Russian Orloffs

[FridayYet]

I just signed up on Facebook and sent a request to the Orloff group for membership. Not sure if I did it right since I'm not really into social media.

Anyone have any new pics to post? I love looking at everyone's birds.

Finally started on enlarging the coop and run today. Can't wait for chicken math to begin!

 

[RiddleMe]

Originally Posted by ashandvine

You want to keep the first. He is wide, dark, heavy and overall very good. Your assessments of his wing might be the moment of the pic but its so slight when we look at how his type and overall development 'score.' You DO want that fast developing genetics, especially when it results in such a thick bird. THAT is the key to a good table and egg bird. Its something that my current line does not appear to have. Yes, his back is a little short but when weighing out his other qualities he is the bird to keep imo.

Ash, don't know if you remember this guy (posted back in Feb 2014) but thought you might appreciate seeing a picture of one of his sons. There are things I like and don't like about him, but I think he's an improvement on his dad. I may use him for my "SOP line" since it appears to be calling for the deep mahogany color.

 

[ashandvine]

I still see really great width and such a nice open tail as well as position of the tail. Chest , head, hackle and feet all look good. I won't be breeding for the dark mahogany per se but if it happens here and the bird is still good overall then it can stay. How are the hens out of this cock?

 

[RiddleMe]

I still see really great width and such a nice open tail as well as position of the tail. Chest , head, hackle and feet all look good. I won't be breeding for the dark mahogany per se but if it happens here and the bird is still good overall then it can stay. How are the hens out of this cock?

He definitely passes on his width and quicker development. His offspring all seem to be very consistent in type/color within sibling groups, but between groups there is some major color differences, they definitely get their color from their mothers. Here's another one of his sons (different mom from the really dark boy), I have 3 of these orange boys (full brothers). Also a couple pics of some of his daughters from various moms.

The yellow and yellow/black banded pullets are full siblings to the orange colored boy, and look just like their mom. Not great pics, but you can see the tail spreads. And the nice yellow legs, another thing at least his female offspring seem to inherit. I actually have some of the yellow - yellow/black banded pullets (black bands keep breaking off) in with their really dark half brother for a test hatch. Wondering if it might darken the girls some and add some spangling. Might also put them in with an orange brother as well, for another test hatch, I suspect I will get really orange, minimally spangled birds. Still a long way to go with these but I'm in it for the long haul. But weights on these birds are all within SOP, at nine months the darker cockerel was ~ 7 1/4 lb and the pullets were ~ 5 3/4 - 6 1/4 lbs. Still need to weigh the orange colored cockerel.

 

[ashandvine]

I want that first boy and second pic in the middle above. Her mottling will come in slowly but well. I love the open tails! So nice to see. Sorry, but I don't care for the second hen [last pic on top]
at all..

 

[RiddleMe]

I want that first boy and second pic in the middle above. Her mottling will come in slowly but well. I love the open tails! So nice to see. Sorry, but I don't care for the second hen [last pic on top]
at all..

Oh, no worries, I don't either, that's why she's in the layer flock. Just showing you some of his offspring. But I'm trying to steer clear of that weird, washed out coloration, among other things. I know where it started, but the hen who has it had other traits that I figured where nice enough to use (she's also the mother to the pullet you do like). But I'm not using any of her offspring that also have it, just so it doesn't get too ingrained in the birds. The pullet you like is actually in with the dark boy right now (her half brother) for a test breeding.

 

[RiddleMe]

So these are the three boys that I currently have in breeding pens. Which only leaves me 13 boys that I need to process, gotta get on that. I'm holding on to my really wide cock for now, just as a backup bird and in case I have any issues with what his son throws. This is just the first round of pairings, I will shuffle things around once my incubators are full for round two.

One thing I have read is that the birds with a smoother transition from the back to the tail are wider through the body. Of course I don't remember where, if it was here on BYC, in older literature, etc, but I have noticed it does seem to be true, both in my cockerels and pullets. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed that trait?


Coming two year old cock Son to the first bird posted. Unrelated cockerel

Here's a few of the pullets/hens I'm using, I need to get pics of the rest, and better pics of some of them. Some I like better than others, but some of this is just test pairings to see what they throw. First row are all in with the coming 2 yo cock. 2nd row are in with his son (unfortunately my favorite green pullet jumped into the dog yard). Third row is in with the dark cockerel,


Mom (repeat breeding) Daughter (BC breeding) Unrelated pullet (test breeding)


Full sisters w/ full brother (missing one, very similar to these) - might be a hot mess but I am deliberately trying to flush out any recessives that I might be dealing with. Also, his mom threw 7/9 pullets, curious if the daughters will also produce heave on the pullets.


Full sisters (to each other) in with half brother (missing two) - Only full sister to the cockerel is nice type, great spangles, but beardless, so picked his half sisters with decent type and beards. This is not my favorite family of pullets, but worth a test breeding. (Ash, I believe this middle pullet bottom row is the one you liked earlier when I was showing tents).

Color is a little off in some of these pictures, for example the middle pullet bottom row is actually a very similar base color as the middle pullet in the top row, here is a side by side pic of the two. It's always hard to show birds well in pictures, so much easier to pick them up.

 

[FridayYet]

Coming two year old cock



Unrelated pullet (test breeding)

Can't wait to see what you get out of these two. I love the birds with more white.

I'm learning - would you say that she has "too much" white or is this still an acceptable amount of spangling?

Thank you so much for posting the pictures!

 

[RiddleMe]

Coming two year old cock Unrelated pullet (test breeding)

Can't wait to see what you get out of these two. I love the birds with more white. I'm learning - would you say that she has "too much" white or is this still an acceptable amount of spangling? Thank you so much for posting the pictures!

Because they will progressively get more white with each molt (nature of this color pattern) and she is only a pullet, she probably does have too much white. But she has nice even spangling, great base color, and great type. She's probably one of the nicest birds I've bred, so I plan to use her with at least two of the three roosters I posted, and possibly all three if I don't burn out for the season first. But that's the beauty, there's always next year too. The only reason I even breed pullets is for test breedings (small hatches, ~5-10 chicks) and to preserve genetics as I have had the occassional predator issue. I prefer to do any serious breeding after their first year of laying, so I have a good idea of their lay rate and how they will mature.

 

[flowerchild59]

My RO pullets that I purchased are settling into their new digs. One of them has really pale legs, not yellow. I am reading up on the standard to see what to keep and who goes into the general egg layers side of the barn. I really like these hens. They are friendly and inquisitive. I have chicks coming from Old Orchard farms.