The Imported English Jubilee Orpington Thread

[Greg88]

Exciting times!
My purchased JO eggs under my broody BO are hatching. Had 3 little chicks when I left for work this morning.
Hope to have a couple more this evening.

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

Anyone looking for some Jubilee Orpingtons? I have a very nice trio. The hens just started laying a couple of months ago. They are Fancy Chicks lines & the cock bird is Ewe Crazy. I'm asking $225 plus shipping if you need it. Pick up is also welcome. I'm in FL. PM me if interested. I'll try to get some pics posted. Nothing wrong with this trio, I'm just making room for another project. Tia!

 

[Greg88]

Question.
I purchased J.O. eggs to put under my broody.
They started hatching yesterday.
The pictures I have seen of JO chicks are were dual marked.
Two of mine are not, with one being decidedly lighter than the others.
Thoughts?

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

Question. I purchased J.O. eggs to put under my broody. They started hatching yesterday. The pictures I have seen of JO chicks are were dual marked. Two of mine are not, with one being decidedly lighter than the others. Thoughts?

The first eggs I bought hatched out a completely black chick but the lady I bought them from insisted that all the eggs were pure Jubilee. I'm guessing a solid black chick might occasionally show up as a throwback to the birds used in making Jubilee. Those two bottom chicks look completely wrong but maybe they are throwbacks? Of course, maybe it's just the case of some wrong eggs getting mixed in there by accident. In a few days you can see the wing feathers and see what you've got.

 

[Greg88]

The first eggs I bought hatched out a completely black chick but the lady I bought them from insisted that all the eggs were pure Jubilee. I'm guessing a solid black chick might occasionally show up as a throwback to the birds used in making Jubilee. Those two bottom chicks look completely wrong but maybe they are throwbacks? Of course, maybe it's just the case of some wrong eggs getting mixed in there by accident. In a few days you can see the wing feathers and see what you've got.

Rob,
Did the solid black chick stay black or did it eventually turn true?

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

Rob,
Did the solid black chick stay black or did it eventually turn true?

I'm sure it wouldn't have turned true. I sold it as a chick.

 

[Heron's Nest Farm]

@KayTdid My English chocolate cuckoo Orp's name is Hershey, and his breeder has a roo named Hershey, too. Great minds think alike! My solid chocolate female's name is Cocoa. She is a doll and makes the most lovely cooing sounds.

My English black female FINALLY came back into lay, so I will have sex-linked offspring from her and Hershey--all the chocolate/chocolate cuckoos will be female chicks, and all the black/black cuckoos will be male chicks split to chocolate. Then next I'll breed him to my blue girl(s) and make mauve. Can't wait!

BTW, Jubilees can be shown in showmanship class in 4H (not in regular conformation classes, though, since it is not an APA approved color). But you're right, you wouldn't want to show a bird with obvious "defects" even in showmanship, but they needn't be perfect otherwise. That class is about how the kid grooms, handles, and talks about the bird, I'm pretty sure.

@flocktastic I use a water-soluble mix of vitamins for poultry (I think...it may have been for multiple species but with different directions) that I purchased very inexpensively at Tractor Supply. Any place like that or Rural King, what have you, in your area will carry something like that. Water soluble vitamins are very safe, but should be given as directed. Excess goes into their poo. The fat-soluble vitamins are ADEK. They are important, too, but I just count on their feed for those. I also feed fruit and veggies. The chickens get most of our garden every year now, plus we buy some fruit for them during the winter (like bananas, which are always popular). Oh, and we don't use the cheapest feed for the breeders, either. The regular layer flock gets half Dumor (which is the cheapest around here) and half Nutrena, while the breeders get 100% Nutrena. If you sign up on Nutrena's website, you'll get a coupon with their little e-newsletter every month or so. $2 off makes it more competitive with the Dumor, though still more expensive. We did an experiment last year and shell quality was definitely better with Nutrena than with straight Dumor. Half and half seems to work well for our mixed layer flock that we keep for selling eggs for consumption. That flock includes some hatchery buff Orps and Australorps that we started with, as well as a few purebreds that are either "one-offs" like our Light Brahma and Ameracauna, and Orps not being used currently for breeding.

LOL! My Chocolate roo is Hershey and his favorite gal is Kiss! My Chocolate Cuckoo roo is Charlie...

 

[Heron's Nest Farm]

Interesting info!! I enjoyed reading it! Can I ask - (unrelated to JO's) but I'm doing my first ever incubation - I have some shipped eggs, some of our own mixed barnyard flock and some from a local gal here...as far as my flock though, I'd like to know recommendations for any vitamins or supplements that would just be good, standard things to add for them (via their water or food source) - especially for any of my girls I'm trying to hatch eggs from.

My older flock has 10 hens and 1 roo. They occasionally free range...& besides their regular food and water, I give them veggies, fruits etc like most do with their chickens.

Thanks for any additional tips and help!

It sounds like you diet is good. I give my hens some chick boost occasionally during mating and this has helped with any problems I was seeing at hatch. We range our birds before putting them in the breeding pens and then I bring them greens--especially Kale and Chard (high in vitamins)-- while penned up.

My hatch rates are around %95++ percent and my chicks really thrive with this regime. We are also organic.

 

[BertandMary]

I could be wrong, but it was my understanding that if they have the correct e allele, they shouldn't have stripes. I'm totally new to this color variety, though, so will be waiting for someone with experience to answer this question.

glad we found this. Our three has 1 yellowish as is normally seen and two a bit darker. Not as worried now

 

[KayTdid]

Question- Is it normal for Jubilee Orps to have extra toes? A couple of my newly hatched chicks have a little feathering on their legs, which I found out can happen in the English breeds, but I just noticed that two of them have an extra toe on their left foot, looking a little like a silkie. One of them even has a strange little split toe with two nails on the other foot. These were sold to me as 100% English bloodline Jubilee Orpingtons from Marc Sacre and Greenfire Farms lines. Anyone know anything about this toe business?