In our chicks, hatch date 4/7/2014, I ordered 1 Blue Orp, now named Sephira (paid a pretty penny for her too, I might add), but she has turned out to be black with a green sheen. No matter. She is absolutely beautiful, IMO. As for her growth, she was one of the smaller chicks until around 7-8 weeks and then she just seemed to grow and grow and is now the largest hen in the chicken yard. As for her disposition, she was always terrified of us but has mellowed somewhat. She will let me hold her without any fuss....if I can catch her. BUT she is next to the last on the bottom of the pecking order which seems strange to me since we have 4 regular size chickens and 4 bantam chickens. She lets the Mottled Cochin bantam boss her around and she is terrified of our Buff Brahma bantam and she is twice their size and still maturing. Funny to watch considering their size differences. She is one of my favorites in the coop though. She 'talks' to me and I listen intently. Our bottom of the order is a Sultan (our 'mystery chick') who could care less about anything anyway. LOL I have sometimes wondered if I got the Blue Orp I paid for or if she was substituted with another breed. We wondered about that with a couple of them but the others turned out just as they should have. She is the only exception and the chance we took with her breed as a Blue Orp. She has not begun to lay yet as of this writing while a few of the others have begun squatting when petted. Eggs are coming soon! Yippee!
In the brooder, at approximately 5 weeks old, I have 2 Buff Orps along with a Black Sex Link (super friendly at 5 weeks old), a Barred Rock, Blue Silkie bantam, a Splash Silkie, and 4 guineas (1 grey and 3 white). I hope the Buff Orps get as large as Sephira.
