Orpington Thread

[Bean789]

Ya she looks like gonna be black

Yeah....I thought so. No matter, she is a sweetie and protects our little Sultan from the bullies in the yard.

 

[3b blu]

She is pretty though and attitude is everything I had one little buff orp once hatchery stock that i swear thought she was human... She would sit in my poop cart on back of quad while I was cleaning horse stalls while I drove around and would perch on me... One time when the vet was out she wouldn't leave the vet alone long enough to do her paperwork fortunately she had soft spot for chickens too... She was up on her tailgates wandering pecking at papers...In fact the gal I gave her to when we moved cross country they were in the middle of construction of there home and they found her in the living room one day snuck in the front door

 

[FoxholeFarm]

COLOR/TEMPERMANT
Has anyone seen any distinct personality differences between the Orp colors?  We are getting our first this month and wondering if the breed is uniformly docile and friendly or if some colors are less so.

Just joined the thread for this same question. I have a black who is very skittish of my full size layers but cannibalistic towards my bantams. I have a duccle mix and a silkie that now have huge bald spots from healing after her attacks. I have her in a crate that we are calling the chicken jail, but I can't do that too much longer.

I need advice for how to discourage her attacks. I'm already considering a second coop to split the flock into heavies and lights, but if there is another option, I would love to hear it.

Zami in the chicken clink.

 

[informative]

Aggression in chickens is mostly genetic - there are breeds that are just more aggressive. Reds tend to be more aggressive to where they peck at my hands more and such while feeding them and they also peck at other chickens more than say Orpingtons or Giants who are tamer by nature. I know people don;t want to hear it but getting rid of problem chickens instead of breeding them is really THE way to "deal" with the issue.

 

[Kyzmette]

We were discussing the aggression in another thread and several noted that aggression seemed to pass through the hen. Even when the chicks are hatched and raised by another hen the offspring tends to follow the biological mother's temperament.

 

[3b blu]

Just joined the thread for this same question. I have a black who is very skittish of my full size layers but cannibalistic towards my bantams. I have a duccle mix and a silkie that now have huge bald spots from healing after her attacks. I have her in a crate that we are calling the chicken jail, but I can't do that too much longer.

I need advice for how to discourage her attacks. I'm already considering a second coop to split the flock into heavies and lights, but if there is another option, I would love to hear it.

Zami in the chicken clink.

One thing I have done is take them out the aggressor and one other that may do ok with them and coop them seperatly for a couple weeks away from main coop and put them back in later week or two they are then generally lower in the pecking order... It's prob dominance because she is getting picked on she has to pick on the next one in line.... But may be better to seperate your small from your big and she will get used to the big ones and flock with them....

 

[informative]

We were discussing the aggression in another thread and several noted that aggression seemed to pass through the hen. Even when the chicks are hatched and raised by another hen the offspring tends to follow the biological mother's temperament.

That is possibly good information - I would love to experiment with that then by using a rowdy red new hampshire rooster and crossing that with say a tame red star type hen to see if the chicks are less aggressive like their mother. A worthy experiment.

 

[FoxholeFarm]

[quote name="Kyzmette" url="/t/357588/orpington-thread/190#post_14116617" Worthy indeed! I hope you do it and if you do, post results!
We were discussing the aggression in another thread and several noted that aggression seemed to pass through the hen. Even when the chicks are hatched and raised by another hen the offspring tends to follow the biological mother's temperament.

That is possibly good information - I would love to experiment with that then by using a rowdy red new hampshire rooster and crossing that with say a tame red star type hen to see if the chicks are less aggressive like their mother.  A worthy experiment.  
[/quote]

 

[Bean789]

I have only just begun in the chicken world. I have a black orpington (was supposed to be blue) who is the most docile in the coop. She is near the bottom of the pecking order and shows protection towards our sultan when she is picked on by our brahma bantam. I also have 2 other buff orpintons who are still in the brooder but show no aggression towards her brooder mates.

 

[WendyF]

I would love to hear observations on possible differing temperaments in the different colors. I have 1 blue & 1 Lavender, both 2 months old, & a black 4 week old. I gave away her buff brooder buddy & totally regret splitting up my orp rainbow pack, as I adore all of my orps & really wanted 1 if each color I could get my hands on. But my nieces wanted laying hens, & I'm a way bigger sucker for those adorable girls than chickens, so I parted with the buff thinking my nieces would get the best of the chicken world with her. At any rate, mine are all too young to make ny true temperament observations. All 3 are sweet as the day is long to humans & flockmates so far. I'm very curious to see if any aggression differences show up as they age.