The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Goose and Fig]

Thanks! Its soooo much prettier when its green.
Daphne- we might have some of your grandchicks hatching in a few days

 

[ruth]

Here's one of my young cockerels - hatched this summer. He's approx. 6 months old and I think he's shaping up nicely. Sadly he and the Blue Orp cockerel I posted earlier are the only two Orp survivors of a stray dog that got into the yard and killed almost all of my young breeder birds (of all breeds) that were being allowed to free range. I wish I had some of the females that were growing out. They were showing such promise.

 

[tennesseeckn]

Yeah! Hopefully you'll be hatching your first batch at the same time I'm setting my first.

 

[tennesseeckn]

I took this picture today and thought it was cute... I FINALLY have some blue girls. I know I have some work to do on lacing, but just the thought of splash babies makes me giddy...

 

[Goose and Fig]

I took this picture today and thought it was cute... I FINALLY have some blue girls. I know I have some work to do on lacing, but just the thought of splash babies makes me giddy...

Awwww! They're just too easy!

 

[galanie]

Here's one of my young cockerels - hatched this summer.  He's approx. 6  months old and I think he's shaping up nicely.  Sadly he and the Blue Orp cockerel I posted earlier are the only two Orp survivors of a stray dog that got into the yard and killed almost all of my young breeder birds (of all breeds) that were being allowed to free range.  I wish I had some of the females that were growing out.  They were showing such promise. 

I hear of things like this so often, and yet people are still shocked when I say what will happen to dogs if I catch them chasing my chickens (in a fenced, secure area on my own property). I just want to scream.

"Poor thing is only having fun" - that statement makes me want to kill.

 

[ruth]

I hear of things like this so often, and yet people are still shocked when I say what will happen to dogs if I catch them chasing my chickens (in a fenced, secure area on my own property). I just want to scream.
"Poor thing is only having fun" - that statement makes me want to kill.

Sadly, we did have the dog put down but there's a whole lot more to the story. Just a sad story all the way around. We have a small farm and we've had 10 dogs dumped here over the past couple of years. We have no humane shelter to take them to. If you call the local sheriff they will come and shoot the dog. So, I have to feed them, nurse them back to health, spay/neuter them and then train them to leave my free roaming animals alone. So far all dogs except that one have learned and are happily running free on the farm keeping away predators. This particular dog showed up with the start of mange. He was always "stressed" according to the vet and even more so here. On tie lines he would chew off the line or collar, in barns or kennels or fenced yards he would bark non-stop, day and night, throwing himself at the fence - his "internal stress mange" got worse and worse. He barked at everything he saw and lunged at everything. Very quickly he lost all of his hair and had to be kept under cover for fear of sunburn. Baths and meds did nothing to help his skin condition neither did vet care. Before long he was bare skin and open sores with zero hair and still barking non-stop at everything. He got out of the fenced yard one day while we were gone and we came home to dead birds everywhere. My other 8 dogs at the time did nothing to stop him since they had sort of become used to him being around. By the time I finished picking up dead birds (and they were all young pullets) I had a mountain of birds to burn. I cried and screamed with every one I found because every one was a banded breeder bird including some "100% English Orpingtons" I had paid dearly for. It was the final straw and we had the vet put the poor dog down. Last week someone dumped a pit bull and I kept it for one week just to feed it and then took it to the nearest (out of town) pound because it was showing aggression toward all the other dogs, the cats, the goats, everything and I was not ready to have yet another problem dog dumped on me. That was sad and hard to do as well.

 

[tazcat70]

That is awful Monique! I lost all of my Orps to a dog attack last year in March. I hatched all the eggs that I had and I did hatch out some great chicks, but my heart just wasn't in it. I am so sorry that you went through that.

 

[jeremy]

I took this picture today and thought it was cute... I FINALLY have some blue girls. I know I have some work to do on lacing, but just the thought of splash babies makes me giddy...

Daphne, want a Splash cockerel, or 2? I've got like 20 still growing out. These juvies are 100%.

If you send me the shipping and cost for a box I'll send you the bird.

 

[kidcody]

Ruth, I'm so sorry for your loss of your beautiful chickens.

I can't imagine coming home to find your beloved chickens dead. You tried everything to help this dog and in the end you did the right thing. I see you have a big heart for your critters. Your birds are so beautiful I enjoy the pictures!