Orpingtons - An ocean apart??

[fowlman01]

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure!

1967? WOW, you must really be old.

Lets see....I was 30 in 1967, so I will use that as an excuse for being wrong. i was still too young to know what was happening. I am a late bloomer....hahahah

Walt

 

[justuschickens59]

I would wait until your cockerels are at least 8 months old before making a decision on who to keep. The change in the cockerels from 6-8 months is astounding - at least in the UK Orps.

 

[aveca]

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.that classic eye probably wont change much ,so much expression..i am not great photographer so capturing that is impossible for me.definatly keeping them all for this year..2 of them at 5 mos in many ways just stand out to show.more and more every day..you never knowthou i keep that in mind..one later might be the better..but looking at it now, that one just appeals to me.there is just something bout him. classic beautiful bird.might even take both just for the opinion but following my gut on this one..hes wide front and back.i will sure let you know how we make out

 

[lildinkem]

I think everyone has their favs in Poultry and I agree they can and should voice their opinion in an open forum. But, some tend to be pushing their opinion onto others in how to raise their flock. I am very new to poultry. And seem to be more into mixing lines. At least in my Blacks, Blues and Whites. This country only really has one line of Exhibition quality Buffs. Doc Clevenger's lines seems to be in everyone's line. And rightfully so. now with our Blacks there are only a very select few who are lucky to have truelly pure C Moore lines. For the rest we have to make do with what is available. the breeder I got my Blacks from had already mixed Pontious with Moore lines. So I had already the gene pool mixed up. And I did try to use my own creation with a Pontious/Moore line hen and have one fair quality male that I am using. The Julie Bachelor Black pullets I have are a blend as well with UK and APA lines. And I like to think one of them is of very high quality. High enough quality to be shown and to be used in my breeding pen with my own creation. Since lines had been mixed, lets really mess things up and throw these BAMMA hens under the BUS. Our White Orps and our Blue Orps were all nearly non existant until the invasion. Now the Blues have made a comeback. But our White are nearly Extinct. Again except for the one breeder, not too many, or more like a half a dozen have any Exhibition White Orps. So there I can not see any harm in bringing in new Blood to give everyone else a fair shot at having a quality White Orp line to use. BUT, you still need to work all these UK lines. Many need the correct tail and angle, can use a longer back. That all can be worked over time. I am very open to using what we got. And IF it is from the UK so be it.

 

[fifelakelooper]

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Thanks justuschickens and Sybil....input is always welcome.....I'll wait until around December and take a look then again at my Orpingtons and my Jersey's.

 

[jeremy]

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Thanks justuschickens and Sybil....input is always welcome.....I'll wait until around December and take a look then again at my Orpingtons and my Jersey's.

fifelakelooper, I'll try to get some progression pictures of my Splash cockerel from when I received him at about 4 1/2 months old to where he is today at almost 8 months.

 

[justuschickens59]

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Thanks justuschickens and Sybil....input is always welcome.....I'll wait until around December and take a look then again at my Orpingtons and my Jersey's.

fifelakelooper, I'll try to get some progression pictures of my Splash cockerel from when I received him at about 4 1/2 months old to where he is today at almost 8 months.

Jeremy - I'd like to see a recent picture of Neville !!! (speaking of Neville- you ready in about 15 days???)

 

[Candiss]

Here are some of my pet Buff Orpingtons @ approx 6 months. Love this breed.

Young pullet

Young cockeral

 

[jeremy]

Neville is massive Joy and I don't think he is done growing either. He doesn't really look like a baby anymore!

Oh and I can't wait! We're gonna have a movie marathon and watch the other movies in sequence the night before the final installment comes out! I'm excited!

 

[fowlman01]

I don't have any problem mixing lines, I have a problem mixing breeds. That is just me though.

Let me say that anyone that is serious about waterfowl knows what the UK Pekins did to the US Pekins. It is pretty easy to see which strains of Pekins have the UK blood in them. They are very interesting, but they are not Pekins according to the APA Standard. It will take a few years to get the Pekins where they should be in those lines that have the UK breeding.

Am I the only one who sees a tremendous difference in the UK Orps? If you put an APA winning Cochin side by side with a UK Orp (a good UK Orp) the only difference appears to be that one has foot feathering and one does not. I see some UK orps online that appear to be either crossed with US Orps or are the result of really bad breeding. I am kind of a poultry snob, so maybe my way of looking at things is a bit different.

IMO and the APA SOP the Orpington should be: Lower body feathers NOT TOO PROFUSE. That one quality has been a arguing point in Orpingtons for some time, but that is what the SOP says. One of the all time great Orp breeders that is many times overlooked is Ralph Brazelton. I had his line and they never threw birds with "pants" as I call it. The bird in my profile pic is a true APA SOP orp. Note.....you can see the shanks.

This is the kind of argument that never goes anywhere because someone will always want something different or unique. My position as a judge is that I will continue to follow the APA SOP and anything that is radically different will be DQ'ed. This is not my requirement, this is what the SOP says. I plan on raising some UK type Orps but will just enjoy them for their beauty as I enjoy other non-standard breeds that I have here. They are very pretty birds and could be accepted into the APA SOP sometime in the future, but not as Orpingtons...unless the APA membership wants to use the UK Standard instead of the APA Standard. That probably will not happen though. This is not the first time someone wanted the APA to follow another countries Standards......nor will it be the last time.

Walkt