The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[CountryFlock]

@CountryFlock - All nine of those chicks were produced from six visually Silver-laced adult birds. Three different males over three different hens.

It’s odd phenotypically but genotypically makes sense. I’ve noticed by breeding silver laced hens with other pattern variations that offspring could be almost completely phenotypically identical to a silver laced yet you know for a fact it’s het for Ml or Co.

Those silver laced orps could look phenotypically correct yet not genotypically.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Yes, which is absurdly frustrating. Obviously two of them are carrying recessive white. I am beginning to think that some of them were produced from projects and are carrying recessive genes. My plan is to test breed all of them one rooster to one hen at a time and then rotate them until I can figure out who throws what.

 

[CountryFlock]

Yes, which is absurdly frustrating. Obviously two of them are carrying recessive white. I am beginning to think that some of them were produced from projects and are carrying recessive genes. My plan is to test breed all of them one rooster to one hen at a time and then rotate them until I can figure out who throws what.

I forgot about the possibility of recessive white causing the whiteness.. but it puzzles me as to why that gene would be incorporated around those silver laced orps.

 

[ColtHandorf]

And to top it off if you go back and look the chicks show yellow-down which I'm told implies they are recessive white but based on gold, rather than silver. If they were silver-based birds they would have been grey/blue-ish white as chicks.

 

[ColtHandorf]

How are everyone's birds doing? Mine are not enjoying the heat down here at all. I've taken to spraying the dirt down every afternoon in their pen when I get home from work for them all to enjoy the shade and cool ground.

All the babies are still doing well. I wish they had a fast forward button so I could see them feathered out sooner. It's been so warm none of them are under any heat, including the two newest babies. None of the other eggs hatched. I did not perform an egg-topsy on the unhatched ones to determine color, but I did set four more eggs and all four are fertile and developing well. I'm trying dry incubation for this one to see how they do since I had humidity issues last time.

I haven't gotten any eggs at all in nearly two weeks. But it has been over 100 degrees for nearly two weeks too, so I imagine that is where the problem lies. I haven't seen any danger noodles in a while so I don't think they are getting them. I put out some more ceramic eggs though, so I'll see if they are coming up missing.

I also need to thin out some Lavender Orpington cockerels. I guess I'll post them on here and Craiglist to see if I can find them some homes. I haven't seen any improvement in the little Silver-laced Orpington yet, but I'm quite sure it is not Marek's Disease. I get panicky with everyone panting/open-mouth breathing after the respiratory issues we had for a couple of weeks, but it just seems to be from the heat, not illness.

 

[Faraday40]

My computer went "POOF" on Sunday. (We had a bad storm and lost power for 15+ hours.) DH rebuilt a new one for me from cannibalized spare computer parts. We just turned it on this morning and I'm waiting for all my recovery data files to be reloaded. It may take a while since I really, really like my photos.
Anyway, I'm back!

I decided to try out my camera this morning to show some of the misc orps and their growth. It's humid & cloudy today, so not the best pics.

Here's my gold laced orp. (She came from my SLOs but is certainly NOT silver.) I do not have my files to look up the hatch date but it was late March or early April. Her lacing was terrible as a chick but improved. There's still some "spangling" around the neck area and chest. I'm still not sure if we're going to keep her. I really like her gentle personality and she's working as a "seeing eye pullet" for a blind hen. I honestly thought the blind OEG would have passed away by now, but the two birds are practically inseparable.

Speaking of inseparable, here are 2 more orp pullets. Tthey're from a mid May hatch. The SLO was going to be a possible breeding roo.... but SHE ended up being a girl. The white orp also came from my SLO pen.

This Leghorn (from my May 1st hatch) decided she preferred hanging out with the Mid-May brooder group. She's often the 3rd wheel. She LOVES to dig and scratch.

Here Trouble (our Sebright) and her orp babies. The smaller 2 are two weeks younger. These are my youngest chicks. You can see that the male has slightly yellow legs. Hopefully that will fade as he gets older.

Chicks are already bigger than mama. The biggest is the blue orp pullet from Jewel.

and just for @homeschoolin momma here's my CCL. I can't say that I "like" her yet. She's wild and doesn't want to be anywhere near me. Hard to develop a loving relationship when she's constantly running away from me. She's also kind of awkward-looking. Hopefully that will pass with age. She does like to sit up in the trees. The Orps don't really do that, so it adds a bit of interest & entertainment to the backyard.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

She's also kind of awkward-looking. Hopefully that will pass with age.

Hopefully it will pass. Mine are kinda wild too as I dont handle them often. Yours really seems to have a lot of red in her chest. But she does have a pretty crest.

 

[Faraday40]

Hopefully it will pass. Mine are kinda wild too as I dont handle them often. Yours really seems to have a lot of red in her chest. But she does have a pretty crest.

I was very lucky when it came to my previous CCLs (Skittles & Dolores). Both were beauties and always striking a pose. Skittles was a bit too curious and got into some hilarious situations during her explorations. We rehomed her and kept Dolores - my favorite. Dolores was a great layer, her eggs were actually blue - not greenish - and she was friendly. (Stupid hawks!)

 

[Honora]

Love to see everyone's birds! My buffs are 11 weeks now & the black one is 10 weeks. Getting bigger!

 

[ColtHandorf]

@Faraday40 - Those are great pictures! I love, love the White pullet and her Silver-laced friend. They are gorgeous. I just want to set them in my lap and pet them they look so soft. lol The Gold-laced pullet is pretty, but her lacing is a little off in some places. She'll probably molt out of that in subsequent molts. I'd probably hang on to her just to see how she finishes up.

Blech on the Cream-crested Legbars. I'm just not at all a fan of them. They weren't around 15 years ago when I was breeding and now they just seem like a fad breed and a lot of people are just indiscriminately breeding them. I don't know, I just don't like them. *shrugs*

@Honora - The babies are filling out and looking nice. They have the sweetest little faces.

I'm honestly surprised it looks like everyone of those chicks other than the two white ones that I have are going to feather in Silver-laced. There may be some that are chocolate but I can't tell yet because I'm really only able to go off of their wing feathers. @The Moonshiner has asked that I start a thread dedicated to my Orpingtons and their weirdness, so I'll work on that soon too so this one doesn't get clogged with genetic stuff that's over my head. lol