Orpington Fans !!! Lavender Cuckoo/mottled/blue mottled etc..

[jab91864]

Wow those are such beautiful birds on the last site. The gold laced and the partridge orps are the best on that page....for me anyway...lol.

Julie

 

[EweSheep]

OMG! So much variation....bad for girls living in the city limits! Maybe to dream on!

I do like the colors particularly the reds......now getting the pink in their legs would be a challenge if I have to cross them with the RIR to get the red colors.

Why didnt we get those kind of colors imported here instead of just the colors that we see nowadays?

 

[Julie in Al]

Yes, April please show some pictures. Do you have the exhibition size and quality? did you say you have white?

 

[hencackle]

Thanks Jab and April for those beautiful pictures! Wow, I think that I'll add the speckled and mottled Orpingtons to my wish list.

Is there any hope in getting eggs imported to the US from Europe?

April, what varieties do you have?

Stephanie

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

They are in the midst of a molt right now. I'll get some pictures next week anyway, I'm on holidays then.

There are a few that are exibition for sure, but they are all just layer hens to me. I culled all but 2 blue roos this summer as they were fighting way to bad, and the hens were getting in the middle as always. I'm not going to continue with all the colours, it is just too much seperation for me, I don't want to have to feed and water 8 pens on my way to work each morning.

 

[3peeps]

What a great site! Tons of photos and all really represent the birds well. Thanks for sharing!

Back before I decided I would try chickens, I had my eye on two of my friends light blue mixed breeds (cochins?)...there's just something about that color, especially in combination with the red wattles and comb.

 

[Cara]

Is a lavender a diluted blue?

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

What we call Blue is really Black laced blue, and Lavender is 'true blue' or also called 'self blue'.

 

[speckledhen]

Lavender will breed true, meaning two lavender birds will produce only lavender chicks. Blue x Blue will produce blue, black or splash.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Lavender is also a more consistant colour throughout the bird. Blue due to the lacing makes the bird seem darker on the head and neck where the feathers are smaller, closer and long/thin rather than round so the lacing takes up nearly the whole feather.

This pullet lived in the house for a bit when she was sick. Not a great chicken picture (it's years old too) but it shows lacing better than most pictures just the way she is stretched out. In Lavender the whole feather is the lighter blue that these ones are on the center.

Lavender breeds true for several generations but then it fades or white feathers crop up if you don't outcross. Or so I'm told by breeders that have kept it going, I'm not really even trying to get there.

Going to load new batteries in the camera and see if the barn lighting will be enough to get any decent pictures.