Orpington Thread

[justuschickens59]

Quote:
Bless you for rescuing these poor defenseless babies. I respect that tremendously !!

 

[jenni22776rn]

I had placed my name at our local Humane Society in regards for chicken rescues..I had read that they at times were in need when animals were seized the place had chickens...I also was looking into Battery chicken rescue. Instead..one hour after placing my name, I got the call for these little ones. It has been a challenge..as well as a learning experiance. I found some wonderful advice from the People at Chickenrunrescue.com as well as this site...the people at Backyard chickens have been great....everyone has helped me research what breed they were..how to care for them and just reading the stories have been great. I have found them a home..but will keep 5 of them. When I rescued my first older chicken...I would never have thought I would have 17 little ones in my living room 8 months later!

 

[anitalogan]

Good morning. This is my first post so bear with me, please. We have 3 Buff Orpington hens here in Eastern North Carolina. I understand the the chickens are cold hardy, which is fine in our relatively mild winters. My concern is how they are going to handle the heat. Today it is going to be in the 80's and it is only March. Soon it will be 90's.
Would anyone have information how the breed handles the heat, and tips to help them get through the hot and humid NC summer?
Thank you most kindly.

 

[justuschickens59]

Quote:
Welcome to BYC !! Where are you located in NC? My husband is from NC and we lived in Wilmington, NC until we moved to VA.

We live in Southern Virginia and we have really hot and humid summers here, too. Our Orpingtons handle it pretty well. Ours have plenty of shade and we have fans hung up in the corner of each coop to help circulate some air. Make sure that they have plenty of fresh, cool, clean water. I change our waterers twice a day in the summer months. I also save the plastic Gatorade bottles and fill them with water and freeze them. I put these frozen bottles inside the waterers to help keep the water cool and I change these out 3 times a day - sometimes 4 times on really hot days. A lot of people mist their birds and I'm going to try that this summer.

Hope this helps. There are a couple more Orpington threads - you should check those out.

 

[anitalogan]

We are in Greenville, NC. The frozen bottles sound good, but no will be home to change them during the day. If I could just teach the dog to do it....

 

[lildinkem]

Quote:
I have Blacks that had no problem laying a egg 8 days outta 10 during 95 degree heat this past summer. Their very rugged breed. IF you have any concerns just keep them under a shade tree and run a sprinkle for a few mins a day when it gets near a 100. I did not do that, just had mine in a wooded part of my puny 3 acre yard. Nice to hear you are now enjoying Orpingtons like the rest of us. Good luck and enjoy!!

 

[Magenta_Chick]

I got 8 little BOs about 3 weeks ago. This is my first time owning chickens, and I cant believe how big they have gotten already!!! I have NO clue how many are guy/gals but just from looking it looks like I might have 3 roos and 5 pullets... I will give it alittle longer and see what happens.

Here is a newly "constructed" brooder. They were getting to big for the other one. (I realize it's not the best, but it works)

chick #1 (roo?)

chick #2

chick #3

chick #4

chick #5 (roo?)

chick #6

chick #7

chick #8 ( I'm pretty dang sure this guy is a roo!)

 

[MTopPA_18707]

Magenta_Chick

That is a neat looking brooder . . . is it in sections to keep the eating area cleaner ?

The 'flooring' in the two rooms looks different.

Kevin

 

[BlackPanther]

I've recently come across an Orpington for sale in my area called a 'lemon cuckoo' Orpington. He's quite a nice looking bird, and I like Orpingtons, but I don't know anything about this variety.
I was wondering if somebody could tell me a bit about it?
Thanks.

 

[Kiniska]

Hello everyone. Hope to revive the thread here a bit. Some beautiful high percentage English imported Orpingtons are on the way to my house in Feb. Ultimately I want a good bird for our homestead farm. Docile, good egg layer, and dresses out at a decent size. Everything I have thus far read suggests the Orpington fits the bill. I do not intend to show, but would prefer to keep the birds up to a good quality. What are the down falls and advantages of mixing English import lines with American lines? Other than the bird just is not as fluffy as the original English? Also please feel free to chime in on which type you prefer and why. I will be breeding blacks and blues only for the first two years.

Thanks,
A New Egg