The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Faraday40]

@ColtHandorf
We haven't heard from you for a while. I hope all is well down there.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Just wanted to ask you experts here about when to expect my English Orpington pullet to start laying eggs? She is just shy of 15 weeks old. She is the most slowly developing chicken I’ve ever had, I understand this is normal for her breed. She is just starting to develop the silver overlay on her head and neck. She is gorgeous and I am in no hurry for her to lay eggs, I was just curious. Thank you so much!

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Just wanted to ask you experts here about when to expect my English Orpington pullet to start laying eggs? She is just shy of 15 weeks old. She is the most slowly developing chicken I’ve ever had, I understand this is normal for her breed. She is just starting to develop the silver overlay on her head and neck. She is gorgeous and I am in no hurry for her to lay eggs, I was just curious. Thank you so much!
View attachment 2366329View attachment 2366330

Around 24-28 weeks, with mine being closer to the 28.

 

[Faraday40]

She looks very good! Her attractive shape and crisp lacing are great and only get better with age.

Don't hold your breath for the eggs, though. Orps are a slow maturing breed and the soonest I've gotten eggs was at a little over 5 months. (That unusual orp hatched around Jan 1 and was laying by the end of May.) Orps can often take longer due to the time of year and hours of sunlight. Right now the days are growing shorter, so any pullet that reaches laying age in the fall will not lay because the days are too short. Instead, she will hold off until the end of Feb or even March when the days grow longer. This is why some hens will take 9 months to lay an egg and others take only 6.

I also noticed that my SLO males are slower to mature than my other orp males. They will crow and attempt mating, yet my particular line tends to have low fertility until they reach 1 year. Not sure why.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Around 24-28 weeks, with mine being closer to the 28.

Thanks!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

She looks very good! Her attractive shape and crisp lacing are great and only get better with age.

Don't hold your breath for the eggs, though. Orps are a slow maturing breed and the soonest I've gotten eggs was at a little over 5 months. (That unusual orp hatched around Jan 1 and was laying by the end of May.) Orps can often take longer due to the time of year and hours of sunlight. Right now the days are growing shorter, so any pullet that reaches laying age in the fall will not lay because the days are too short. Instead, she will hold off until the end of Feb or even March when the days grow longer. This is why some hens will take 9 months to lay an egg and others take only 6.

I also noticed that my SLO males are slower to mature than my other orp males. They will crow and attempt mating, yet my particular line tends to have low fertility until they reach 1 year. Not sure why.

Thank you! I am so pleased with this pullet. She is the mellowest bird in my mixed flock of 12, my only orpington and even more precious as she was the only one to hatch out of 8 eggs I bought from a local breeder. She also eats the most! Looked like a tailess dinosaur forever, had no feathers on her head forever and now is growing into this beautiful bird. I live in Hawaii, we do not really have much of a difference in the amount of light we have year round, maybe gets darker an hour earlier in the evenings in winter and maybe light an hour later in the mornings. Think that will make any difference in the egg laying?

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Thanks!

What Faraday said is also true, she might not lay until late winter...

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Thank you! I am so pleased with this pullet. She is the mellowest bird in my mixed flock of 12, my only orpington and even more precious as she was the only one to hatch out of 8 eggs I bought from a local breeder. She also eats the most! Looked like a tailess dinosaur forever, had no feathers on her head forever and now is growing into this beautiful bird. I live in Hawaii, we do not really have much of a difference in the amount of light we have year round, maybe gets darker an hour earlier in the evenings in winter and maybe light an hour later in the mornings. Think that will make any difference in the egg laying?

It could. More light and warmer temps do seem to help.

 

[Faraday40]

DS playing with the birds. He enjoys calling them for treats & getting swarmed. Thankfully he's not afraid of being face to face with a turkey almost his height and a little Sebright (named Trouble) landing on him.

My lav cockerel

It was actually hard to get that photo of him because he's normally in my face.
Not hard at all to get close ups.

My lav hen, Darling, is growing back her feathers.

 

[Faraday40]

BTW- Any name ideas for my lav cockerel?

We nicknamed him "Big Butt" when being compared to the other boy "Nice Comb"
However, I'm not sure I like the idea of my kids yelling "Come here Big Butt" when getting the chickens in each night. He definitely needs a name.

Our next door neighbors have been calling him "Big Daddy."

All of our orp roos have had the title "Mr" Something. He's sort of Mr Sufficient or Mr Improvement. (Son of Mr Potential) There's of course "Mr Big" but not sure if I like that one, either.