Looking for good 4H chicken eggs to hatch Frizzle EE, Orpingtons, Barred Rocks....

[bigtime400]

I am looking for some eggs to hatch with my daughters. Both will be first time 4-H participants. This will be the second time I have hatched eggs but we currently have no chickens at our house. I am looking for a good show quality breed of chicken. We had EE, Buff orpingtons, and Barred Rocks in the past and were very happy with them. My daughter really wants some frizzle EEs that lay the blue green eggs. Is that possible? and would they be good for 4-h? Does anyone know anyone who sells frizzle EE eggs?

Also I saw a lot of other colors of Orpingtons that looked interesting. Do they lay as well as the Buff? Good for 4H?

Like I said we are new to the 4-H things so I really have no clue. Any help or if anyone knows anyone that is a good source for eggs let me know. It was about 5 years ago that I hatched chicks.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Hello! I am a 4her myself C:
I just want to say off the bat, that a Buff orpington will lay just as good as a chocolate or a lilac, because they're all the same breed!
And to be technical, a "Show Quality Frizzle" is a Frizzled Plymouth Rock, so no, no purebred show quality (blah blah ect) would lay blue eggs ^^
and at least at my 4h they seemed to frown upon mixed breeds and breeds not in the 'book of standards' because those are unshowable chickens, so maybe avoid EE for a 4h kid, though they are AMAZING birds in general! Barred Plymouth Rocsk are awesoem and generally freindly birds and would make a good show bird but let me ask you this, are you planning on doing 'conformation' or 'showmanship' with the birds? (or both)

Conformation (if you've been to a chicken show) is where they put the birds in cages and qualified people go around and judge the birds on how well they represent the breed and standard.

Showmanship is knowledge based and most kids are required to do it, though I believe it can be skipped. Its where you, as the kid stand next to a table and have to HandsFree let your bird sit there as you answer questions. The questions get harder the higher group you're in (groups are based on age, like 5-8, 8-10, 10-14, 14-16, ect) They will ask you to show them things on your bird like "wheres the beak" and you have to show them the beak, or "show me the wing" and you have to spread out the wing for the judge. Its a bit more hands on and a lot harder, though free as most conformations charge a per bird fee.

Good luck, if you have ANY questions do not be afraid to ask!

 

[bigtime400]

So do the other color of Orpingtons like silver laced or the blue count as the standard? If EEs aren't good for 4 h what about Ameracana? So you are saying frizzle is not a good trait? I have seen them at our 4 h in the past...

 

[CascadiaRiver]

So do the other color of Orpingtons like silver laced or the blue count as the standard? If EEs aren't good for 4 h what about Ameracana? So you are saying frizzle is not a good trait? I have seen them at our 4 h in the past...

Oh no! Frizzle is a great trait! just standard wise, its supposed to be a Frizzled Plymouth rock, not like a sizzle or something other!
And Orpingtons (standardwise) come in Buff, Black, White, and Blue. And chances are most Ameracana bought aren't really Ameracana. Most are EE's. The only way to be sure is to buy from a really good breeder and that's really hard and usually costly in my experience.