The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[ElitePoultry]

I also use the rubbermaid tubs from walmart for day olds- 2 weeks. I have 2 in my Master bathroom I use for the day olds then they go into another bedroom once they start making a lot of noise. Oce they feather in pretty nice maybe 3-4 weeks, depending on the weather they go into outdoor brooders with heat lamps




This was cleaning day so they are in the middle of my driveway. But I have them on top of each other and have heat lamps on each side of each one.

 

[deek]

Sadly, I've been eyeing all my test hatches and one of my goals is to have ONE baby that is not shafted. No luck this year.

There's a tiny chance that RockStar's youngest might have reduced shafting, but he's a cockerel and I really needed to improve the pullets ground color. BOO HOO. I had high hopes for the cinnamon babies and apparently the down coloring was not indicative of evenness in the ground color.

Just in case someone is bored and would like to see how the lacing appears in the Gold Laced, the picture below shows chicks that are four weeks apart. You can sort of tell by their size. BTW, the biggest one from the top (1:00 o'clock) is the chick that was bosom raised. He barely fits in my lap now. He's going to be too blonde for breeding but is winning me by making these sweet noises when he sees me. Almost as if he were talking.



Pictures taken from above, when they're all next to each other, helps me judge feather width much easier too.

 

[ElitePoultry]

Even though you didnt accomplish everything you were trying to, your still making progress and you should be proud!

IDK if the Orps are the same, But in my brahmas that really light gold shafting would be really apparent in juveniles, but after they would molt everything starts to darken up and makes the shafting less visible.

That was one frustrating thing about the GL brahmas I encountered breeding them.

The chicks are growing very nice. I like that picture a lot

 

[ElitePoultry]

The one at 11 O'clock doesnt look bad. Im sure is more visible in person, but looks pretty good from the pic.

 

[deek]

IDK if the Orps are the same, But in my brahmas that really light gold shafting would be really apparent in juveniles, but after they would molt everything starts to darken up and makes the shafting less visible.

That was one frustrating thing about the GL brahmas I encountered breeding them.

Well, that gives me great hope. My flock hasn't gone through a molt yet. If only it could be reduced, I would be happy.

The one at 11:00 o'clock is nice but his chest lacing isn't wide enough for my taste.

The one I have my fingers crossed for is the third from the right. The youngest one. He is the only one I hatched this year that might have even ground color. DragonLady advised me to look for one that is chestnut in color. He is my only chestnut colored one.When he gets his chest feathers in, I will know for sure. So for another week or two I'll have some hope.

The fourth from the left has an amazing chest. Bold and wide lacing. Much improved from his father RockStar and RockStar's chest lacing is pretty descent.

I would love to learn about your GL Brahmas sometime. I'll PM you with questions and if it's ever convenient, please share your wisdom.

 

[Kiniska]

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Some pictures of a few of the lovely lively chickies Renie sent me. They are so great!

 

[MrsDeb]

I apologize if this has been posted before but its rather difficult to weed through 1500 posts. However is there anyone breeding Large fowl silver laced Orps yet? I have emails into a trusted orp breeder I know but I don't know that she has them. Feel free to PM me so I get your message

Thanks in advance!

 

[galanie]

Lynne! You've got some show stompin' birds there! WooHoo!

Agreed! Those kids are looking fantastic!

 

[galanie]

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Some pictures of a few of the lovely lively chickies Renie sent me. They are so great!

Cuties!!

 

[galanie]

Ok well I took a few pics the other day and none came out really great but here's a bit of an update

They got some scratch to bribe them to be still. The one on the far left is my hatchery broody. She's eyeing Mr. Harry for some more paybacks!

Decided to try a top down comparison to the 5 gallon bucket thing. Only he wouldn't stand right by the bucket. Oh well.

All in all, I'd say thedragonlady did great with these guys. Cleo is laying a lovely pinkish egg every day and they are indeed fertile so I'm collecting them and will be thrilling my broody to death with a gift of real eggs to hatch in the next day or so.

ETA: They are 24 weeks old.