The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Faraday40]

Well he started crowing at 2 AM yesterday morning...lol

Although annoying, I bet you're glad he found his voice again.

and speaking of voice..... My little house rooster, Teddy, was a very sleepy boy this morning! The humans here are all battling a cold. We were sleepy, so when the 6am alarm went off, I pushed snooze and shouted to the kids that they'd get another 10-15 min before I'm getting up. DH got up right away and went downstairs. At 6:15, DS rolled out of bed. He used the bathroom first, so DD got to stay in bed a little longer. At 6:30, I got up, but both DD and the rooster were determined to sleep. At 6:45 I finally got Teddy to wake up and crow by turning on all the upstairs lights. DD is sort of immune to his crowing, so she didn't even get out of bed until 6:50. She then left her bedroom, closed the door, & the satisfied little rooster went quiet again.

I like that our little serama doesn't crow early in the morning, but let's face it, Teddy's only real job is to wake up DD. He normally crows a few times when he hears the alarm (like an anti-snooze button) but today it took one alarm clock, one sunrise, 3 people walking around, and all the lights on to wake him up. Lazy, lazy rooster!

 

[ColtHandorf]

That is absolutely adorable! Suede crowing is not. I've determined he does it when he hears the roosters outside. I am relieved to know that through two doors into the hallway he's fairly quiet so it shouldn't disturb anyone but me. I love that he's feeling well enough to crow, but I wish he'd feel well enough to get up and walk around. He's not doing that at all. He'll stand occasionally, but I think his legs have gotten quite a bit weaker over the last week although he still has a great appetite.

Speaking of appetite, have you ever had a rooster keep his hens on the perch? Derek is so obnoxious when he's trying to breed (and he is horrible at it) that both Anne and Odette appear to stay on the roost all day. Granted I'm at work and can't watch them constantly but they are on the roost when I leave for work and on it again when I get home.

Caspian is enjoying Suede's girls for the moment. He perked right up when he got to join them.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I fell asleep using my phone last night so it died as it was not on the charger. To top it off, the wretch didn't crow once this morning. So I was definitely an hour late too work. He was not happy about getting his medicine this morning either. But oh well. Three more days of medication and he'll have to take a break. I'm hoping by then he'll be standing and walking and I'll be able to get him back outside. Of course then I've no idea what in the world I'm going to do with him and Caspian, but I'll figure it out.

I did actually catch Anne and Odette of the roosts this morning, so I'm hoping they are eating. It's amazing how little water they go through now that the geese aren't sharing their water sources. Of course I'm still changing it out, but it's nice if it's exceptionally gross outside that I know they won't be going without.

It has gotten very cold again, which is not fun. None of my friend's eggs developed so I tossed them all, and filled both incubators again. I think I'm on day 4, so I will candle this weekend to see if anything is developing. It's mostly just a fertility check, but I'll keep any type-y birds or project laced birds. I'm still adding eggs in small batches to the LG. If enough develop, I won't be able to, but I'm thinking about just using it as a hatcher so that I can get more batches of eggs hatched until I can get the better, high-end All-in-One incubator I'm looking at.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Day 5 of antibiotics and there doesn't seem to be much improvement. :/ He did crow some this morning. I can only medicate him through Sunday and I'll have to stop. I don't know what else to do for him. I think I'll bring him out tomorrow to chat with the girls and see if that perks him up at all. He's still eating and drinking well but his stool has gotten very loose.

I think the oldest eggs in the incubator can be candled so I'll do that tonight or tomorrow. I really hope we are showing some veins. It was very disconcerting to see no development in the eggs I'd set previously.

I'm picking up some of the galvanized metal nest boxes that mount on the wall for the Orpingtons tomorrow. Along with a roll of wire and hopefully some 2x4's to make them appropriate roosts and the netting to divide the pens inside the barn. Dahlia has fence hopped a few times.

The geese laid an egg day before yesterday. So hopefully I have flat-footed fuzzies in the next month or so. I'm also thrilled to say I think my yard is going to get mowed tomorrow. It's finally dry enough. lol

 

[ColtHandorf]

Not so great photos since it was getting dark in the barn and the phone was inconsistently deciding whether or not it wanted to flash.

Mel and Sue showing everyone else how my terrible homemade roost is supposed to be used.

Hollywood on the ladder wondering why in the world I'm documenting bed time.

Odette, Derek's fluffy butt, and Anne looking annoyed as usual.

Blurry girls who roost very well but lay eggs on their poop board. lol

Hollywood joining the girls until he decides to climb over them and roost on the top of the pallet...

Turkey doing turkey things:

Silver-laced Orps:

The White Orpingtons again:

 

[Honora]

Hi everyone, I am not on here much these days but just thought I'd drop in and say hello. Your Orpingtons look beautiful as always! We have not had much luck this year with ours; we have lost 7 to predators (pine marten and fox). Then they all came down with some kind of respiratory illness that has not responded to antibiotics. We have not had them tested but I spoke to the vet and she thinks it is most likely mycoplasma and recommends culling the whole flock. It came from some birds that I bought and foolishly did not quarantine for long enough, so I guess it's live & learn.

So the remaining orpingtons will be going in the freezer in the next few weeks. We already processed 2 and they were amazingly delicious, so there's that at least! It's a shame because they are really gorgeous but I don't want them to be suffering for the rest of their lives and possibly passing on the disease so there's not much else to do. I will try and get some pics to post so you can see them because they are really pretty! We are going on a trip in April & when we get back we will start over with some new chickens. Might even take a trip to England & pick some birds up there!

 

[Honora]

 

[ColtHandorf]

Gosh they are so pretty! I hate to hear you've been having issues. I've been having some respiratory issues with mine and am terrified it is mycoplasma. I'm going to have them tested and I'm dreading finding out that is what the problem is. I don't think I can cull them all. It's quite sad.

That being said I did finish the fencing for the breeding pens last night. I grabbed a couple of quick photos before the sun went down completely and a quick one this morning (while I was examining my car that is very stuck in the mud) before work. I also found someone selling the wall-mount, galvanized nest boxes for a great price. I got three 3-hole, and one 2-hole with perches for $155. I got those mounted yesterday, although I have no faith they will use them. The Silver-laced hens have decided laying on the ground is the most acceptable place to lay their eggs. Silly girls. Prudence and Agatha are laying religiously almost every day; Prudence in the nest box and Agatha on the poop board in the hay. Odette has laid three eggs now and Derek is successfully breeding Anne although not his sister.

I'll add the pictures from my phone momentarily.

 

[ColtHandorf]

 

[homeschoolin momma]

@Honora oh my gosh! They are so beautiful! I can only imagine the heartache you must be going through!

I thought about you and your birds today as i was cleaning out the coop. I was going to go ahead and do the job today as it was a school holiday, so I had off and time to do it, but I think i went an extra step more than I normally would and REALLY cleaned it. It looks and smells so much better and the mountain of dust in the rafters is now gone. I had to wear a mask while blowing it all out with the leaf blower and sucking it all up with the shop vac it was so bad. All chickens were EVICTED for the day to their displeasure. But it was so lovely outside...they need a boot to the rear to get some fresh air! I even hauled the nest boxes outside and blew it off and left it out their. A couple of them stuffed themselves in to think about depositing and egg. Except Sky which kept on checking every one minute to see if I was done. She wanted her box back inside and she crossed her legs until it was!