Russian Orloffs

[TherryChicken]

I really like the look of the hen in back.  There is a LOT of white on that chick but it could be pure.  I would let it grow out either way just to see if it becomes splash or darkens up.

Thanks, the chick came from one of those 2 hens.. the baby does have black and brown on it.

 

[Alaskan]

Type is a non negotiable one for me. I'm asking color questions right now, but that's because that seems to be a gray area, and honestly, just something I find of interest. But I'd be just as happy with the UK standard where color is secondary (good way to remove the headache of a very difficult pattern to breed correctly). To me, there is no gray area in the type, if it doesn't have that game build/stance... It's just a bearded Sussex.

Because of my personal preference, I'm also closely watching activity levels wrt foraging. I've noticed the bulk of my ROs are very good foragers, but have noted a couple that seem to prefer hanging in the run; they are on the possible cull list. I may have nothing left to work with when I'm done but...I also won't have a giant feed bill and a bunch of pretty, non-productive yard art. On that note, I also plan to note who lays first, how often, etc.

I completely agree!

 

[ashandvine]

If you look back through the thread there are some good pointers. Type is number one, of course, this means beards and muffs, brow ridge, bright legs, no duck feet, thick neck hackles and that semi-upright. Color, even spangling and eggs come next in my book. Disposition of course but I never heard of a mean Orloff. If you look at the standard that would be helpful, but like I said, most of this is posted in previous pages on the thread and you could even do a search to save yourself time. That is done by clicking into the thread and then up at the top there is an option under the page number that says Search this Thread. I am not going to get too particular about how many eggs and how many pounds just yet so long as I have type and spangling to work on.

You don't want a chesnut bird you want mahogany-- I think of it like the old RIR, and Buckeyes. Some games are red like this too but they have another term for it and IDK what that is.

Thanks again Ivy

 

[TherryChicken]

I was told my boy is a bantam

 

[vtguania]

Skydancer28 I also agree that type is non-negotiable for it constitute a major part of what the breed is. As Ashandvine said type is number one. An Orloff without any of the body type is not an Orloff in my book and should be culled IMO. To me as far as color it should be close to standard as possible (by whichever standard the breed is held) but not necessarily a reason to cull unless it's plainly obvious that it's not what the breed should look like. There will be folks who tend to like a much darker variation of the Spangled & those who like a lighter color . I guess it's a matter of opinion as long as it's acceptable. As for adaptability I do agree that depending on the region the brids will be different yet I don't think it affects standard as it is behavior that is changed IMO.

 

[NCSprout]

Riddle Me, All other things being equal and considering only color, for me personally I would chose the bird in the back for color. I believe Curtis is referring to the amount of spangling and the darker bearded birds. I have, however, seen birds (especially on a few Russian forums) that I would consider to be more gold than mahogany that kinda remind me of my D'uccles.

skydancer, I would consider a large portion of the problems of unthriftiness or failure to thrive a result of poor breeding practices. I cull.

Personally, I have no fans, no lights, no heat at the barn. I collect and filter rainwater and that is what all my animals get unless they go to the creek. I pen my birds for breeding then they all get kicked to the pasture for the rest of the year (except the Games for obvious reasons, which are in movable tractors). I have lost more chickens to them jumping over the fence into the dog lot than to anything else and those are typically over confident roosters. I only carry 30 birds through the winter, so I do quite a bit of culling. I keep the best of what I have. It's what works for me.

 

[Alaskan]

Riddle Me, All other things being equal and considering only color, for me personally I would chose the bird in the back for color. I believe Curtis is referring to the amount of spangling and the darker bearded birds. I have, however, seen birds (especially on a few Russian forums) that I would consider to be more gold than mahogany that kinda remind me of my D'uccles. 

skydancer, I would consider a large portion of the problems of unthriftiness or failure to thrive a result of poor breeding practices. I cull. 

Personally, I have no fans, no lights, no heat at the barn. I collect and filter rainwater and that is what all my animals get unless they go to the creek. I pen my birds for breeding then they all get kicked to the pasture for the rest of the year (except the Games for obvious reasons, which are in movable tractors). I have lost more chickens to them jumping over the fence into the dog lot than to anything else and those are typically over confident roosters. I only carry 30 birds through the winter, so I do quite a bit of culling. I keep the best of what I have. It's what works for me.

Do you eat all the ones you butcher?

I don't mind killing them, but I get really tired of the processing.

 

[desertmarcy]

Do you eat all the ones you butcher?

I don't mind killing them, but I get really tired of the processing.

We do, or I sell the processed birds. I've got other breeds that get bigger faster, so those are the ones I normally sell processed. But, I have more birds to butcher than customers to buy, and our freezers are still full of chicken from last year, so this year is a dilemma, what to do with all the extra birds. I even process big chicks. There is not a lot of meat on them, but the meat is tender. I just got finished baking a batch. I butchered 12 small birds, cut them up into pieces. I mixed flour and mesquite flour with a lot of seasonings and salt, coated the pieces and laid them out single layer in a pan and baked. They were delicious

The mesquite flour is sweet and adds a nice touch to the mix.

It is really hot here right now, so butchering is a real chore. We do it in the garage so at least protected from the sun and flies, but it is hot and the ice I use to chill the birds melts too fast. After they are cooled down, I bring them in the house which has A/C to clean them all, so that part isn't so bad, but I hear you about being tired of processing.

 

[NCSprout]

Do you eat all the ones you butcher?

I don't mind killing them, but I get really tired of the processing.

The majority are processed and ground to feed my dogs and cats. Our family Christmas dinner is great big pots of chicken and dumplings. lol. We do eat quite a few ourselves. I have 2 large chest freezers and one is devoted to processed chicken and rabbit. I have also canned the chicken with good results. I process in small batches throughout the year. I also give away some birds locally.

 

[desertmarcy]

The majority are processed and ground to feed my dogs and cats. Our family Christmas dinner is great big pots of chicken and dumplings. lol. We do eat quite a few ourselves. I have 2 large chest freezers and one is devoted to processed chicken and rabbit. I have also canned the chicken with good results. I process in small batches throughout the year. I also give away some birds locally.

Would you mind posting some tips/directions for canning the chicken meat? I do have a canner and have canned spaghetti sauce, various sauces, jellies and such but I haven't canned meat yet. That would definitely be an option. How did the meat taste compared to frozen? Did you use quart jars or pints, any seasonings or just the meat? Is it packed in water? How long? We are at 2500' elevation, so I think everything has to be canned with 15 pounds pressure here. How big/small were the pieces you canned? Sorry so many questions!! I want to do this. We don't have any dogs or cats, but if I did, I'd definitely be feeding them some chicken like you are. I wonder if the Food Bank would take chickens processed by an individual. That could be a tax deduction.