The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[homeschoolin momma]

So in y’all’s opinion, which rooster is the most ideal for breeding?

Wow, this is a difficult choice because each has its own flaws. I personally like Sterling. He has the nice crisp lacing which is what you want. Paired with those girls in the background, you'll have nice sized chicks with great lacing. But then you run the risk of that yellow passing on. The chicks could inherihit mom's color as well as the proper points on the comb.

Hollywood would be my next top pick. I like his roundness, and of course he's got the right skin color.

Another thought, could you take your best and 3rd best female and put them into a pen with sterling, and your 2nd and 4th best and make a separate pen with Hollywood? Then you can see what characteristics come through in the offspring, take the best and then cross them back to the opposite roo? It would allow you to use Sterling for two seasons instead of 1 and the offspring would give you a lot of unrelated offspring. You could also swap the hens with the roos in the second season. I am not a breeding expert yet and still learning myself.

 

[ColtHandorf]

@PlainOrpingtons2018 you might be able to weigh in here also.

And I agree with you. Sterling is my favorite Rooster. And Hollywood after him. I am going to have to build some new pens this fall when the Lavenders are older. I suppose I could do it this summer but it's much too hot for that right now. lol And it hasn't rained in a while so I'm sure I wouldn't like driving fence posts through the concrete that the black clay turns in to when it is dry.

Another reason I don't like the other white skinned rooster (he really does need a name) is that is comb has some imperfections. It isn't perfectly straight and has one of the wrinkles in it. Plus he's a bully.

Thankfully white is dominant over yellow, so I should be able to take all the female offspring back to the a white skinned rooster and get the correct color legs.

And on the note about more pens, I need more hens in order to split the males up. They are much to rough on the girls to not have at least six a piece I think.

 

[Faraday40]

As pretty as some roos can be, I always give personality a little extra weight when selecting a "keeper." (If he's the slightest bit people-aggressive - into the pot!) It's hard when they're all nice, though.

I really like Sterling's lacing, but his leg color and comb are not good. Hollywood has the nicer face. His points look a little short, so I wonder if he had a touch of frostbite. (Mine tend to keep their points, but the very tips get rounded - about 1/8" loss - after their 1st winter.) There's not much we can do when it gets far below zero for days. Most people don't notice, but I know they're shorter.

Anyway, I like the darker contrast of no name, but his comb & lacing are not as good as the other two.

in other words, I agree with your plan to keep Sterling & Hollywood. Perhaps you'll come across a male offspring to replace them when they get older.

I have Mr Wonderful & a lav roo. Both are nice, but neither are perfect. I'm already hoping for a better lav. My lav boy sometimes holds his wings at a slight downward angle. His neck is also long-ish. He's over a year & quite fluffy, but not much muscle mass yet. I keep comparing him to his great grandpa - my former 15lb black/lav split and he falls way short.

Mr Wonderful is great. The only things I'd improve are a tiny curve at the back of his comb and perhaps a little more size. And, my hens would prefer if he improved his mating skills. If I happen to hatch a better SLO, I'd keep him. Yet, the one 7-wk-old I keep saying is male has yet to give me any obvious signs of gender.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Personally I would not use the yellow skin one at all.
It isn't a matter of running the risk of passing on the yellow. It's a guarantee that he will pass it on to all the offspring.
It is true you can easily get the dominate white skin to show but that's just covering up the problem and imo making a mess that will not be an easy fix down the line.
You won't know which birds are carrying it by sight and it will be in a lot of them for years and years.
Eventually you'll have to test breed them all to eliminate it. Not fun.
I'd rather deal with using the hens to improve the lacing instead of dealing with a hidden recessive that is a breed disqualification.
It's easy to get wrapped up with the better lacing on that rooster but long term its an easier fix then continuing the yellow skin imo.

 

[Faraday40]

Personally I would not use the yellow skin one at all.
It isn't a matter of running the risk of passing on the yellow. It's a guarantee that he will pass it on to all the offspring.
It is true you can easily get the dominate white skin to show but that's just covering up the problem and imo making a mess that will not be an easy fix down the line.
You won't know which birds are carrying it by sight and it will be in a lot of them for years and years.
Eventually you'll have to test breed them all to eliminate it. Not fun.
I'd rather deal with using the hens to improve the lacing instead of dealing with a hidden recessive that is a breed disqualification.
It's easy to get wrapped up with the better lacing on that rooster but long term its an easier fix then continuing the yellow skin imo.

Very good point

 

[homeschoolin momma]

I suppose I could do it this summer but it's much too hot for that right now. lol And it hasn't rained in a while so I'm sure I wouldn't like driving fence posts through the concrete that the black clay turns in to when it is dry.

Since breeding season is really over (ahem, ahem @Faraday40) and chicks are already filling out for the long hard winter, i wouldnt worry about killing yourself in the heat building pens. Wait until fall when it's a little nicer.

(he really does need a name)

Yes, he does. And it shall be "dinner"

, I need more hens in order to split the males up

I find that when a guy only has 2 or 3 hens all to himself, that the overbreeding seems to calm down some. I think when there's more competition with them together, it feels like they all have to show each other up.

Personally I would not use the yellow skin one at all.
It isn't a matter of running the risk of passing on the yellow. It's a guarantee that he will pass it on to all the offspring.
It is true you can easily get the dominate white skin to show but that's just covering up the problem and imo making a mess that will not be an easy fix down the line.
You won't know which birds are carrying it by sight and it will be in a lot of them for years and years.
Eventually you'll have to test breed them all to eliminate it. Not fun.
I'd rather deal with using the hens to improve the lacing instead of dealing with a hidden recessive that is a breed disqualification.
It's easy to get wrapped up with the better lacing on that rooster but long term its an easier fix then continuing the yellow skin imo

I agree, good point. But i also agree with Farady with what she said about personality. Dinner doesnt sound like he's a ladies man, and while he doesn't necessarily attack you, you are doing the girls any favors.

I've got a pretty lavender roo from Faradays chicks last year. He's got the comb, the proper wing carriage she was talking about and really nice color. He's a little on the small size, so that's going against him. But he's constantly hounding my hens. He scraps with the Alpha who puts up with him and is he's picking on the other black roo and my slo Taji. Just this morning he was taking a mouth full of feathers from the black roo right as I opened the door. I found myself right in the middle and a claw caught me in the hand. Left a mark. I'm trying to patiently wait for those lavs to grow up and hopefully Faraday and I will have a pair of good roos and this guy is going to camp.... freezer camp.

If Hollywood has the better personality and is sweet like Sterling, then you may have your answer sitting in front of you.

 

[Faraday40]

Since breeding season is really over (ahem, ahem @Faraday40) and chicks are already filling out for the long hard winter, i wouldnt worry about killing yourself in the heat building pens. Wait until fall when it's a little nicer.

Like I said, I'm on my LAST Hatch.

 

[Faraday40]

I was outside with the camera today & took some pics.

Here's the lav I'm growing out. So far he's "OK."

Here's the 7 wk old male (???) SLO I'm growing out. My gut says male based only on slow feathering & stance.

Here's my fav laced gal, Crystal.

Here's Tillie - the hen that won DS 'Best in Show' for her white egg production. She's been laying daily since Sept 3, 2018 and not missed a single day yet. Our Spitz went broody a few weeks ago and although no longer broody, she's not giving any white eggs. Tillie made the whole dozen!

 

[nicalandia]

Sterling looks better to my eyes.

 

[PlainOrpingtons2018]

@ColtHandorf I really like the type of Sterling, though yellow skin/legs are quite difficult to breed out and will keep popping up, so I personally wouldn’t breed him.

I would also not breed No name due to personality, I only breed birds I feel have a good personality, nice type, and ok or good combs.
BUT if you don’t find another cock then you should use Sterling if he’s the best you’ve got, just keep in mind breeding culls makes more.
Hollywood seems very nice to me, if he’s got a better personality and crisp lacing then go ahead and use him, combs aren’t too difficult to fix, unless it’s rosecomb lol.

I’ve never had yellow legged orps but have had feathers on shanks pop up from new birds, I take those out of my breeding program and leave them as egglayers or rehome them, it’s not uncommon though. Just thought I’d give you a heads up Incase you hatch any.

Another thing I try to breed away from are silver laced his HEAVY black, meaning messy lacing, of their hackle feathers being heavy on black instead of white. I will see if I can find any pics to show what I breed away from and what I breed towards