Lavender Orpington project ....

[matte]

"Terry Britt suggested we hatch our Orpingtons in December and January for the best possible size birds. Type must be there, but size can be enviroment. I have a Buff Orp male that will never reach his potential. He was ahtched in late April 2010. But his chicks, if hatched early, will reach their potential."

Do you mean best possible size for the show season, or truly that they will become larger birds as adults depending on what time of the year they are hatched? If the latter, please explain why. I didn't know this and am interested in learning.

 

[jimmythechicken]

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i know we cant wait till next spring.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

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To be honest, I do not have the research. However, we have two Buff Orpington males. One was hatched in late spring and the other in early winter. The winter male is larger than the spring male. It has something to do with their natural growth rates. At least 2 pounds difference in size. Terry assaured me that the smaller late hatch birds still carry the genetics and will pass that on to their offspring.

 

[kathyinmo]

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They carry the genetics? I have heard just the opposite. Sorta like humans carry the genes of the parents, yes .... but me and my siblings do not have the exact same ones, and we all look different in size, shape, and looks! I have red hair, none of my siblings do. 3 of 5 of my children have red hair. None of my siblings had children with red hair. Ya know what I mean. I think this is the same with poultry..... thus why we have culls.

Why would you even want to breed a bird that is 2 pounds smaller? Makes no sense to me.

I cull the smaller ones.

 

[kathyinmo]

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Hmmmm, this is interesting. I think it was Walt Leonard that told me to hatch in the spring, because the late fall-winter chicks use up all their energy keeping warm, instead of eating and growing (thus, smaller birds). I will have to ask him. I think it was Walt though. All I have to go by, personally, is an October hatch of Delawares verses a spring hatch. The spring hatch did develop larger birds, however I don't know that this is a fair example, as they came from 2 different breeders.

This topic would make an interesting thread though, don't ya think? I wonder what different people experience, and if different breeds make a difference.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

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Hmmmm, this is interesting. I think it was Walt Leonard that told me to hatch in the spring, because the late fall-winter chicks use up all their energy keeping warm, instead of eating and growing (thus, smaller birds). I will have to ask him. I think it was Walt though. All I have to go by, personally, is an October hatch of Delawares verses a spring hatch. The spring hatch did develop larger birds, however I don't know that this is a fair example, as they came from 2 different breeders.

This topic would make an interesting thread though, don't ya think? I wonder what different people experience, and if different breeds make a difference.

Kathy, Bob Blosl has said something along those lines to me too. I think it's somewhere in the heritage thread (Other than the parts in our personal emails and PMs) I have always hatched from March 1st to mid June each year, was told to start hatching from very early in the year, (late January thru March) to raise the size of my stock. This is my first year to try it, so too early to tell yet. I started hatching January 1st and am going to hatch until the end of July. I'm marking each weeks hatch and keeping records. Maybe next year I'll be able to check weights at one year and see if I can see any difference.
I've always just culled any very small birds, so I'm expermenting at this point, listening to all those who have been doing this longer than me and trying to learn.

 

[wilds of pa]

We like to hatch during the spring and summer months here for the most part, for some it can depend on were one lives in the country and there daily temps during the year.

plus if you only hatch a few birds a year i guess it don't really matter.

For us we have game birds to and they only lay a certain time of year so we hatch when mother nature says its time to hatch. personally prefer not to raise chicks during the colder times because some will require heat as they dont acclimate well during those colder months.

 

[FiveAcres]

Beautiful birds, incredible thread. This is the choice for me once I complete my coop

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Here is our Self Blue/Lav Orpington male. He is the sire of our splits juveniles.

The mothers of our splits juveniles:

And the grandsire:

 

[Braclin]

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I noticed in some of your pics that your Orps have shredded looking feathers. Is that gonna be in the SOP or is that considered a fault?