Lavender Orpington Thread

[Faraday40]

I'm trying to wrap my head around the genetics...lol I'm a horse/dog professional so I'm trying to pick up on chickens and there are soooo many breeds out there it's hard to know where to start. Where does a lavender splash come into play? My pullet is mostly white with some darker feathers and a dark head, slate legs... Where is a good resource for photos/genetics?

Thank you sooo much!

The lav gene is recessive so a chicken must have 2 copies in order for it to look lav. There's no way to tell the difference (visually) between a pure black orp & a blk/lav split orp.

Black x Lav = blk/lav splits. those chicks will all LOOK black but have one copy of the lav gene.
Lav x Lav = all lav (since both parents have 2 copies of the lav gene)
Blk/Lav split x Lav = 50% lav & 50% blk/lav splits
Blk/Lav split x Blk/Lav split = 50% blk/lav splits, 25% lav, and 25% pure black.... problem is that you can't tell which are black & which are splits until you mate them & see the the offspring.

The reason why breeders add a black (or black/lav split) is to keep decent feather quality. If one always breeds lavs to lavs for several generations, the line can get feather issues.

 

[kalimari]

We're not too far from Chicago, so it's an appropriate caption.

Perfect!

 

[evaluna]

Added this cutie to our flock yesterday...3-4 days old and fingers crossed, not a rooster lol

 

[Faraday40]

AWWWWWWWWWW!

 

[Kiki]

Hello all.

I'm dying to get some Lavender Orpington GIRLS.

Will someone please point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

 

[WVduckchick]

Hello all.

I'm dying to get some Lavender Orpington GIRLS.

Will someone please point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

LOs are not easy to sex as babies. It takes several weeks to be sure. You will need to look for pullets to be sure to get females. Or hatchery birds that are vent sexed.

That being said, I can guess pretty well as mine hatch, but the more that hatch to compare to, the better the guesses, and still no guarantees.

 

[Kiki]

LOs are not easy to sex as babies. It takes several weeks to be sure. You will need to look for pullets to be sure to get females. Or hatchery birds that are vent sexed.

That being said, I can guess pretty well as mine hatch, but the more that hatch to compare to, the better the guesses, and still no guarantees.

Ok thanks for the info.
Can you recommend a good hatchery?

 

[WVduckchick]

Ok thanks for the info.
Can you recommend a good hatchery?

Sorry, I got eggs locally and hatched mine myself, and have not dealt with any of the hatcheries personally.

This thread will be busier through the week, so maybe someone else has a suggestion.

 

[Kiki]

Sorry, I got eggs locally and hatched mine myself, and have not dealt with any of the hatcheries personally.

This thread will be busier through the week, so maybe someone else has a suggestion.

Thank you! I really like this kind! Really really like it.

 

[Faraday40]

Thank you! I really like this kind! Really really like it.

That's how I felt about LOs when I 1st saw them. I ended up buying some hatching eggs from breeders. It takes 4-6 weeks to know the gender. For me the problem is that as soon as we hatch lav orps, they sell out within 1-3 days. Sometimes we'll have a 1 month black orp, but never a lav orp older than a week for sale. My DD is always coming up with great poultry science experiments, so we must sell her "results," because we have limited coop space.

If you do decide to hatch your own chicks, it's rarely a problem to give away male lav orps. Also, we got about a 50% hatch rate with shipped eggs. When we drove 3 hrs to pick up the fertile lav orp eggs, we got 100% hatch!!!