The BANTAM ORPINGTON Thread

[TNBEARCHICK]

Congrats and enjoy they go broody a lot so be prepared.

 

[LoneStarBantams]

Can you show chocolate orp bantams

 

[tandersphoenix]

You can show them but they will not be eligible for any awards because their color is not recognized yet. I bet it won't be long though!

 

[pips&peeps]

Can you show chocolate orp bantams

Most of the chocolates are way oversized too and would probably get DQ'd.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

The English Chocolate Orps are such a wondering size and gorgeous. They look just like a bowling ball.

 

[AletaG]

I'm interested in the chocolate Orp bantams as well, but have seen an interesting thing that I wonder might be a trend with breeders in the U.S.? As in, know 2 that no longer wish to breed them. I think it has to do with (and looking for input here):
1. not enough egg laying
2. worsened by going broody a LOT
3. having to constantly back breed to Black for color maintenance.
4. Have not confirmed, but perhaps compounded by a low fertility rate?
Number 3 probably would be considered a minor inconvenience if it weren't for 1 and 2.

I'm currently trying to acquire a breeding group of these fowl. Breeding them will be a distraction for me, so culling hard won't hurt my 'bottom line' so much when so few eggs are to be had. What I'm thinking is that possibly the bowling ball English style has caused a serious shortening of body that adversely affects the ability of this breed to make eggs regularly. I've seen discussion of this on the heritage threads, where LF Orpington breeders debate the English vs. American body type.

Anyone here trying to improve their egg production in bantam Orpingtons? What have you seen happen as far as type when you see + changes? Going to copy this and post it at the heritage bantam thread also...

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

Ours lay eggs great, when they are not broody. We run 100% fertility on ours that we hatch here. Shipped eggs have great reports of 40- 100% except one who said had zero hacth out of 15 eggs. That was one so who knows on that.
They lay an egg about every other day per hen. They started at an egg everyday when they were younger. They are 12 1/2 months old already molted but ours are unrelated breeders from GFF.

 

[AletaG]

Ours lay eggs great, when they are not broody. We run 100% fertility on ours that we hatch here. Shipped eggs have great reports of 40- 100% except one who said had zero hacth out of 15 eggs. That was one so who knows on that.
They lay an egg about every other day per hen. They started at an egg everyday when they were younger. They are 12 1/2 months old already molted but ours are unrelated breeders from GFF.

It's soo interesting. I wonder if the breeders in question (will be asking) could be so used to LF that lay almost every day that they couldn't wrap their heads around what sounds to me like pretty normal bantam lay rates from everything I've read on bantams (have spent the last 6 mos reading everything in can find)... Those fertility rates sound lovely to me.

The stock I'm looking at is originally sourced from GFF, so that makes me feel pretty good. I think the blacks they have been using are from a west coast breeder, though. Do you use a black - if so, how often?

Will let everyone know how it goes this Spring...

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

We have not needed to inject black into ours yet since our breeders were unrelated very high quality breeders with great color but we are working on a second breeding pen and have sourced some from another source that has had black injected into them.

 

[AletaG]

We have not needed to inject black into ours yet since our breeders were unrelated very high quality breeders with great color but we are working on a second breeding pen and have sourced some from another source that has had black injectes into them.

Thank you! Will probably be bothering you when I get my little flock going...