Orpington Dual Purpose Meat/Eggs Project

[LilyD]

Actually starting to get excited. For those that I have chatted with on this forum. You know I'm steering myself towards creating a dual purpose meat and eggs flock using Orpingtons. I have three hatchery birds (mainly because I was curious as to how they would compare to heritage) that are blue, blue splash and lavender that are 12 weeks old. I also have 5 Chocolate Mottled Orps that are from a local breeder that are 5 weeks old. Friday I just hatched out the last of my Crele eggs I got from Lone Oak Farms so now I have 7 Crele babies that are one and two days old.

Sitting in the pen with them today I am very pleased with how they are looking. The hatchery birds are definitely smaller than the heritage ones and now that they are growing and catching up it's very evident. The Chocolate Orps are almost 1/2 the size of the hatchery ones and they are only 5 weeks old.

The new little Creles are quite tiny to start but so were the chocolates when I first got them. I had to use a smaller than normal brooder since they can fit through even the 1 inch holes in the regular brooder space. I am already working to try and get them as friendly as the mottled chicks so I can get weights on them regularly. These guys are definitely hardy and have a lot of varied color which is a trait of the Crele Orps specifically according to the sites I have looked at, but the breeder I bought the eggs from said he is getting adult weights of 11 -14 lbs on the roos and 8-11 lbs on the hens. We will see if these babies carry these traits. If they do they will be great additions to the program.

 

[jolenesdad]

I can’t wait to follow along!

 

[Newyorkrita]

I am also going to be Following along.

 

[LilyD]

Just ordered my bands so they should be here in a few days. Hoping to do some weighing of the mottled kids and just for the heck of it we can weigh the little fuzzies too to see what they weigh. I can't band them they are still too tiny lol but maybe we can come up with a way to mark them temporarily until they are old enough for the 4 week old bands

 

[LilyD]

Choc mottleds are 7 weeks old and are getting quite a bit of breast muscling. Haven't had a chance to weigh them since things got in the way but I will try and do it tomorrow night when I get home from work if I remember. My guess is that they are right around a lb to a lb and a half. If I was going just by build they are more the rectangular shaped bird versus the reverse or forward triangle of the meaties or the egg layers. I read a bunch of threads over this last week saying I should look for straight pelvic bones that aren't too thick and a broad breast area as well as fast growth rate and heartiness. So those are going to be my characteristics to start with. Still unsure if I have two roos and three hens in the mottleds or 1 roo and 4 hens lol. Second roo suspect is bumping chests and very upright like the other roo but has a pink comb not red.

Crele chicks are doing well we had a bit of pasty butt with this bunch because our temps have been in the 90s but the coconut oil worked well. They aren't as friendly as the mottled but are getting better every day. I have three with the same color and then one that is very dark two that are very light and almost a lemon color but with some brown as well and one that is very reddish with definite bars on his wings. I will be weighing these guys in another two weeks to see what we have for initial weights and then once a week afterwards.

I apologize for all the pictures lol but I really like their looks as well as how round they are. We will see how they do this next spring for breeding.

 

[jolenesdad]

Those mottleds look so good!!! Little round balls of adorable. Are you going to keep the breeds separate and work to improve their utility or are you going to mix them with other things and together for your DP project?

 

[FowlWitch]

Choc mottleds are 7 weeks old and are getting quite a bit of breast muscling. Haven't had a chance to weigh them since things got in the way but I will try and do it tomorrow night when I get home from work if I remember. My guess is that they are right around a lb to a lb and a half. If I was going just by build they are more the rectangular shaped bird versus the reverse or forward triangle of the meaties or the egg layers. I read a bunch of threads over this last week saying I should look for straight pelvic bones that aren't too thick and a broad breast area as well as fast growth rate and heartiness. So those are going to be my characteristics to start with. Still unsure if I have two roos and three hens in the mottleds or 1 roo and 4 hens lol. Second roo suspect is bumping chests and very upright like the other roo but has a pink comb not red.

Crele chicks are doing well we had a bit of pasty butt with this bunch because our temps have been in the 90s but the coconut oil worked well. They aren't as friendly as the mottled but are getting better every day. I have three with the same color and then one that is very dark two that are very light and almost a lemon color but with some brown as well and one that is very reddish with definite bars on his wings. I will be weighing these guys in another two weeks to see what we have for initial weights and then once a week afterwards.

I apologize for all the pictures lol but I really like their looks as well as how round they are. We will see how they do this next spring for breeding.

What mix are the black and white birds? I really like their patterning and may want to replicate it at some point in the future

 

[LilyD]

Those mottleds look so good!!! Little round balls of adorable. Are you going to keep the breeds separate and work to improve their utility or are you going to mix them with other things and together for your DP project?

Not quite sure yet. I don't think I will add other breeds other than orpington to the mix but still deciding on the mottled babies. I have that one male that has feathering on his leg (only one leg) so not entirely sure they are pure mottleds. I like their size and weight and so we will probably run a mix of Crele and Mottled for this year and then I might go to a full Crele flock since I have eggs and babies coming in for next year from Carolina Rare chick.

My goal is going to be to breed and keep roosters one year and pullets the next that fit what I am looking for. Fast growth good egg production and heaviness. Biggest issue I see with the mottleds is that the one rooster I have has what would be considered a DQ according to the SOP with feathers down all the way to his ankle on one side and I don't have another Mottled Roo to breed the girls to (one roo and 4 pullets) so sadly I think they will probably end up having to go and I will end up with just Creles in the long run. I promised the husband I would only have 7-10 chickens no more lol so probably one breed will be my limit.

 

[LilyD]

What mix are the black and white birds? I really like their patterning and may want to replicate it at some point in the future

If it's the older brown and white birds they are Chocolate Mottled Orpingtons but we are not entirely sure they are pure. (Some Cochin may have jumped the fence and a few of them may be mixed babies because Orps don't have feathers on their legs normally.

 

[LilyD]

The current Creles I have or Cuckoos since some of them don't look Crele are from breeding flocks with 14lb roosters and 11lb hens.
Plus I ordered eggs and chicks from Carolina Rare Chicks in South Carolina who has these birds

https://www.facebook.com/pg/carolinararechicks/photos/?ref=page_internal