Orpington Color question

[K813ZRA]

So I realize there are different colors of the same bird for example the Orpington has blue, black, white and buff (plus splash which I realize is not a standard but comes from the same parent stock as Blue/Black). However there are other colors that are not recognized such as Lavender. Is this some sort of recessive trait or a mutation that is being bred for or is the blood of another type of chicken introduced to produce the color?

That brings up another question: If you can not get a buff from a black for example then are they still the same breed? I realize they are all called Orpingtons but do they have the same origins? Or do they simply just have the same shape and feathering characteristics?

I ask these questions because I have Buff Orpingtons and I like their temperament in particular when compared to my other breeds. I would love to replace some of my flock with more Orpingtons so long as they are going to be like my Buffs. Now I realize that each bird does have its own personality but overall I am happier with my Buffs than my RIR's or Australorps.

I know my questions are rather pedestrian but I would love to learn more about this. I have been searching here and elsewhere on the net and either my ability to use google is not up to snuff or I simply don't know how to ask about what I am looking to learn.

As an aside I would like to, maybe next season, invest in some heritage quality Orpingtons from a breeder but that is a topic for another time.

Thank you in advance for any insight you may be able to offer.

 

[1muttsfan]

With birds, unlike some other animals such as dogs or horses, the colors are in general bred separately. To get a new color in a breed, at some point an outcross from a different breed has to be done. Usually you would try to select a different breed that had charactoristics, undesireable in your original breed, that would be easily bred back out, as the next step is to do multiple breedings over (sometimes many) generations to remove all the "wrong" charactoristics and get back to a bird that is correct in appearance, behavior and egg type for the original breed.

 

[K813ZRA]

With birds, unlike some other animals such as dogs or horses, the colors are in general bred separately. To get a new color in a breed, at some point an outcross from a different breed has to be done. Usually you would try to select a different breed that had charactoristics, undesireable in your original breed, that would be easily bred back out, as the next step is to do multiple breedings over (sometimes many) generations to remove all the "wrong" charactoristics and get back to a bird that is correct in appearance, behavior and egg type for the original breed.

Thank you, that clears things up a lot!