Can some orpington people tell me if the breed has issues with extreme temperatures? Odd question I know. I have 25 chickens of various breeds. I started out with 3 orpingtons last year. Over the winter we had a week of subzero temps and I found one of the orpingtons dead on the coop floor. No evidence of anything wrong with it that I could see and no warning beforehand. Then this week we just had temps reaching 100 for the week. I found an orpington dead on the hottest day of the week. As with the other there is no evidence of anything that caused the death. Now I have one left. I have only ever had one other chicken die and it was a 5 day old chick who had not been right since hatching. Is this a breed thing or just my chickens?
The temps don't seem to bother mine- and it can be pretty extreme here. The only time I've lost any (an orp and a buttercup that were hatchery) they were egg bound. Sometimes you see the signs- sometimes you don't. I spend a lot of time with my birds- so I was able to recognize it the second time around. Sorry for your losses.
I live in NJ ...experienced the same crazy snowy winter and now crazy hot summer...no issues so far. Mine stayed in the barn as long as there was snow on the ground (which was pretty much from Dec-March) this year!!! No electric or heat source or insulation in the barn...just alot of hay. Since this heat wave hit...they have been hanging out in the woods mostly...they seem to prefer the shade. I'd say orps. are pretty hardy birds and as long as your providing some relief for them they should be fine.
You being in the North east, we have the same issues here. This past heat wave I lost a total of 3 birds. One was an Orp. I attribute it to the heat. The Cochin I lost was due to a combo of the cockerel being to gung ho to get himself some and denied the Cochin from the water. My Speckled Sussex cockerel, he thought he was a big time heavyweight chicken fighter and went up against my Flozelle a Black Orp. Flozelle beat him up so bad that Roscoe croaked overnite. A sprinkler will help with the blistering heat. I use scalding hot water to fill up my waterers for the bitter cold twice a day. You MAY have lost one due to egg bound. I lost a really nice hen last month cause of that. But, all that being said. I find my birds pretty resilient to the conditions. All things considering.
I had proublems with Roos dropping dead,it wasnt cold when one died.It was a mystery after losing 3 roos for no reason they finally stopped dying.One was a big red roo giving to me for my lonly barred rock hens and 2 speckled sussex roos from diffrent blood lines. Havent had any die like that since.
