Lavender Orpingtons

[AidKD]

I have a few questions:
Are Lavender Orpingtons rare?
What's a reasonable price for them if so?
Do Lavender Orpingtons have the same temperament and egg laying production as Buff Orpingtons?
and...
Has anyone ever crossed a Buff and a Lavender before?
I have 3 Buff Orpingtons (2 hens 1 roo) and love them! I really like the looks of Lavenders and want to stick with Orpingtons. If they're anything like my Buffs I know I'll love them!
Thanks!

 

[WVBirdsAndBees]

They are fairly rare and lavender isn't a recognized color for the breed yet.

I've seen them anywhere from $10 to 30+ per chick. What's reasonable depends what your purpose is. High quality examples from breeders will be expensive but you can hatch your own high quality babies. Lower priced options do exist and are great if you just want a few of these beauties wondering around.

They generally have the same great orpington temperament. Breeders are still working on getting the right body type, better feather quality, etc after whatever crosses were used to get the lavender color. So there could be more variation in temperament as well. Ours are very docile and saeet but not as comfortable being handled as some buffs.

In order to be lavender, a chicken needs 2 copies of the lavender (self-blue) gene. This means they breed true - lavender to lavender will give you lavender chicks. If a chicken only has 1 lavender gene, such as a lav/buff cross, you won't see lavender at all. So generally, it's better to stick to breeding lavenders together instead of introducing buff. Of course, if you just want layers for your flock it doesn't matter. People have indeed done that cross, though. A search should turn up some examples.

Overall, I think they are great birds. That said, there is still a lot of improvement to be done. They can have poor quality/shredded feathers and most aren't the ideal orpington body type yet. But as a fairly new color for a great classic breed, getting the genetic quirks ironed out is part of the process. I have 8 lavenders and a splash at the moment. Definitely worth having in your flock.

 

[AidKD]

They are fairly rare and lavender isn't a recognized color for the breed yet.

I've seen them anywhere from $10 to 30+ per chick. What's reasonable depends what your purpose is. High quality examples from breeders will be expensive but you can hatch your own high quality babies. Lower priced options do exist and are great if you just want a few of these beauties wondering around.

They generally have the same great orpington temperament. Breeders are still working on getting the right body type, better feather quality, etc after whatever crosses were used to get the lavender color. So there could be more variation in temperament as well. Ours are very docile and saeet but not as comfortable being handled as some buffs.

In order to be lavender, a chicken needs 2 copies of the lavender (self-blue) gene. This means they breed true - lavender to lavender will give you lavender chicks. If a chicken only has 1 lavender gene, such as a lav/buff cross, you won't see lavender at all. So generally, it's better to stick to breeding lavenders together instead of introducing buff. Of course, if you just want layers for your flock it doesn't matter. People have indeed done that cross, though. A search should turn up some examples.

Overall, I think they are great birds. That said, there is still a lot of improvement to be done. They can have poor quality/shredded feathers and most aren't the ideal orpington body type yet. But as a fairly new color for a great classic breed, getting the genetic quirks ironed out is part of the process. I have 8 lavenders and a splash at the moment. Definitely worth having in your flock.

Thank you! I'm really wanting to add more to the flock especially after a skunk killed one of my hens a few weeks ago! I also had no idea that there was a splash orpington! I will defintaley check those out to. Are splashs good birds?

 

[WVBirdsAndBees]

Yep, splashes are wonderful as well. They're part of what are called blue/black/splash orpingtons. Basically, the blue gene dilutes black. If a chicken has 1 of the gene, it is blue. If it has 2, you get splash. That set of colors has been around in orpingtons longer so, in my experience, they're a bit closer to the orp standard than most lavenders.

Our splash is one of our favorite hens. Here's a photo below.

Sorry about the skunk incident. I hope you find a bird (or 5) you love to replace her.

 

[AidKD]

She's gorgeous!!! Where did you find her? Are splashs rare? I hope I find 5 too. Do farm stores sell splashs?

 

[WVBirdsAndBees]

She came in a rare assortment from Meyer hatchery. I personally think they're a bit overpriced at Meyer ($23 per female chick), which was one reason why we bought the assortment. Got pretty lucky.

Mt Healthy is cheaper and may do them. I know they do nice lavenders.

There's probably a hatchery or breeder near you that has them. The rarer colors aren't as common as the buffs but they're popular so they're definitely out there.

 

[Lovem all]

All I know is they are some of the sweetest birds you could ever get so I say go for it

 

[Lovem all]

All I know is they are some of the sweetest birds you could ever get so I say go for it

 

[Sammy1122]

Their great for soemone starting out.Their Orpingtons and come with the same tempertent of one, just opposite color.Fairly great layers.

 

[ChristinLewin]

The chicken in the middle is a Lavender Orpington x Buff Orpington