovations. I sold the birds (both roosters) only to discover about a week later that they were actually mottled! I had no idea. The one was my favorite, I wish I would have kept him. I contacted the lady I sold them to (she also bought 3 dorkings, 3 rocks and 3 black orps) and 2 days after she brought them home a fox family killed them all.

He was about 3 months old here