Russian Orloffs

[vtguania]

NCSprout from the pictures I have seen of the Mottled parent of the eggs I acquired they seem true breed, but I guess I'll have to wait to see what hatches. Do you know wh has cuckoo & are they true breed? I am looking to try to get the different color variations of RO if possible. I know that can be difficult due to the limited availability here in the US. I have some Mahogany eggs coming in this week hopefully. Here's a pic I took yesterday of one of my young Spangled RO. Let me know what you think, not sure if it's a pullet or roo yet.

 

[NCSprout]

The nutshell of the previously linked study is this: "Thus, the studied breeds diverged during the long-time process of breed formation, and Russian Orloff breed manifests this fact to the greatest extent. At the same time, there was revealed genetic similarity of studied breeds, which can be explained by descending these breeds from the root of fighting chickens."

This is a link to another abstract by a similar team of russian geneticists. It does provide validation to the idea that the Oriental Malaoid game chicken was used as a component of the breed. Again this is not saying the Malay as we know it today is the same breed, but it is similar, as is the Iranian Lari Asil and the Kulang Asil. http://web.archive.org/web/20070313...n.edu/histcomp/Nei_M/nei_1972/node/2120.html#

Here is a link to what is considered the "father of the Orlov" http://russiagame.tripod.com/russiaclub/gilyan.htm
I have also posted a few other studies on the orloff forum page.

vtguania- I wish I knew who had the cuckoo's, I'd be all over them.

 

[Calpurnia]

 

[Calpurnia]

 

[ashandvine]

vtguania- I wish I knew who had the cuckoo's, I'd be all over them.

Thanks NC for the break down and further posts. The idea that today Malay isn't the same bird makes lots of sense to me given what I am slowly learning about games.

I contacted a woman keeping cuckoo Orloffs and they weren't sharing. I will see if I can try to find more info and get it to you. Maybe your charms will prevail?

 

[Maligator Love]

I want to start breeding these beautiful birds but i need to know some info on them.


Are the flighty or friendly or neither?
Good layers?
Do they stay with the flock or are they independent?
Do you wonder off or stay close to barn?
Good in heat, cold or both?
Do they get along with other birds and each other?
Hard to hatch or lots of problems?
Smart (as smart as a chicken can be)?
Good for free range or penned?
Depend on foraging or grain?
that should cover my question but feel free to answer more, if you think of anything.

I understand all birds are different but i would like a general idea to see if they are right for me.

Also is there any established breeder that ships chicks? I was going to order a bunch from ideal and pick the best of the best for my program.

 

[Alaskan]

I have just been researching (don't own any) but have tried to read through this entire thread.

I have found, that the best thing to do when considering a particular breed, is find that breed thread here on BYC, and read all bazillion pages of it. Reading through all of the pages gives you a very good idea of the particular problems, strengths and weaknesses of each breed. It is annoying (because of the number of pages) but it is worth the time, if you are seriously considering spending time with that particular breed (verses just wanting a little bit of everything flock).

Other than that, the Orloff deals very poorly with the heat (just a few pages back there is a bit of a discussion about that, even death because of over heating). But, they do just marvelously in the cold.

Also, look in this link for the breeder page, it has links to a bunch of Orloff breeders, both quality Breeders, as well as hatcheries.

http://usorloffs.freeforums.net/

 

[vtguania]

Thanks NC for the break down and further posts. The idea that today Malay isn't the same bird makes lots of sense to me given what I am slowly learning about games.

I contacted a woman keeping cuckoo Orloffs and they weren't sharing. I will see if I can try to find more info and get it to you. Maybe your charms will prevail?

NCSprout that is the truth about being all over the cuckoo's. The person I got the Mottled's from has cuckoo bu tdidn"t have any eggs available, she also said she had blacks but still needs to work on the shanks a bit, again not sure if they're pure.

ashandvine, it's a pity that people will not share in trying to make this breed more common here in the US in all of it's variations of color if possible. Pehaps trying again may change her mind or like you said having NCSprout work their charm on her. Either way it would be worth trying for the breeds sake. I'll keep you guys posted on my Mottled eggs, I have 7 so we will see how many actualy hatch.

 

[vtguania]

I want to start breeding these beautiful birds but i need to know some info on them.
Are the flighty or friendly or neither?
Good layers?
Do they stay with the flock or are they independent?
Do you wonder off or stay close to barn?
Good in heat, cold or both?
Do they get along with other birds and each other?
Hard to hatch or lots of problems?
Smart (as smart as a chicken can be)?
Good for free range or penned?
Depend on foraging or grain?
that should cover my question but feel free to answer more, if you think of anything.

I understand all birds are different but i would like a general idea to see if they are right for me.
Also is there any established breeder that ships chicks? I was going to order a bunch from ideal and pick the best of the best for my program.

Mailligatorlove, Orloff are a friendly breed which with time will follow you around & let you hold & pet them. As for laying they will lay through the winter when other breeds decrease in their laying. They are a cold hearty breed and very docile towards other chicken breeds. As for hatching they do tend to be broody but like any other chicken it depends on individual hen IMO. I'm just a beginner in this breed and this is just from what I've read about the breed. There are other more experienced Orloff members on here that perhaps can inform you better. I can tell you from my little experience with it hat this is a breed that anyone who has it will definitely fall in love with. There are a few breeders just a matter of asking them if they ship chicks. Are you interested in Spangled or Mahogany orloff?

 

[desertmarcy]

I want to start breeding these beautiful birds but i need to know some info on them.


Are the flighty or friendly or neither? Extremely friendly, friendliest breed I have had. Be prepared to be tripping over them.
Good layers? Mine lay better than I expected. I do not count eggs but general impression is they lay well and I am still getting eggs from some of mine even though it has been way over 100 degrees here for weeks.
Do they stay with the flock or are they independent? Can't say, mine are penned
Do you wonder off or stay close to barn? Same as above
Good in heat, cold or both? Known for their extreme cold hardiness. They don't like the heat but will survive it if given measures to cool off (wading pool, mister, etc)
Do they get along with other birds and each other? Get along great with each other. I had two cock birds that lived in harmony even. Very mellow and laid back, so may get picked on by a more aggressive breed
Hard to hatch or lots of problems? Mine hatch with no problems, very good hatchability. Almost 100% hatch if eggs were fertile.
Smart (as smart as a chicken can be)? How do you judge this? Mine are penned, so not that much opportunity to "shine"
Good for free range or penned? Have not tried free range (too many predators). I have no feather picking problems with mine in confinement, which is a plus.
Depend on foraging or grain?
that should cover my question but feel free to answer more, if you think of anything.

I understand all birds are different but i would like a general idea to see if they are right for me.

Also is there any established breeder that ships chicks? I was going to order a bunch from ideal and pick the best of the best for my program.

See answers imbedded in your questions.