New to this site

[Pink Grandma]

Hello everyone, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.
I am located in Eastern Washington state, retired and turning into a crazy chicken lady
I have been secretly reading your wonderful advice and information and decided it was time for me to join in.

I have been keeping chickens for only 3 years now.
I have finally achieved my goal of a fully Orpington flock, now to get the breeding and colors dialed in.

I currently have 12 hens:
3-Lavender - almost 2 years old
1-Chocolate - almost 2 years old
4-Buff - 1 year old
2-Jubilee - 1 year old
2- hatched from my flock that are black with gold lacing - what color would those be considered??? (one is 8 months old/one is 5 months old)

1-Jublee Rooster - 1 year old
1-Black Rooster (hatched from my flock) - 8 months old
2-Red Roosters (hatched from my flock) - 5 months old
1- Rooster looks like Partridge Orpington colors (hatched from my flock) - 5 months old

I am not keeping all those roosters - but which ones do I keep??? The oldest and top dog??
**Did have a lavender rooster to begin with and he is the father of the 8 month old black rooster and black/gold hen**

Only 2 of my hens have ever gone broody and hatched eggs 1 Lavender and 1 Jubilee. Both of those were bought from a home farmer. Noticed that none of my Buffs have ever gone broody and they were purchased from Wilco Farm store - is there something to those hatchery chicks not going broody?

Instead of adding hatchery purchased chicks this year I currently have eggs in an incubator which I have never done and pray daily that I don't kill them all!!

My chickens are spoiled, they have a Winter Coop/run and a Summer Coop/run. The winter coop has the electricity and running water. The Summer Coop has all the shade. Both have nice sheds converted into roosting and egg laying areas.

Loving my chicken lady life and learning something new every day.

 

[janiedoe]

Welcome to BYC.
Not all orpington hens will go broody but the ones from hatcheries are less likely to brood because its been bred out of them. I have had 2 out of 4 hatchery orpingtons go broody.
What rooster to keep depends on your goals. If you want specific colors you'll need to set up breeding pens with like colored hens. Black and lavender can be mixed but you'll need at least two generations to see lavender chicks from that mix.

 

[Bsmac]

Hello! Welcome to BYC! Good luck with your breeding plans!

 

[Pink Grandma]

Welcome to BYC.
Not all orpington hens will go broody but the ones from hatcheries are less likely to brood because its been bred out of them. I have had 2 out of 4 hatchery orpingtons go broody.
What rooster to keep depends on your goals. If you want specific colors you'll need to set up breeding pens with like colored hens. Black and lavender can be mixed but you'll need at least two generations to see lavender chicks from that mix.

Thank you very much!

 

[N F C]

Hi, it's nice to have you here with us! Good info from @janiedoe, hope it helps. As to which rooster to keep, I'd keep the best behaved one (one that's nice to you and gentle with the ladies).

 

[Knobby]

Welcome to the BYC. Glad you decided to join us! Good luck with your breeding plans.

 

[fldiver97]

Nice to have you here!

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[redinator]

Hello everyone, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.
I am located in Eastern Washington state, retired and turning into a crazy chicken lady
I have been secretly reading your wonderful advice and information and decided it was time for me to join in.

I have been keeping chickens for only 3 years now.
I have finally achieved my goal of a fully Orpington flock, now to get the breeding and colors dialed in.

I currently have 12 hens:
3-Lavender - almost 2 years old
1-Chocolate - almost 2 years old
4-Buff - 1 year old
2-Jubilee - 1 year old
2- hatched from my flock that are black with gold lacing - what color would those be considered??? (one is 8 months old/one is 5 months old)

1-Jublee Rooster - 1 year old
1-Black Rooster (hatched from my flock) - 8 months old
2-Red Roosters (hatched from my flock) - 5 months old
1- Rooster looks like Partridge Orpington colors (hatched from my flock) - 5 months old

I am not keeping all those roosters - but which ones do I keep??? The oldest and top dog??
**Did have a lavender rooster to begin with and he is the father of the 8 month old black rooster and black/gold hen**

Only 2 of my hens have ever gone broody and hatched eggs 1 Lavender and 1 Jubilee. Both of those were bought from a home farmer. Noticed that none of my Buffs have ever gone broody and they were purchased from Wilco Farm store - is there something to those hatchery chicks not going broody?

Instead of adding hatchery purchased chicks this year I currently have eggs in an incubator which I have never done and pray daily that I don't kill them all!!

My chickens are spoiled, they have a Winter Coop/run and a Summer Coop/run. The winter coop has the electricity and running water. The Summer Coop has all the shade. Both have nice sheds converted into roosting and egg laying areas.

Loving my chicken lady life and learning something new every day.

When selecting which rooster(s) to keep I consider overall health and temperment over any other qualities. An aggressive rooster takes all the joy out of keeping chickens.

Keep in mind when/if you remove any male there will be a shift in the pecking order and previously 'well behaved' rooster's temperament can change if they get the top spot.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
If you're going to be breeding Orpingtons to sell, you're going to have to split out by color. If you just want to breed purebred random colored Orpingtons so other people can enjoy them then I would select the best flock leader with proper conformation out of the roosters that you currently have.