The BANTAM ORPINGTON Thread

[OSUman]

Quote:
My guess to how they did it long ago was either they made them from other bantam breeds that already existed or they breed Orpingtons down over many years and selected for smaller and smaller size, I know this was done with Rhode Island Reds recently and it took Robert Blosl 20 years to do it.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
Well, as for the now bantam orpingtons they exist and are true to size so that just requires the breeding of two of them together. Offspring are born bantam and stay bantam. I Actually have several hatching today!

For answers about the beginning, you may need to find and ask an oldtimer orpington expert.

All four colors of the Orpington Bantam were entered in the Standard of Perfection in 1960: the Black, Buff, White and blue. I recall J. Ralph Brazelton telling of breeding the large Orps down to Bantam size. It took several years. They were very careful to keep the true Orpington type and the qualities of the Orpington: a dual purpose fowl for meat and eggs. They wanted a fowl that would produce lots of eggs and supplement the table. The Orpington Bantam was never intended to be solely a show bird. They wanted a fowl that would be a dual purpose bantam. Some of the tastiest chicken I have ever had was my Orpington Bantam culls. Especially those that were too large.

 

[jodiv]

well now thats interesting! I figured it took alot of time.

 

[saridout]

i thought this might be useful to those of you talking about BBS breeding combos:

i'm pretty sure it's accurate. if anyone sees any problems with it, please let me know.

 

[saridout]

thanks henthymes, for inviting me to this thread!. here's some pictures of my girls, starting with some earlier shots to get yall caught up.

here's Whitey at maybe 1 month

Whitey at 3 months

artsy picture of Wedgewood digging a hole at about 3.5 months

so happy... (5 months)

aaand, taken last week, at 8.5 months

sorry for the pic overload! i'm so proud of my girls.

 

[tazcat70]

Quote:
Very nice!!!

Very nice birds too!!! And in DFW. I go to Arlington about twice a year.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

I just set 20 blue black eggs today. I need some bbs hatching eggs or some blue splash hatching eggs. Pm me if you can help me out. I need a splash or two to improve my lacing. Thanks.

 

[saridout]

majestic lane- I'm planning to start breeding my ladies in the coming weeks, though I warn you, this is something I'm new to. I wanted to breed my splash hen with my black rooster to yield all blue. pm me if you're interested.

 

[HenThymes]

Hey Tammy, i just recently put the parent stock of my gorgeous blue "laced" pullet back together in hopes of creating some more just like her. She is a knock out!! She is also extremely round, I can't wait to show her this fall.

I think that may really help with what you are looking for. I should have a few eggs available but just a few at a time as my hens doesn't lay everyday yet with this cooler weather..

ps-need to get some updated pictures of the blue pullet, she gets more lacing everyday.

 

[onafixedincome]

Okay, folks, can we talk How To Look At Banty Orps for a minute or two?

I have these neat chickens, and not a clue how to walk through the standard and evaluate them! I know how to judge rabbits, but...??

The original breeder of my BantyOrps just found me (YAY!) but I don't know how to ask her for help when she doesn't know me from Adam (or Eve! LOL).

On the funner note, I have a Silkie X hen with twelve--count em, 12!!!--offspring that are just about dragging their crops and looking awesome.

Are they purebreds?

Probably some are, and some aren't, as they were alllll laying together and I had no idea. So I will have to count the whole batch as 'cute but not keepers' and watch her more closely next time to make sure I get all HER eggs out of there.

Is there any way to color eggshells artificially by treating the hen with something??+