Lavender Orpington project ....

[stonecottagefarm]

Thank you all so much! I am still reading through all the threads on here and will continue to watch this one. My husband and I are going to go ahead and start with this batch from Hodges Farm and wait until they are about 5 months and beyond before deciding what to do next. If there are not too many flaws to work with, we will invest in a good black roo or hen when the time comes.

Thank you again!

 

[tgrlily]

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If you're still saying "IF" then you don't get it.

 

[tgrlily]

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This is my frustration as well. AND I swear, if i see one more "rare blue orp" sale I'm gonna hurl. People are using words like "rare" to make a sale and sucker someone into buying a mislabled product, if you will.

Because there are so many out there who won't do even the slightest bit of reading before the plunge in to things, they are being taken for a ride. I am by no means a genetic expert. Heck, I barely passed college biology! But, I have read and understand the basic concept of the color genetics.

Further, I have read the standard and looked at a bazillion pics of orps to understand what I should be breeding for in order to get my "project" up to SOP. All of this is time consuming and to get these lavenders up to standard is not an over night process. Years have already been put into the project and years more will be required before anyone is able to claim they have true orpingtons that are lavender.


"I am wondering where is a good place to get a good quality black orpington rooster so I am going to research that a bit more. Thinkin maybe I will need to let my project chicks grow to size first and then look for either a black rooster or hen that has the qualities most needed. "

A good place to start would be an APA sanctioned show. Find breeders who also show and WIN with their blacks. Two years ago I bought eggs from a gal who has shown her birds and I bred my best lav roo to them. My resulting splits are showing marked improvement and they are not a year old yet.

Last year I bought eggs from a gal who has SQ type birds and kept the black. I am showing myself this year - to gage how my black will measure up. Should he do as well as I think he will, he will go on my lavs from this year. I kept only a few lavs form last year, to improve color, most i sold off. This year I will keep the best lav girls and the best split boy and do it all over again.

As far as I am concerned, the lavs at this stage of the game should only be looked at as color influence. In order to get the best birds, you have to breed heavily and cull heavily. I have culled more birds this year than I have in the previous 2. It is the ONLY way to make improvements. If a person continues to breed substandard birds, they will continue to get substandard birds.

If a bird has a flaw like too small, too much tail, incorrect comb, bad temperament, crap feathering, not enough fluff, wrong egg color, etc, they must be removed. Those traits are all passed down. Unless you are destitute and have no other recourse, flawed birds must be taken out of the breeding program.

I think a percentage of the people out there are unscrupulous - trying to cash in quick on a fad, a percentage of them don't have the stomach to truly cull out the less than birds an d so they don't set themselves up to be able to improve the line and some just don't have a clue what they are doing because they have made no effort to educate themselves.

Unfortunately, all three of those make it harder and harder for those of us who are serious about improving the lavender lines and breeding quality "type" birds to get traction in the market.

And too, the more serious a person is the less likely they are advertising on a mainstream market. Think of it this way, if you are trying to build a house, your dream house, do you go and sell off all the lumber you bought to build it? No, you'd never get the house built. The really good quality birds/breeders are hard to come by because they keep most of their stock to themselves. They may sell off some overages or culls but for the most part, they are doing it for themselves, to meet their goals, not to make a quick buck.

So, the very very long answer to your question is, if you want really good quality black birds to work on improving the lav lines, you will have to search long and hard and probably pay a good deal of money to acquire them.

Exactly.

 

[stonecottagefarm]

The reason why I said 'if" is because in talking with a few dedicated breeders, I am finding out that there can be some stock (such as those that used lavender ameraucanas) that are more time consuming to work with. I am willing to raise birds to full size and if they are not workable or don't breed well to orpington standard or are obviously not orpingtons, I have no problem starting over with another flock. I am also willing to start with black orpingtons and bring in the color although I rather work work with true Hink-JC lines if possible. I am not going to assume that the lavenders we buy are breed-worthy or will work for our project. And it's not a bad idea for us to let these get to size and be willing to take our time (possibly years) if needed. I don't want to be a fly-by-night breeder that just buys adult chicks and start breeding them and selling them off.

 

[Jacobnlynn]

Sorry, I'm just getting on this thread and it's REALLY long.. was their a post of the colors required? Feet color, beak color, skin color, color chicks should be, etc. Do chickens have undercolor or guard-feather colors?? I'm new to chickens.. but used to breed/show rabbits. Does anybody have a proposed .... what's it called.... what would be in the Standard of Perfection book. Where does the lavender color come from? What's the difference between blue and lavender?

 

[scbatz33]

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There is no current "requirement" since the color of lavender or "self-blue" is not recognized in the SOP in the states.

Lavender or "self-blue" is a bird of solid color ranging (depending on line) from a pale grey to a slate grey color. Unlike blue, lavender has no secondary coloring in the hackles or saddles feathers, nor is there lacing.

Lavenders should have slate legs, lighter eyes and dark beaks.

They should look like this......
http://chirpychicks.com/lavender_orpington.htm

In this country, the lavender color was introduced by out crossing to other breeds such as lavender ameraucanas. This is why it is currently a "project" and no lavender orpington is "pure". Although there are people selling them as such, the birds have flaws not acceptable by the SOP for orpingtons. Things such as wrong size, too much tail, bad combs, and laying colored eggs.

Several people are still working to get the lavender bird up to standard by introducing black orps that do meet the SOP. The project as a whole is still many generations away from being accepted by the APA. Bird quailty will have to improve dramatically in order for anyone to petition the APA for color acceptance.

 

[kaitlyn_rae2003]

Well I would just like to say, I am in love with the lavender gene, project etc....and I find this thread amazingly interesting and helpful! I gain a lot of knowledge from all of you!!! All of you have lovely birds!

 

[Judy]

This thread has been moderated and returned to the forum.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

ddawn, thanks for all your great work in removing posts that violated our rules.


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We look forward to this thread continuing in a positive and helpful manner.

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I would LOVE to work with lavender orpingtons. They are so pretty!