Lavender orpingtons??

[Auntiejessi3]

From a show breeder. So this breed can have 2 different colored combs & wattles?

Not that I'm aware of. @ColtHandorf may be able to shed some light on this

 

[ColtHandorf]

When sexually mature, all wattles and combs should be red. As others have stated, I don't think they are SQ, although they may have come from a line that produces SQ birds.

 

[SourRoses]

As others have stated, I don't think they are SQ, although they may have come from a line that produces SQ birds.

I don't mean to be rude, but why give an answer so weighted towards being mild that it becomes inaccurate? I am absolutely certain you know that can't be show stock.

@Toretto , the breeder definitely lied to you. Those are too gangly to be Orpingtons of any age, with the skin pigmentation issues and the color leakage, I am positive they are mixed breed. I would send the pictures to the "breeder" and ask for a refund, or give a poor review where you can. Too many people are getting scammed and others need to be warned. If it was an honest mistake from a bird getting out, a breeder with integrity would refund you upon seeing the pictures.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I don't mean to be rude, but why give an answer so weighted towards being mild that it becomes inaccurate? I am absolutely certain you know that can't be show stock.

Because the OP has stated multiple times when queried by other people that the birds came from a "show breeder," implying, whether they meant to or not, they are operating under the delusion that those birds are of any quality above lavender-colored backyard chickens. I have zero doubt that the birds don't meet the proposed Standard of Perfection by the American Poultry Association for Lavender Orpingtons. I highly doubt the parent stock does either. It is not, however, inaccurate to say that bloodlines that produce show quality offspring produce birds that are not show quality.

Honestly, I have more important things to do than have a conversation with the OP about why they believe the birds are SQ or not or why they care that the birds look different from one another. Even if they were able to be shown, they would only be able to compete in the All Other Varieties (AOV) Class and not advance from there to compete against other varieties of Orpington. The simple fact is that the birds do not look good and won't amount to anything more than lavender-colored (ish) backyard chickens.

Saying all of that is rude, though, which is why I opted to tactfully say what I did without making someone feel poorly or defensive about something they like or enjoy.

Now, whether or not I intend to be rude now, I don't really care; as I've said, I have more important things to do than quibble with you over statements that are mine and remain true in the vein of intent in which I responded, but you often feel the need to come behind me and snark at comments I make. We generally never agree on anything, and you feel the need to worry yourself with what I think or say, and I could care less. I find your behavior on here abrasive and irritating, so do us both a favor and put me on ignore so that you don't have to worry yourself about me any longer.

@Toretto , the breeder definitely lied to you. Those are too gangly to be Orpingtons of any age, with the skin pigmentation issues and the color leakage, I am positive they are mixed breed.

To the OP, I do not believe the birds are mixed with any other breed or, for that matter, any variety of Orpington (including Black, which would vastly improve the quality of their feathers). They are, as so many Lavender Orpingtons are, a product of un-educated backyard breeders that have bred the Lavender Orpington for no purpose other than to churn out more Lavender Orpingtons and sell them to make as much money as they can with no regard for breeding the birds for quality rather than quantity. Just like hatchery-quality Buff Orpingtons look nothing like the APA Buff Orpington kept by breeders that work toward the SOP for that variety or the Buff Orpingtons that adhere to the SOP in the UK for "English-type" Orpingtons, the Lavender Orpingtons you have currently are a poor facsimile of the breed.

I have no desire to get into the ethics behind perpetuating birds like this, and without knowing what your goals are with Lavender Orpingtons, I cannot tell you what to do. If you just enjoy the color and don't mind that they are not "type-y" then enjoy having them for eggs and eye candy. If your goal is to breed them for show or to sell them to other people for a hobby business, I would suggest starting with better stock and doing a lot of research on the Orpington breed as well as the color Lavender unless, of course, you plan on being the person in a year that sells offspring from that flock to someone else for them to post pictures here and we be forced to have this conversation all over again.

 

[Red Mangrove]

They are, as so many Lavender Orpingtons are, a product of un-educated backyard breeders that have bred the Lavender Orpington for no purpose other than to churn out more Lavender Orpingtons and sell them to make as much money as they can with no regard for breeding the birds for quality rather than quantity.

Chicken raising only becomes humane when money is removed from the equation. Like all things I suppose

 

[ColtHandorf]

Chicken raising only becomes humane when money is removed from the equation. Like all things I suppose

Indeed. There's a fine line someone must walk when animals and business are hand in hand.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

One of those cockerels definitely has a pea comb instead of a single comb as is proper for the breed, so at least that one is a mix and not a pure Orpington. That whitish patterning in his feathers is silver color leakage.

 

[ColtHandorf]

One of those cockerels definitely has a pea comb instead of a single comb as is proper for the breed, so at least that one is a mix and not a pure Orpington. That whitish patterning in his feathers is silver color leakage.

I don't think that is a pea comb. In the first set of pictures, if you enlarge the photo, it's a single. In the next set of images, the quality is too poor to tell. It does look odd, but you'd expect to see that breeding birds all willy-nilly to produce as many as you can to sell them to unsuspecting or uneducated people.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I see a ridge on the side of the comb in the picture in the first post, it looks plump for a normal single comb, and his head shape is more reminiscent of a pea combed bird to my eye. I really think that's at least heterozygous pea comb on that bird (/ both birds? I wasn't sure if the one in the first post was the same as the one in subsequent posts). At the very least, though, he clearly has silver leakage coming through so something's definitely up there.

 

[Galaxy_rules]

I don't know about show quality or not. @ColtHandorf and @Auntiejessi3 probably do though. But yes, these two are Orpington cockerels, it's lavender though, not lavendar

X2