Russian Orloffs

[Goose and Fig]

Oh they are so cute!!!
I have 3 juveniles and I cannot for the life of me tell who the roos are. 2 have a lot more white than the 3rd. I'm picking up 2 (was 3 but 1 died) today. 2 were chipmunk patterned, 1 was more of a buff- but they are all spangled. What's up with that? I'd expect them to be chipmunk since they are colored like a sussex......

 

[gootziecat]

I've read the Orloffs are great layers the first year and then production dramatically drops. Has anyone had their Orloffs long enough to evaluate that? How much productivity is lost?

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
Genetics has a lot to do with the color of Orloffs. They will change TREMENDOUSLY within their first year. In my experience with spangled, the chicks that start out being all brown will not have much spangling in their color as adults. They will develop some, but not a lot.

Here's a pic of one of my young cockerels and a pic of what he will look like at maturity:

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

ShellyB, I got a couple of hatchery birds on the way, but I still want some from you whenever you have eggs available for sale again!

 

[TK Poultry]

I LOVE

the bantams....its soo hard trying to stick to two breeds! LOL I may have to plan on some of those in the future

 

[jeremy]

So who will have Orloff hatching eggs NEXT spring?

You can put me on the top of your list, for at least 6-12.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Provided things continue to go well, I'll have Spangled eggs later this fall and Spangled, Cuckoo, and Crele available next spring.

I've got Crele chicks growing out right now...those are still in the project stage.

ETA: The Cuckoo and Crele hatching eggs will be VERY limited. And I'll be totally up front and honest...they won't be your average price either.

 

[6littlechickies]

I just have bantam ones but if you are looking for eggs I have limited quantities this fall and then will (barring unforeseen accidents) have them this spring too. just PM me if you are interested.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Quote:
Do you have a red duckwing to make a true crele, or are you going to have barred spangled birds? I'd love to get my hands on some red duckwing pattern. (Is it even called red duckwing in the orloffs? I don't remember.)

I would love to have a couple of cuckoo eggs in my order. I'd definitely like to be added to the waiting list. I will wait to order Del eggs 'til then too, if that works for you. Then I can just knock 'em all out at once!

ETA: According to Feathersite, the color is called black-breasted red in Orloffs, not red duckwing.

 

[savingdogs]

So glad to find this thread!

I bought my very first chickens from a feed store, 12 chicks that were supposed to be RIRs. Right away, half of them were funny-looking. After researching online, I decided they were not RIR chicks at all. Finally, I found BYC and of course the folks here identified them for me....and I became a BYC addict!!!!

Of my six, I traded three and the person I traded to found out that our birds were special ordered by someone who was very dissapointed when I ended up with them! She eventually bought the three I sold and ended up with them after all.

I still had three, but I found they fly better than my other chickens and one flew into the mouth of a dog! End of the story for that one.

The other two have been laying very well. The eggs are a little on the smaller side, but they laid excellent during the winter and were very consistent. Now suddenly both of my birds have gone broody together. I kept trying to stop them but they were very persistent, so I have them sitting on eggs right now.....but they are not orloff eggs.

I honestly have found them more challenging than my other chickens. For one, they can fly better and I have to keep their wings clipped. For two, they will not let me handle them at all and three, they have a habit of picking at themselves and pecking out their own feathers. I have spangled ones, but they are not very pretty. In fact, one is named "Unpretty". Since there is only one other, she is "Pretty". But Unpretty pretty much is tailless all the time because she will sit and peck out her own tail feathers when she is bored. The other is not much better and I don't have pictures because they look embarassing!
My two birds are very low in status in my chicken flock and do not defend themselves or care about being bottom on the totem pole. Maybe they realize they peck themselves into ugliness? My roo does not mind, however, and his attentions make their feather problem worse.

I have enjoyed having them but do not want more. Hopefully later in the month I can tell you what kind of mothers they are! Being broody has actually helped them grow feathers because they are in a broody trance instead of bored and picking their feathers, but their overall egg production sure dropped!