Meet Mae, one of the last Luff Orpingtons!

[PPPDUD the Farmer]

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Meet Mae. She's a Luff Orpington hen, and I wanted to help clear up some uncertainties about her breed.

You see, the first Luff Orpington that I know about was first documented here, back in 2014. Unfortunately, not much information was known at that point, and as a result the breed has largely died out (it's unclear if the original birds are still alive, but if they are, they are quite aged by this point).

In 2024, my Buff Orpington rooster and Lavender Orpington hen produced the beautiful bird now known as Mae. Because her breed had very little information available at the time, I closely observed her behavior and development as she grew up.

Here's what I found out:

Early life and developmental stages​

Mae hatched on May 8th, 2024, with almost entirely black fluff, except for the areas near her face, as you can see in the photos below (taken not long after she hatched):

As she grew up, some of this black fluff was replaced by matte gold feathers, not unlike the terminals of an SD card but less shiny. Sadly, I failed to document this stage thoroughly and I couldn't find many good demonstrations of this shift in her younger weeks and months, except for this photo:

She laid her first egg on January 9th, 2025 (8 months old at the time), and has proven to be a moderately successful laying hen.

Mae's superpowers​

Though Mae is not exactly a production powerhouse, she does show some potential for other applications.
Her first attempt at going broody encompassed a large clutch of about 20 fertile eggs (compared to her mother's modest ~5 egg clutch). For obvious reasons, the eggs were seized from her shortly afterwards.

Her feathers are also quite pretty, though they serve little utility to most farmers. As mentioned above, she has a very strong urge to reproduce, and she does not seem to mind the presence of multiple roosters.

The properties of male Luff Orpingtons are still poorly understood, and I have very little information to contribute there. The same goes for the usefulness of Luff Orpington chickens as meat sources (as I have a personal policy of not eating my own chickens, this will likely remain unknown for a long time).

Mae is quite docile in her relations with other chickens, though she does not enjoy close human contact much. She does not usually participate in aggressive behaviors, except when she's broody.

Mae's weaknesses​

As noted before, Mae is not an above-average layer. Her submissive nature also means that roosters often unintentionally damage (or sometimes outright remove) her back feathers.

Because Luff Orpingtons are genetically predisposed to go broody frequently, some farmers may find the relevant maintenance tasks quite annoying.

Stuff that is still unknown about Luff Orpingtons​

• Are female Luff Orpingtons consistently broodier than usual?
• How do male Luff Orpingtons usually behave? Are they well-mannered?
• Do Luff Orpington hens always mature around 8 months old?

If you know the answers to any of these questions, please post your knowledge down below! A lot of questions still remain around Luff Orpingtons, and more research is needed to answer them all.

 

[Bsmac]

View attachment 4141690​

Meet Mae. She's a Luff Orpington hen, and I wanted to help clear up some uncertainties about her breed.

You see, the first Luff Orpington that I know about was first documented here, back in 2014. Unfortunately, not much information was known at that point, and as a result the breed has largely died out (it's unclear if the original birds are still alive, but if they are, they are quite aged by this point).

In 2024, my Buff Orpington rooster and Lavender Orpington hen produced the beautiful bird now known as Mae. Because her breed had very little information available at the time, I closely observed her behavior and development as she grew up.

Here's what I found out:

Early life and developmental stages​

Mae hatched on May 8th, 2024, with almost entirely black fluff, except for the areas near her face, as you can see in the photos below (taken not long after she hatched):
View attachment 4141711View attachment 4141712View attachment 4141713
As she grew up, some of this black fluff was replaced by matte gold feathers, not unlike the terminals of an SD card but less shiny. Sadly, I failed to document this stage thoroughly and I couldn't find many good demonstrations of this shift in her younger weeks and months, except for this photo:
View attachment 4141722
She laid her first egg on January 9th, 2025 (8 months old at the time), and has proven to be a moderately successful laying hen.

Mae's superpowers​

Though Mae is not exactly a production powerhouse, she does show some potential for other applications.
Her first attempt at going broody encompassed a large clutch of about 20 fertile eggs (compared to her mother's modest ~5 egg clutch). For obvious reasons, the eggs were seized from her shortly afterwards.

Her feathers are also quite pretty, though they serve little utility to most farmers. As mentioned above, she has a very strong urge to reproduce, and she does not seem to mind the presence of multiple roosters.

The properties of male Luff Orpingtons are still poorly understood, and I have very little information to contribute there. The same goes for the usefulness of Luff Orpington chickens as meat sources (as I have a personal policy of not eating my own chickens, this will likely remain unknown for a long time).

Mae is quite docile in her relations with other chickens, though she does not enjoy close human contact much. She does not usually participate in aggressive behaviors, except when she's broody.

Mae's weaknesses​

As noted before, Mae is not an above-average layer. Her submissive nature also means that roosters often unintentionally damage (or sometimes outright remove) her back feathers.

Because Luff Orpingtons are genetically predisposed to go broody frequently, some farmers may find the relevant maintenance tasks quite annoying.

Stuff that is still unknown about Luff Orpingtons​

• Are female Luff Orpingtons consistently broodier than usual?
• How do male Luff Orpingtons usually behave? Are they well-mannered?
• Do Luff Orpington hens always mature around 8 months old?

If you know the answers to any of these questions, please post your knowledge down below! A lot of questions still remain around Luff Orpingtons, and more research is needed to answer them all.

Hello, Interesting details on the Luff Orphington. Very pretty bird! I had not heard of them. I had a lavender hen but she got a badly impacted crop and sadly did not make it. I have a single Buff Orphington hen and two Chocolate Orphington pullets getting about ready to start laying. Overall, I think they are good breeds.