A question for the Orloff breeders: I have heard that Orloffs are poor layers, but poor laying ability varies among opinion and strain (i.e. someone used to Leghorns will refer to a bird that lays 100-200 eggs a year as a poor layer, others may refer to it as average/decent) as well as certain lines may only lay a few while another may reach a production rate that is 10 times as much as the described line.
So the question is, how decent of egg layers are Orloff's? If possible, can you describe it in numbers?
Thanks and God bless,
Daniel.
I haven't been keeping up with this thread (or BYC for that matter) lately, but caught this question and a few others and thought I'd give it a shot.
I can only speak for my own birds as every strain is different. I personally am breeding mainly for type and size, will work on coloration and such once that is established. My great uncle had Large Fowl Spangled Orloffs when I was a kid, and I won't be happy until my strain reaches the look of those birds from my childhood. Even with some of the strains I am working with I understand other breeders are having different results. So this is just my take... your mileage may vary.
My best birds as far as color goes are the ones from Kummer Poultry. Great looking birds, but mine are not good layers - only about three eggs per week per hen and then only lay dependably in the early spring. Fertility has been fairly low and hatchability just so-so. Chicks are not near as thrifty as the other strains. Legs are clean and a fair shade of yellow though. Do throw an occasional mahogany bird with very little or no spangling, especially in the cockerels.
The Welp Hatchery birds are the worst as far as color and type. Lots of white legs, occasional straight combs, odd spangling (All due to a cross somewhere in the past with a speckled Sussex is my guess). Very small birds. However they are very good layers, 5 plus eggs per week per hen and lay fair through the winter months and the hot summer months.
The Roberts strain birds are the largest, have fair color and good fertility. Laying is about the same as the Welp birds or maybe a tad better. These and the unknown strain are the only ones heavy enough to be considered dual-purpose birds.
The unknown birds I picked up at a swap a couple of years ago are the best combs, legs and upright carriage, but laying is poor. Fertility on the eggs they do lay are near 100% though.
The birds we have that are combinations of these strains are the best layers. This strain is a work in progress. We started out segregating and breeding each strain pure, then crossing each strain with all the others. Then over the years recrossing to overcome faults. Trust me, a toe punch chart and colored, numbered leg bans are my friend! Some crosses were dead ends, some worked, some showed little change. But over time it's evolved. Now, several thousand birds into it I am starting to see some progress.
On this strain, from around mid February until around August I expect near an egg per day per hen. During the fall and winter it drops to around 4 to 5 eggs per week per hen. Compare that to most dual purpose birds and they will lay with the best of them. Coloration is very good, combs are nice, carriage is fairly upright, fertility is high, hatchability is great and they are very good foragers. Very friendly, calm and not flighty. The down side to our flock right now is problems with legs being too light (hatched 99% yellow legs this year, but they fade out to near white as they age), egg color is too light, egg size is a bit small, and the size of the adult birds is about 1/3 too small for my goals. I plan on at least another 8 to 10 years of selective breeding before I get that "perfect" pair.
Someone mentioned the color of the chicks. Our chicks run from yellow with a wide band down the back to chipmunk striped chicks and everything in between. All our birds are toe punched. The chipmunk stripe babies usually have the best mahogany coloration as adult roosters from what I've seen so far, but the best colored hens seem to come from the lighter chicks. Also in my personal experience, juvenile bird color has no bearing on the color of the adult birds. Sometimes a near solid white bird will be perfect colored when it molts, and a good colored juvenile might turn out far too light or darker or even off colored. I don't cull for color until around a year old.
Like I said though, this is just my experience. Everyone is different. And God knows, I'm no expert.
We did finally get our NPIP, so I can ship, but I am not currently selling Orloff eggs or chicks as I feel they are still too much a "project" bird and don't want to sell someone eggs or chicks unless I am sure they understand that the pictures they see of our birds are the best 20 or so out of the thousand or so I hatched that year. I have sent eggs to a few select people who asked though like Patty. I personally prefer to sell started birds to serious breeders at this point, but will start selling eggs and chicks in a year or two. Maybe as soon as spring, depending on how this years birds turn out.
I love reading everyone else's experiences and keep posting pictures.
