Orpington thread!

[sassysarah]

Post pics and share stories of your Orpingtons! They don't just have to Buffs, Any kinds!

Have fun!

 

[RaZ]

No current pictures to share but in my mixed flock, the BOs are my favourite by far. After seeing some lavender orps at a show I have a hankering to get some of them.

 

[sassysarah]

I only had Buff Orpingtons too.
But hopefully I can get some white Or Lavender Orpingtons soon!

 

[Faraday40]

Here's our bantam Orp Cookie. She makes up for her small size with attitude. (For her 1st 2 years she was the only bantam here, so we called her "the Bantam Menace."
She loves to go broody, so at those times her nickname is "Cookie monster." We don't have a small roo, so her eggs are infertile. She must incubate the LF orps' eggs but has no problem adopting up to 2 doz chicks.

Our English choc orp is named Godiva. She's on the small side - about 6-7 lbs. Our neighbor fell in love with her, so she moved down the street. Her boyfriend was Brick. Short for "Dumb as a brick." He's still here & quite the little stud. Although he's smaller, I just recently discovered that he's been frequently mating my giant lavs in addition to Godiva & his peers.


This is Darth Layer. She's the sensitive one. Never been a good layer & completely stops production anytime there's a change in the flock. However, don't let the name fool you, she's the sweetest hen and jumps into a lap as soon as someone sits down. She also rubs our legs like a cat when she wants to be cuddled.

We have a couple lav orps. They are HUGE. My largest hen is over 10 lbs & the roo's about 14lbs. Our lav roo (Moose) is docile & also a comedian. The 3rd pic show the size difference between roos.

We also have some blk/lav split orps. Everyone goes crazy over the lavs, but personally, I find that iridescent green shine even more beautiful than the lavs.
Here's my all-time fav rooster: Mr. Dummy-pants (Note: Be cautious when allowing children to name their own pets. LOL)

Another fav hen is "Oopsie." She was supposed to be a mauve, but feathered in white/cream. After breeding her, I can now conclude that she is indeed a mauve, but has a recessive white gene. (Got her name b/c we thought the breeder had an accidental visitor in his mauve orp breeding pen. LOL)

Oopsie initially stayed because of the mystery color, but her friendly personality, interesting looks, & great broody hen experience is why she's here to stay.
1st pic = standing on my feet waiting to be picked up or fed treats.

a cute pullet pic

and those are our orps of present & past.

 

[sassysarah]

Here's our bantam Orp Cookie. She makes up for her small size with attitude. (For her 1st 2 years she was the only bantam here, so we called her "the Bantam Menace."
She loves to go broody, so at those times her nickname is "Cookie monster." We don't have a small roo, so her eggs are infertile. She must incubate the LF orps' eggs but has no problem adopting up to 2 doz chicks.
View attachment 1032172View attachment 1032166View attachment 1032181
Our English choc orp is named Godiva. She's on the small side - about 6-7 lbs. Our neighbor fell in love with her, so she moved down the street. Her boyfriend was Brick. Short for "Dumb as a brick." He's still here & quite the little stud. Although he's smaller, I just recently discovered that he's been frequently mating my giant lavs in addition to Godiva & his peers.
View attachment 1032167 View attachment 1032165

This is Darth Layer. She's the sensitive one. Never been a good layer & completely stops production anytime there's a change in the flock. However, don't let the name fool you, she's the sweetest hen and jumps into a lap as soon as someone sits down. She also rubs our legs like a cat when she wants to be cuddled.
View attachment 1032174 View attachment 1032225
We have a couple lav orps. They are HUGE. My largest hen is over 10 lbs & the roo's about 14lbs. Our lav roo (Moose) is docile & also a comedian. The 3rd pic show the size difference between roos.
View attachment 1032207View attachment 1032175 View attachment 1032179 View attachment 1032209 View attachment 1032230 View attachment 1032238 View attachment 1032210

We also have some blk/lav split orps. Everyone goes crazy over the lavs, but personally, I find that iridescent green shine even more beautiful than the lavs.
Here's my all-time fav rooster: Mr. Dummy-pants (Note: Be cautious when allowing children to name their own pets. LOL)
View attachment 1032222
View attachment 1032215
Another fav hen is "Oopsie." She was supposed to be a mauve, but feathered in white/cream. After breeding her, I can now conclude that she is indeed a mauve, but has a recessive white gene. (Got her name b/c we thought the breeder had an accidental visitor in his mauve orp breeding pen. LOL)

Oopsie initially stayed because of the mystery color, but her friendly personality, interesting looks, & great broody hen experience is why she's here to stay.
1st pic = standing on my feet waiting to be picked up or fed treats.
View attachment 1032168 View attachment 1032171
a cute pullet pic
View attachment 1032173
and those are our orps of present & past.

WOW!!!!! THEY ARE SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!

 

[TominWa]

i have an Orpington question for you experts. Flock of 8 with one surprise rooster. About 12 weeks along now. I keep waiting for the rooster to exhibit bad behavior for a few weeks while the hens mature, but he is the nicest thing to them. I built bachelor quarters for the few weeks that I read about but no reason to separate him yet.

Are the Buff Orpington roosters just more of a gentleman? Am I too early and the behavior is yet to come?

 

[Top Rooster]

Here are my BOs the one outside is named Goldie and she is the best mother ever she pecks hens just for looking at her chicks the other is named vanilla she has never gone broody but I bet she will later this year.

 

[Faraday40]

Are the Buff Orpington roosters just more of a gentleman? Am I too early and the behavior is yet to come?

It's still early, & you may not need to separate him. Some roosters go through a bad hormonal (teen-young adult) stage. I noticed it around 8-12 months, then they go back to their sweet normal self. Spring is the hardest on their hormones. For the most part, my orps have been no trouble. They're more like gentle giants & don't attack people at all. (Never keep an aggressive rooster because you simply don't want to pass along those genes. There are plenty of great roosters out there.) Sometimes a male will need to practice how to mount the hens without damaging their feathers, some learn faster than others on how to be a "gentleman;" others take a very long time to grow out of their hen-chasing behavior. I usually don't expect to see any mating until about 5 months of age. Even then, a rooster will attempt with mature hens rather than non-laying pullets.

 

[Faraday40]

Remember Cookie?


Well she's back in action!
Talk about an over-achiever! She likes to adopt everything that peeps.

 

[Faraday40]

With great sadness I must tell you that our beloved Darth Layer (aka Darthy & DL) passed away today. She has always been a flock favorite and a sensitive, loyal, loving bird. She is now at peace and joins her sister Cuddles.

Who knew that this fun "science experiment" would give us a flock & change our lives?
Although we've had many chickens, Darth Layer, was something special.


She perfected her art of Photo-bombing. (Taught by Precious who is still our undefeated champ.)


Darthy was one of the original "treat monsters" and ALWAYS one of the 1st hens to come running when called. She loved to jump up into the air to catch a high flying treat. She also always had a look about her - like she had a secret. Although most people think of me as an owner of impressive Lav orps, it's the black iridescent shine of DL's feathers that was truly impressive. And of course the name: Darth Layer has its own share of great stories.

We have a white hen: Princess Lay-a, so when a black orp hatched, we joked about how it was the opposite, so we nicknamed it "Darth Layer." We always joked how she used "the force" to make us give her treats and sang the Imperial March (Darth Vader's tune) whenever we shared a funny story about her.
(Clucking: Bawk, Bawk, Bawk, Ba Ba Baaa-wk, Ba Ba Baaa-wk....)
BTW- Cookie also hatched with Darth Layer. We didn't intend to keep a bantam with LF, but she had a lot of spirit and stayed close to her sister & protector: Darth Layer. DL's sidekick, Cookie, later earned the nickname - "the Bantam Menace" and we no longer worried about little Cookie getting bullied.

Below: Cuddles, DL, & Cookie when they 1st saw snow & were not impressed. They didn't leave the run until it all melted.

Most importantly, Darthy was the heart of the flock. When chicks grew older & left by their mama, DL would look after them to make sure they were OK and ease their transition. When roos would be rehomed or hens sold to new homes (even if a bully) DL would notice & get depressed. She stopped laying for 6 months when her other sister & buddy, Cuddles, died. Darthy enjoyed snuggles and her favorite person was my DD.

DD is now crying & will be for several days. When school started DD plastered her locker with multiple chickens pics - many are of Darthy. Her teacher requested each child bring in a photo from the summer for a class project. She brought in a pic of herself with 2 silkies & DL in her lap. That is how I will remember DL= snuggled up in DD's arms while reading a book, watching TV, or relaxing under her tree.

RIP my sweet Darth Layer.