The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Renie'sPeeps]

I have not had to trim so far.

 

[fifelakelooper]

Ladies and Gentlemen.....I just finished checking my favorite Orpingtons egg and it was FERTILE! I will thank Matilda and Max (alias Fat boy) tomorrow when I feed them!

 

[kathyinmo]

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[aveca]

if you plan on showing any of the breeding birds..always pluck , never cut.. but if you arnt showing either will work..

 

[Nava]

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well, I do plan on showing my cockerel and I did not pluck , I trimmed is that going to affect much with the judges?

 

[ejcimd]

Oh my you all have some beautiful Orpingtons....

 

[aveca]

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well, I do plan on showing my cockerel and I did not pluck , I trimmed is that going to affect much with the judges?

Well an APA judge told me about 8 years ago that he could DQ me for cutting..he didnt but it lowered my chances at anything big for sure..its a law of APA never to cut feathers as there is a lot of faking like trimming lace or removing white tips so its really frowned on..if you can get hold of the stubbs and pull them with tweezers about month and 1/2 befor the show they should start to grow back and at least be seen for what it is and no faking going on...He said he knew why I did it...(breeding pen) but a big no no..it makes them think you are trying to hide something even thou you are not.....lesson learned..you can ask some of the APA judges that stop by here about it..but he was real mad at me that I did that..otherwise the bird will eventually molt those..like I said the ones not showing retired ect..doesnt matter.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

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Ok, how do you trim? Can you point me to someplace to read up?

My husband and I do the trimming together. I know some people trim/pluck differently, but this is what we do and it works great for us. I hold the bird, head under my arm, butt facing hubby. He trims the feathers around the vent with a small pair of scissors about the size of a baseball, both above and below the vent. Make sure to trim as closely as you can, but don't prick the skin. I know some people pluck, but I could never do that - I am afraid it will hurt them. I have no desire to hurt my birds, I just want fertile eggs.

When Clementine first started laying, I didn't even crack the eggs to check fertility - I just put them in the incubator. Her eggs were so precious I didn't want to waste one by cracking it. BIG MISTAKE !! None of those eggs were fertile, so I lost quite a few eggs. Then I trimmed, but only trimmed Clementine. Same thing - didn't crack the eggs - nothing fertile. I then trimmed Winston, and every egg after that was fertile. Since that lesson learned the hard way, I now just automatically trim all the hens and roosters. It's not a big deal and it's not hard, so I'm not taking a chance on infertile eggs.

I just purchased an 8 month old cockerel (he is beautiful) and two 4 month old pullets (they are gorgeous too)....so I am thinking that the girls should start laying next spring...but I would like to show them too in a spring show here in WA state. So, how long do the feather take to grow back so they can be shown? Or do I show first and then start hatching eggs? How do you all do it? I am new to showing. I have been to 2 shows - with no birds....to learn...I hope to start taking birds next spring. thank you for all your help.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

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A fertile egg has a "halo" around the germinal spot. Like a donut or a bulls eye.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/_images/Fertile_vs_Infertile_egg.png

http://animalsinthecity.webs.com/FertileEggPIx.jpg

http://animalsinthecity.webs.com/FertileEggPic.jpg

great photos.

 

[immyjay54]

Just got my pair of English Orp Juveniles from Jeremy (BYC) Nice birds, will be glad when weather changes and I can put them out in the green grass and sunshine. 28 degrees and snow here right now. From California to Pennsylvania they probably think that they went to Alaska. ha,ha