The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Faraday40]

I have a ? about juvenile feathering. I noticed that one of my blk lav pullets has a touch of white on the tips of her stomach feathers. Will she be all black as an adult or could she have some type of mottled gene? (I have seen an occasional white wing feather on black teen chicks - which she also has one-, but never on the chest/stomach.) You can see the white in this pic.

 

[Lelanae]

I have what is probably a stupid question. How loud is an English Orpington's crow? The breeder I got my girls from encouraged me not to find a home for the one that turned out to be a cockeral. He said that English Orps crow much more softly--more like a cackle. I did find a home for Lawrence, but he was SO SO beautiful and friendly --I still miss him and a recent preditor attack makes me wonder if I should have waiting for him to sing before making the decision.(My welsummer hen is incredibly noisy and no neighbor complaints with her.)

 

[Faraday40]

I have what is probably a stupid question. How loud is an English Orpington's crow? The breeder I got my girls from encouraged me not to find a home for the one that turned out to be a cockeral. He said that English Orps crow much more softly--more like a cackle. I did find a home for Lawrence, but he was SO SO beautiful and friendly --I still miss him and a recent preditor attack makes me wonder if I should have waiting for him to sing before making the decision.(My welsummer hen is incredibly noisy and no neighbor complaints with her.)

The volume varies from one to another, but the crows of larger roosters are usually lower pitched. I have one that is actually soothing, low pitched, and quieter than a morning dove. His brother not so much, so he wears a crow collar. I bring both boys in at night so they may crow all they like inside the garage. They get let out at 8am. There's a lot of mating & crowing at first, but they're usually quiet for the rest of the day unless there's a predator nearby.

 

[rachelsflock]

My big boys don't crow much in the morning unless it's raining and are quieter than my geese, lol and my poor oldest rooster hates rain. We live in town, and most of my neighbors wanted to hear crowing in the morning but are slightly disappointed and how infrequently my boys sound off, and right now I have three. If roosters are allowed in your area and/or if your neighbors are okay with it you'll probably be fine with a little (big) hunk of burning english orpington rooster eye candy. Mine are molting, otherwise I'd put up a few pictures of my reds and red cuckoos.
PS: Temporment definitely depends on family line.
Good luck.

 

[Lelanae]

Thank you so much Faraday and Rachel! I sort of wish that I had given Laurence a chance rather than re-homing him once I found a willing farmer ( with 100 production hens in need of a guy!) I am not allowed a rooster and my neighbors would not be happy to be woken at dawn, but maybe it was worth a shot --maybe with a no-crow collar? My husband convinced me not to jeopardize my over-the-limit flock by keeping a noisy rooster, but what if he was as quiet yours? At least less noisy than my Welsummer hen!
I couldn't find a you-tube video of an English orpington rooster crowing but the American guys on line were pretty loud! He was so pretty. Maybe another cuckoo orpington will soothe my heart. I would love to see pictures of your red ones, Rachel!

 

[WVduckchick]

My chocolate boy Bailey is fairly loud, but i have lots of little roosters that sound off all day long. Bailey doesn't crow as often as the others, but his is definitely louder than my bantams (cochins, seramas, old English)

I just rehomed a black copper Marans that was louder than Bailey though.

 

[WVduckchick]

I have a ? about juvenile feathering. I noticed that one of my blk lav pullets has a touch of white on the tips of her stomach feathers. Will she be all black as an adult or could she have some type of mottled gene? (I have seen an occasional white wing feather on black teen chicks - which she also has one-, but never on the chest/stomach.) You can see the white in this pic.
View attachment 1114548

I don't believe i have ever seen this on any breed of mine if they weren't mottled or carrying mottled. Doesn't mean much, but i haven't seen it. Lol

 

[Blarneyeggs]

I have what is probably a stupid question. How loud is an English Orpington's crow? The breeder I got my girls from encouraged me not to find a home for the one that turned out to be a cockeral. He said that English Orps crow much more softly--more like a cackle. I did find a home for Lawrence, but he was SO SO beautiful and friendly --I still miss him and a recent preditor attack makes me wonder if I should have waiting for him to sing before making the decision.(My welsummer hen is incredibly noisy and no neighbor complaints with her.)

We’ve found that our English Orpingtons crows are every bit as loud as any of the other breeds we’ve had. When we kept Bantam Cochins, their crow was not as loud as the LF, but other than that...not a whole lot of difference in the volume of crows.

 

[Lelanae]

Thank you Blarney! That was what I was afraid of. The fancy English Orpington breeders pretty much only sell straight run, but I am wary of buying chicks this coming spring unless I know I can rehome boys.

 

[Faraday40]

Thank you Blarney! That was what I was afraid of. The fancy English Orpington breeders pretty much only sell straight run, but I am wary of buying chicks this coming spring unless I know I can rehome boys.

You could easily give the males away or keep them yourself until they're big enough to process. If you can not do the deed yourself, then there are places where you can drop them off alive & return to pick them up nicely packaged.