Lavender Orpington Thread

[help4me]

One of the reasons I went for Orpingtons was their docile personality. Since the kids are going to be a big part in the care of the chickens I wanted a nicer breed. The breed came highly recommended by everyone I talked to. These are our first Orps! Not sure about the lap bird part but they are very sweet with me and the toddler so far.

I have had a similar past experience where I raised chicks, were very tame and by the time they were fully grown it was like they had never been handled before. I think it depends a lot on the individual chicken and circumstances.

So true!

 

[Lacey1988]

My big boy just crowed for the first time yesterday. It sounded like someone gurgling rocks. lols
I just took this photo a week ago and I swear he's bigger if fact, I know he is. To his side is his 'brother' which was supposed to be a Lavender Orpington too but surprise! A blue splashed Wyandotte! I don't mind though they're both beautiful.

 

[poodlechicks]

I think the whole picking up is like you said, on the individual birds own personality, and whether or not it is being done constantly. I have read here that temperament is past from the rooster, not sure? I have also read about hatchery birds being more skittish too. I think it's a whole combination of things. Collette and Ricky hatched in our house and spent a great deal of time in the house then the garage, so they grew up around us, they are extremely friendly. Ricky knows his name and will come running, well both will come running anytime they see us. (They are more like dogs.) I would think though that if Collette hatched out her own, they would not be as friendly? It's so hard to know, because I have read a lot of threads where people spent a lot of time with the chicks, but then when they grew up the chickens were still skittish or their rooster attack them.

yes, that was me with my chicks when they were little. The family spent so much time with them. We held them from day 2 (when we got them), but soon found out they didn't like being handled at all. They became friendlier when we stopped handling them and just petted them. I have tamed cockatiels before and handling them really made a difference for the better. With my hens, it didn't work. Go figure!

 

[help4me]

yes, that was me with my chicks when they were little. The family spent so much time with them. We held them from day 2 (when we got them), but soon found out they didn't like being handled at all. They became friendlier when we stopped handling them and just petted them. I have tamed cockatiels before and handling them really made a difference for the better. With my hens, it didn't work. Go figure!

That is very interesting about your experience with raising your roosters and hens. It just goes to show that they are what they are. It's one of the reasons I love this site, it is so helpful to read what others have done that did and did not work for them. The short story is we had a pretty long stretch where we could not really get to them easily. Note1 Don't get chicks before you have a coop and run they grow up FAST!

Winter came (up till then we had never let them free range.) we were too scared of what the dog or even our naughty teenage cat would do, (not to mention all the other wild animals we have seen here.) We only had 3 at the time but two of them were roosters.

Winter was long their housing was small, and we had to let them out to clean the mess in the garage. Did I mention to NOT get chickens before you have their housing set?

Did I mention DH hates having chickens in the garage.

Well, the roosters suddenly starting fighting when we let them "free range", the driveway because of all the snow we had. so we had to separate them, and we just never attempted to pick them up after all that. I read everything I could on raising roosters and everyone has a different way. I finally came to the conclusion that there really are only two main ways of raising and living with roosters. I went with the second way. Let a rooster be a rooster.

Don't handle them, don't respond to any of their aggressive signs, just ignore and walk by them. Don't play in any of their "rooster games",

If one wants to challenge you just throw treats to them (never hand feed) and in a very short time they will realize that you are NOT a rooster or one of his hens and that's it. So, he respects us, and we respect him.

It has worked for us, and I don't have to have everyone in the family try to hold him to the ground, or knock him off Collette, or try and carry him around for a 1/2 an hour.

No way, no how, am I going to have either one of my kids try to do that! For us that is not an option, but for others it works. Truthfully I really have NO desire to pick them up and carry them they are HUGE! I am sure someone that handles chickens all the time would just scoop them right up. Honestly I love having him, and I can't imagine not having the dynamics he brings. I think everyone should have a rooster really I do! (I know that is not always possible.) I find him way more fun to watch than Collette. So, bottom line everyone has to find what works for them, and once you do, don't try to fix what isn't broken. So, I guess too it all depends on the people raising them, as well as the circumstances of their own family and flock. Oh, the stories I could tell about Ricky.

 

[help4me]

My big boy just crowed for the first time yesterday. It sounded like someone gurgling rocks. lols
I just took this photo a week ago and I swear he's bigger if fact, I know he is. To his side is his 'brother' which was supposed to be a Lavender Orpington too but surprise! A blue splashed Wyandotte! I don't mind though they're both beautiful.

Oh, I remember when both Rocky and Ricky first started crowing, it was so funny to hear. Then the crowing competition started! Don't tell anyone but I do lean more towards the blue splashed colors. They both are very good looking and I love the picture. Are you going to keep either of them?

 

[help4me]

thank you... i am not really sure what use i would have for a recessive white cockerel but he sure is pretty ..

Hi,

I was thinking about your conversation with Jerryse, who has really been very helpful to me. Thank you Jerryse. So, about that white orpington. We got our original hatching eggs from a seller on e-bay (did not know about this site at the time,) who said that their original blood line came from Greenfire Farm. They were sold as pure lavender orpingtons. I realize that genetics is tricky, and that Lavenders were a project color, I have no idea if Lavenders are still considered a project? Anyway, I don't know genetics, but I think it is good to show how some lavenders may not look like they are. Now, I know that some people are dishonest, but I like to think the best of people. So, for those new to Lavenders and end up with some chicks that are yellow or have yellow to them they may not of been lied too, but rather genetics came into play. All that to say, the 3 that hatched out for us, two came out lavender, but one came out yellow. Here is Rocky he is 7 months old here and had not molted yet. He was my favorite, but Megan made the call as to who she wanted to keep, and she thought that Collette loved Ricky more.

I don't know, she sure does seem to be giving Rocky the loving look. Thankfully, we found a great home for Rocky. Isn't it interesting? Wouldn't one think if they were new to lavenders that the seller lied. So, I still can't wait to see the white lavender.

I tried to get pictures without the sun on him to show his true colors. I guess a breeder would cull him? Thankfully the woman that bought him just wanted a rooster for her hens, (but I think she was trying to save him from ending up in someones freezer) she knew how Jack was worried about what would become of Rocky and gave him the $10.00. There are good people in the world.

 

[Lacey1988]

Oh, I remember when both Rocky and Ricky first started crowing, it was so funny to hear. Then the crowing competition started! Don't tell anyone but I do lean more towards the blue splashed colors. They both are very good looking and I love the picture. Are you going to keep either of them?

Yes I plan on keeping them both. When they're older I'm going to circulate them in the 'hen pen' to add fresh blood to my flock.

 

[Basskids08]

These are my pair at 14 weeks! Couldn't get them by themselves as the others are always crowding around them...

 

[help4me]

These are my pair at 14 weeks! Couldn't get them by themselves as the others are always crowding around them...

Very nice. So, at how many weeks were you able to tell what sex they are? Let's see Charlotte and Holly are just over two weeks. I noticed differences in their wing feathers very early on among other things. Hey, anybody else figure out what their chicks are now that it has been a few more weeks?

 

[misslys15]

Thanks, I don't have any roosters, but I'll keep that in mind with the hens! There does seem to be a big difference in temperaments between the breeds I have. Our Golden Comets will let you hold them all day, but our 1 year old Golden Laced Wyandotte just started letting us pick her up without going completely ballistic.

And about not getting chicks before you get a coop, like YES. We got our first chicks last year and then raced to build them a coop while they got bigger every day! And since we got six pullets this year, we keep adding on to it. It looks like a big hot mess at this point. We are building a nicer, bigger coop out of a shed this summer. Definitely much less stress to have their coop set up before they come along!