The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[tennesseeckn]

Quote:
I don't know if this helps, but this is my blue Joy-cockerel. He has pretty crisp lacing along his back and on his breast. His wing feathers and saddle feathers aren't laced at all. He's growing new saddle feathers that are so dark and shiny that I pinned him down the other day and tried to dry him off, poor fella. Then I followed up with a petroleum-jelly-to-the-comb-and-wattle procedure that made me his least favorite person.

Kathy and Julie, thanks for posting the pictures. Those girls are beautiful! I forget how big mine are going to get until someone reminds me. I can't wait!

 

[BamaChicken]

Kathy, your Winsotn girls are really good. I love them. You just send them to me. You should have some great looking offspring this next year. congrats

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I love browsing threw this thread looking at the big fluffy orps!

 

[jeremy]

We got another break from the rain, the babies had a blast feasting on all the new growth in the mess of what I would one day like to call a back yard... There's a "wild" rose bush growing near the fence line that they munched on for about an hour. It made it kinda hard to get some good pictures, I kept getting lots of blurred face shots!

Anyways, here's a "couple" more pictures.

1 of my 2 pretty black pullets.

Black & blue.

My unnamed big blue boy... someone help me decide what to call him! I can't think of anything that seems just right.

Another blue pullet, her back seems really long to me, is this normal? Will she "grow into" her big frame?

The group.

My Edmund.

Alice, my lightest blue, she also has what I would consider the weakest lacing of all the girls. But I think she's still so, so pretty.

Big blue, this picture gives you a better look at his lacing on his chest.

He's got I think 6 points on his comb, one of the points is split though, so would that be 7 total?

His body.

Another blue pullet with gorgeous lacing.

My English flock.

Out of the two remaining black pullets I have, Petunia (a Harry Potter reference Joy

), is the largest.

I feel like this blue pullet probably has the best color/lacing.

Alice again, you can see how her lacing sorta is faded.

Edmund, he's a bit smaller than the blue cockerel but he seems rounder? Is that better?

Can you believe how much Edmund has changed! He's always been kinda round though...

My Buff Laced Polish hen decided she wanted to come say hello, mind you she is full grown and the chicks tower over her!

Last but not least, another shot of a pretty black pullet.

 

[BamaChicken]

Nice Jeremy, I like the splash the best on the cockerels so far. YOur black pullets look really good. On the pullet that you think has the long back, I don't think it looks long, just her tail is different. Just give her a month or two and reevaluate.

 

[BamaChicken]

I have decided to keep this boy. I just love his body type. His color is darker than i like so I am going to breed him to a select group and see what happens.

'

 

[Renie'sPeeps]

Bama.. Are you thinking of breeding him to hens with the correct color? The reason I am asking is.. My experience with breeding Pugs for so many yrs has taught me... Breeding a smutty fawn to one that is lacking in pigment will not correct the problem. Both of the parents would be incorrect and genes don't mix like coolaid and water.... More like Oil and Water<< So if I have an otherwise very nice pug that is smutty,
I would breed him or her to only a pug with the correct color.

Does this also apply to chickens??

 

[BamaChicken]

And that could be true. I don't know. I am going to breed him to a few choice Blacks and a few light Blues. I do know when I used to breed BBS silkies that if you kept breeding splash to splash they kept getting whiter with less splash. The shades of blue vary. I have one girl out here that is lighter than any of the Parent stock. One reason there have been so few in the past breeding blues is because it doesn't breed true. You will have variations of color.

 

[jeremy]

Thanks for your compliments and words of advice Julie.

I feel bad sometimes because I feel like I don't always give the black pullets the attention they deserve, then I take a good look at them and I realize again just how pretty they can be. Their sheen just glimmers in the sunlight, it's beautiful. I'm glad I have such a great group to start breeding from. That equaled with the wealth of knowledge provided by you and Joy gives me high hopes for my little BBS flock.

That boy looks big, I love his shape, he looks like a big blue boulder! LOL.

So, when breeding blues, what shade is most desirable?

 

[justuschickens59]

Jeremy, from what I understand, the lighter blue is the more preferred shade. Personally, I like the dark blue, though that picture of the light blue pullet that Kathy posted sure makes me rethink that !!

I did notice a few lighter eyes in a couple of your birds. Is that the camera, or are there a couple with lighter eyes? They need to be a dark brown. Bigger is not always better !! Body type is really more important. Edmund looks like he has a good comb so far, and his tail is looking good. Wait until they are about 8 months old and you can really get a better feel for how they are going to grow out. THe difference in Winston from 6 months to 8 months was astounding. I can't tell on that blue boy about his comb yet either.