Orpingtons: the good, bad and ugly

[Sally PB]

I have a 3 year old Jubilee Orpington. She's the only one of my birds to ever go broody, which she does 2-3 times a year. She's easy to break in a crate. Her first summer she was my best layer.

If I have room for more chicks next spring, I am torn between getting some Buff Orpingtons and getting some more Australorps. Aussies have been my best layers overall.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Well out of the 40+ orpingtons I have owned I have never had any with fatty liver disease, overeat, lazy or any health issues for that matter. I feed free access 24/7 to 20% protein all flock and they free range on 30 acres. I don’t give treats or extras. My orpingtons are fantastic foragers and are always out foraging during daylight. They are all easy going and come running up to me when they see me. Broodiness could be a con I guess, but for me it works great and I didn’t have to pull out the incubator this year. I just tossed the eggs I wanted incubated under my hens.

 

[Bawkbok]

This is our first buff - so when on average, do they actually start laying? Do they mature slower than say, hybrids or production breeds?
How does one acquire an English vs. and American Orpington?

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Cons:

- All other breeds seem mean in comparison.
- Some hatchery lines are not very Orpington in type and may not have the sweet personality.

I don't know which hatchery was responsible for my neighbors Buffs, but they're lacking a lot of Orp features. They're noticeably smaller than my Orp mixes and have no more floof than their Rocks.

I personally prefer the huge floofy English Orpingtons, but American Orps can be quite lovely too. I'd make sure they came from a hatchery or breeder known for good stock.

hmm........ I have 2 orpingtons, one I'm sure is female, and one that I thought was a rooster, but now I'm pretty sure it's just a big hen....

 

[Logar]

This is our first buff - so when on average, do they actually start laying? Do they mature slower than say, hybrids or production breeds?
How does one acquire an English vs. and American Orpington?

Mine started laying at around 22 weeks. They tend to take anywhere from 20-28 weeks to mature, usually on the longer side if it came from a breeder or sooner if it came from a hatchery.

You can get both English and American Orpingtons from hatcheries. But to get a good example of an English, a breeder is the best place to get one.

 

[Bawkbok]

Thank you for the response. Ours is about 20 weeks old - assuming she was closer to 15 weeks on shipment. Her comb and wattles are far from mature, just now starting to poke out of her head. When holding her for health checks, she is definitely lighter than her looks. From a hatchery. She is molting like crazy right now - assuming losing her chick feathers and growing in the adult ones.
Have her on 18% grower / starter. She has doubled in size in one month. She gets lots of exercise free ranging 3x daily and is active in the run so I'm not too concerned about her getting overweight - yet. I'd rather she not lay until she is mature so we don't encounter egg binding or other reproductive issues. I'll have to investigate the English; although she doesn't like to be picked up/held I like her sassy, active personality.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Pros

• Good layers, enough to supply a family with enough eggs. Lays through winter.
• Cold-tolerant.
• Active foragers.
• Used for both meat and eggs.
• Very good mothers (usually).
• Gentle and docile personality (usually).

Cons

• Tendency to become broody often and harder to break than most breeds.
• Very aggressive when broody (usually).
• Heavy and not able to fly as fast or take off as quickly as lighter breeds.
• Tendency to overeat and become too fat (usually).

 

[Solanacae]

The only cons are their tendency to go broody and that they don’t lay quite as many eggs as other breeds. Lavender has the ‘shredding gene’ which results in a lot of bird having very raggedy feathers.

A good breeder will back cross their lavender breeding stock to a black bird to keep the feather quality looking good. It’s possible to have a lavender bird without ragged feathers, but most breeders and hatcheries aren’t willing to go to the effort.

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

Pros

• Good layers, enough to supply a family with enough eggs. Lays through winter.
• Cold-tolerant.
• Active foragers.
• Used for both meat and eggs.
• Very good mothers (usually).
• Gentle and docile personality (usually).

Cons

• Tendency to become broody often and harder to break than most breeds.
• Very aggressive when broody (usually).
• Heavy and not able to fly as fast or take off as quickly as lighter breeds.
• Tendency to overeat and become too fat (usually).

I keep orpingtons, and all of these are correct ( especially overeating!) but i have found they usually stop laying eggs in winter. Could just be my personal experience though.

 

[Jenbirdee]

i have 3 chocolate english hens. they are super floofy & friendly girls. one went broody last year so i put some fertile duck eggs under her.
my hens used to be together with my ducks but I have since separated them into their own area because they terrified the ducks. They are bigger than and assertive towards my ducks. My ducks are very happy now that I moved the chickens.
they love winter but summer is hot for them and when it’s 103 or higher i bring them into my birds “hospital room” to hang out until it’s not so hot out. but I don’t put them in a 70° room. I put them in a room that’s about 85 or so , they don’t go into shock from sudden drastic temperature changes.