Orpingtons - An ocean apart??

[fowlman01]

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I agree with this. I think the UK Orps are very cool looking. They do not even come close to the APA SOP's definition of an Orpington though. I have received many emails asking if the APA Orp Standards will be changed to the UK Standards. That is the only reason I have made a statement about these birds. Many of the UK breeds that we also recognize look different.
That includes some of the American breeds they recognize. They have different Standards and as I said earlier. "They don't use our Standards and we don't use theirs".

The UK Orp is a different breed as far as I am concerned. To be clear....THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION...this is not a statement from the APA. The APA has no position on this, but a UK Orp should be DQ'ed in a show, as it has the wrong breed type according to the current Orpington APA Standard. Wrong breed type=DQ.

One day I may raise some UK Orps, as I think they are very pretty birds, but I will never think of them as a dual purpose bird as our Orps are now.

Walt

 

[jeremy]

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I think this post was very well put, thank you for your unbiased objectivity.

 

[kathyinmo]

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My Imported English Orps are great layers. My 10 pound hen is producing massive size offspring. I think they are gonna taste mighty good. I will have several in the processing pen. Dual purpose ...... I think they qualify.

 

[wilds of pa]

I must say Ive yet to ever eat a orpington..

just cant do it..

they get rehomed and i guess some get eaten that way but not by my hand..

I prefer the fast growing chickens to eat like Moyer's xx-boilers..butchering in 5-6 weeks and pushing 6-7lbs, making me hungry for some CHICKEN QUESADILLAS NOW

I guess the orps would taste just as good if eaten young and from confined pens??? maybe one day ?

Jeremy..absolutly..its just how i feel

 

[fowlman01]

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My Imported English Orps are great layers. My 10 pound hen is producing massive size offspring. I think they are gonna taste mighty good. I will have several in the processing pen. Dual purpose ...... I think they qualify.

I respect your opinion Kathy and I believe you. I don't raise them, you do, but generally birds that look like that don't lay well. Do they lay well the second year? That is the real test.
A 10 pound hen would be in the DQ range of the SOP Standards. Hens are currently at 8 lbs.

Walt

 

[kathyinmo]

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My Imported English Orps are great layers. My 10 pound hen is producing massive size offspring. I think they are gonna taste mighty good. I will have several in the processing pen. Dual purpose ...... I think they qualify.

I respect your opinion Kathy and I believe you. I don't raise them, you do, but generally birds that look like that don't lay well. Do they lay well the second year? That is the real test.
A 10 pound hen would be in the DQ range of the SOP Standards. Hens are currently at 8 lbs.

Walt

They make a nice Sunday dinner, though.

I have the Imported Orps for their beauty. Watching them flow across my lawn brings a smile to my face. I enjoy them so much. I hatch way too much, and have a processing pen now. My freezer should be full before winter, as will the freezers of our children. I am gonna try Barred Rocks, Delawares, New Hampshires, and Orps this year. Soon after that I will have project birds to process ...... alot of them, I believe. I am looking for size for the processing pen.

 

[jeremy]

I'll support Kathy's claim that they make excellent dual purpose birds. My cockerel will be 8 months old in July and I wouldn't be surprised if he was already 10-12 pounds. He feels like a bag of bricks when you pick him up. Which I can do very easily, he's my biggest bird and he's also one of the most gentle, typical of an Orpington yes?

My hens since they have started laying consistently give me 4-6 eggs daily, from 6 hens. The eggs are LARGE. The hens themselves are also quite meaty, I have one hen that I sometimes call drumstick because when you feel her thighs the girth of them is amazing. I've never felt a bird with meat on them like these Orpingtons have. These birds aren't just all fluff there is substantial meat underneath all those feathers.

It should be interesting to see how their rate of lay continues as they progress into their second year, these birds not being bred for production might result in a slow down in eggs but as long as I am still getting at least 4 eggs daily from my girls then that's alright by me.

ETA: I have not processed any of my Orps but I plan to eventually... maybe, I honestly don't know if I could eat anything as beautiful as my birds. It seems like it would be such a waste. I do plan on crossing my cockerel with my "Heritage"/Mohagany/Dark (whatever you want to call them) RIR hens later this year to hopefully produce a faster growing but extremely meaty bird.

 

[kathyinmo]

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I am not sure about that. Mine are just starting their second year. Yesterday it was over 100* and I got 6 eggs from 8 girls from one of my pens. This surprised me since I had dipped them (permethrin) a couple days earlier. First time I have ever tried this method. I thought that would stress them and didn't expect eggs for a few days really.

 

[fifelakelooper]

 

[fifelakelooper]

SYBLE!! You're the woman!! Woot!! I did it with your help!! So...I didn't edit and put words with the photos I posted...was afraid they'd dissappear again.
Now...if you can look at my UK and American MIXED chicks (9wks)....I think two are roos. The black for sure and the splash. If you had to choose just one...which would you keep? The black is larger by quite a bit.
These photos were taken yesterday and I need to learn how to set the date on my camera so it has the correct date on pictures but I'm too exhausted from fooling around with these photos and the computer!