Orpington Dual Purpose Meat/Eggs Project

[jolenesdad]

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

 

[RoosterML]

Just processed 4- 16 week old Lavender Orpington Cockerels this past weekend. Results were roughly 3 lbs dressed. Not impressed. It’s making me rethink my whole Orpington as a meat bird. Leg meat was tough obviously due to them being so much more active compared to meat birds. Breast meat was great but really not that much of it. My recommendation as I have learned from others would be the wait closer to the 24 week mark before processing. Good luck!

 

[LilyD]

Just processed 4- 16 week old Lavender Orpington Cockerels this past weekend. Results were roughly 3 lbs dressed. Not impressed. It’s making me rethink my whole Orpington as a meat bird. Leg meat was tough obviously due to them being so much more active compared to meat birds. Breast meat was great but really not that much of it. My recommendation as I have learned from others would be the wait closer to the 24 week mark before processing. Good luck!

I generally base my processing by the bird so it will depend on their growth. Previous years it has been 16-20 weeks but I am using Heritage birds that are probably 10th or so generation that the breeder has been working with so they are already a bit bigger than a hatchery version. My goal is to breed the bigger ones and process the ones that aren't as good weight and growth wise so for at least the first 4-6 years I imagine I will be processing closer to 24-30 weeks until I get them growing faster and gaining bulk quicker. I am breeding for these characteristics specifically:

Growth Rate + Hardiness - Those birds in both the females and males that grow the fastest and seem to get big the quickest, I will look at the top 10 out of that category out of both genders. Also I want only the birds that do well in our climate and are healthy and happy even with our horrible winters.

Muscle tone - I want birds that have thicker breasts but also have the wide pelvis that denotes that they will be good layers. Therefore I will check the birds I hatch out the grow fast and choose the ones with a more rectangular shape (wide breast and wide back end) versus the ones that are very narrow in the front or behind as are most egg layers or birds bred strictly for meat.

SOP- Since I am breeding one breed of chicken (the orpington) I need them to meet the SOP for that breed. They should have rounded plump bodies and feathers that cover their legs probably close to the knee, no feathers on the legs and good personalities and broodiness.

Out of those 10 I will choose 3 males and 8 females that meet what I am looking for the closest. By the end of the season I should have the male that I want to breed with as well as one back up for the season (in case for some reason I lose my top boy) Then I will do the same thing again the next season. After 3 years I will add new blood from another breeder and continue on for another three years.

 

[RoosterML]

@LilyD sounds like a nice program you have going on.

 

[jolenesdad]

The Orps I’ve got in the incubator are going to be 19 weeks when I have my fall meat birds processed, so I’ll take any boys for sure then, it will be interesting to see where they are. I’ll try and document their growth in my meat bird thread too.

@RoosterML how did you cook your bird that was tough?

 

[LilyD]

Been a while since I've done a posting so time for an update. It's been crazy here. One tractor fixed and the steering went on the other one so we spent a lot of time working on getting parts brought in and fixing those so that the pastures could be taken care of. All that while chicks have been growing. Mottled chicks are doing well. I lost the rooster with the feathered legs. Not sure exactly how but came home and he was gone. The other four are doing marvelous.

I think I have all hens though or one very girly roo and the rest hens. All are around the same size. Three feathered out very quickly and were done feathering by about 6 weeks the other one is still working on feathers on it's back but none seem to have very big or red combs. They are 9 weeks old currently and the average weight is around 3lbs a few of the smaller ones are 1.12 lb and the one with the slowest feather growth is close to 3.5 lbs. It makes me wonder if they can grow one or the other feathers or body weight. All seem to have fairly deep breasts and are fairly round shaped.

The Crele babies are growing big and are 3 weeks currently and have moved to an outdoor brooder with a light for nights and are out running around during the day. They are loving having space to play and be outside. Seem curious about me and are willing to come up to me some of the time but others don't want me near them lol. You can see the double barring on a few that I am pretty sure are roo chicks and one that I know for certain is a single barred female pullet but a few of the others have patterns that just don't even look partridge to me.

A few of the Crele breeders said they aren't close enough to the SOP to be called "Crele Orpingtons" but I am now seeing the color patterning on some just not all. Any I do sell will be sold as pet quality Crele or Cuckoo babies. One for sure is an Isabel Cuckoo Roo/Pullet the other maybe a lemon roo/pullet. Combs aren't developed enough to tell yet at least on those birds. They are a starting point and I will use the ones I like for breeding and I will add Carolina Rare Chicks breeding bloodlines next year to try and make the colors and patterning more even and correct. I will start weighing them but my thought is this year to keep the Crele roo and pullets that look nice and the chocolate mottled pullets for this year (for eggs and hatch out the Crele hens eggs starting next spring to test if they breed true and what my size and growth rate is initially) while I wait for my hatching eggs to arrive from South Carolina May/June timeline (hatchalong anyone?) It will at least give me a baseline to start with.

Single Barred Pullet chick.

Two double barred roo chicks I believe barring is very evident. The one in front has a good size comb the one behind not so much but both have great patterning and you can see the three colors coming in and the barring on their wings.

This is one of the ones I'm not sure of looks almost like barring in black and white on the wings but the red has no barring and it's a tiny chick as well. Started out chipmunk like the other two roo chicks but growing slow and not feathering out like I would expect.

Darker colored pullet with a white spot on her head I have heard that you can get a lot of variation in the patterning because the partridge has a lot of natural variation.

Was told this one was probably Isabell Cuckoo has barring and patterning as well as gold leakage not sure if it's a pullet or roo.

Lemon Cuckoo chick possibly roo not sure not much for a comb.

Mottled pullet boy are they big.

Slow featherer but biggest mottled chick so far.

Mottled pullet smallest one very petite and smaller than the others.

For comparison the blue is from the middle of April Hatch from Meyers Hatchery the two mottled hatched out on Memorial Day weekend. So about 6 weeks difference in ages. These are the two smaller mottled and they are just about the same size as this blue pullet from the hatchery.

 

[FowlWitch]

Been a while since I've done a posting so time for an update. It's been crazy here. One tractor fixed and the steering went on the other one so we spent a lot of time working on getting parts brought in and fixing those so that the pastures could be taken care of. All that while chicks have been growing. Mottled chicks are doing well. I lost the rooster with the feathered legs. Not sure exactly how but came home and he was gone. The other four are doing marvelous.

I think I have all hens though or one very girly roo and the rest hens. All are around the same size. Three feathered out very quickly and were done feathering by about 6 weeks the other one is still working on feathers on it's back but none seem to have very big or red combs. They are 9 weeks old currently and the average weight is around 3lbs a few of the smaller ones are 1.12 lb and the one with the slowest feather growth is close to 3.5 lbs. It makes me wonder if they can grow one or the other feathers or body weight. All seem to have fairly deep breasts and are fairly round shaped.

The Crele babies are growing big and are 3 weeks currently and have moved to an outdoor brooder with a light for nights and are out running around during the day. They are loving having space to play and be outside. Seem curious about me and are willing to come up to me some of the time but others don't want me near them lol. You can see the double barring on a few that I am pretty sure are roo chicks and one that I know for certain is a single barred female pullet but a few of the others have patterns that just don't even look partridge to me.

A few of the Crele breeders said they aren't close enough to the SOP to be called "Crele Orpingtons" but I am now seeing the color patterning on some just not all. Any I do sell will be sold as pet quality Crele or Cuckoo babies. One for sure is an Isabel Cuckoo Roo/Pullet the other maybe a lemon roo/pullet. Combs aren't developed enough to tell yet at least on those birds. They are a starting point and I will use the ones I like for breeding and I will add Carolina Rare Chicks breeding bloodlines next year to try and make the colors and patterning more even and correct. I will start weighing them but my thought is this year to keep the Crele roo and pullets that look nice and the chocolate mottled pullets for this year (for eggs and hatch out the Crele hens eggs starting next spring to test if they breed true and what my size and growth rate is initially) while I wait for my hatching eggs to arrive from South Carolina May/June timeline (hatchalong anyone?) It will at least give me a baseline to start with.

View attachment 1859654
Single Barred Pullet chick.

View attachment 1859661

Two double barred roo chicks I believe barring is very evident. The one in front has a good size comb the one behind not so much but both have great patterning and you can see the three colors coming in and the barring on their wings.

View attachment 1859665

This is one of the ones I'm not sure of looks almost like barring in black and white on the wings but the red has no barring and it's a tiny chick as well. Started out chipmunk like the other two roo chicks but growing slow and not feathering out like I would expect.
View attachment 1859669

Darker colored pullet with a white spot on her head I have heard that you can get a lot of variation in the patterning because the partridge has a lot of natural variation.

View attachment 1859673

Was told this one was probably Isabell Cuckoo has barring and patterning as well as gold leakage not sure if it's a pullet or roo.

View attachment 1859674

Lemon Cuckoo chick possibly roo not sure not much for a comb.

View attachment 1859675

Mottled pullet boy are they big.


View attachment 1859680

Slow featherer but biggest mottled chick so far.

View attachment 1859681

Mottled pullet smallest one very petite and smaller than the others.

View attachment 1859682

For comparison the blue is from the middle of April Hatch from Meyers Hatchery the two mottled hatched out on Memorial Day weekend. So about 6 weeks difference in ages. These are the two smaller mottled and they are just about the same size as this blue pullet from the hatchery.

AHH are you going to be selling chicks next year? I would love to buy a few from you after December when the newcastle quarantine is over. I would LOVE some with that mottling pattern - they almost look piebald and it's so cute!

 

[LilyD]

AHH are you going to be selling chicks next year? I would love to buy a few from you after December when the newcastle quarantine is over. I would LOVE some with that mottling pattern - they almost look piebald and it's so cute!

I am hoping to get my NPIP certification this fall and then should be able to sell. It will depend if they have test kits for doing birds by then or if I have to wait until spring. We got word this spring that they ran out so new certifications would have to wait. All the Mottled birds, the Meyers Hatchery birds and the Crele are NPIP stock from other sellers so I have no worries about passing lol.

 

[LilyD]

It was recommended on one of the Orpington forums I am on to get this book for reference when choosing birds to breed the following year out of babies hatched. It's called The Call of the Hen and can be found at the livestock conservancy library for free so that you can read it online without having to purchase it.

 

[LilyD]

Just processed 4- 16 week old Lavender Orpington Cockerels this past weekend. Results were roughly 3 lbs dressed. Not impressed. It’s making me rethink my whole Orpington as a meat bird. Leg meat was tough obviously due to them being so much more active compared to meat birds. Breast meat was great but really not that much of it. My recommendation as I have learned from others would be the wait closer to the 24 week mark before processing. Good luck!

Make sure that you rest the birds after processing in the fridge so they stay cold but not frozen for a few days before freezing or before cooking. Also generally heritage breeds are cooked using lower temps and longer cook times. Roasting in a covered dutch oven or cooing them in a pressure cooker are all great ways to cook them. I also tend to brine mine in a marinade before cooking which puts more moisture in the meat which keeps it from drying out and being tough. Good luck.