The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[jeremy]

For those of you with adult bantam choc orps, about how much do they weigh?
And how do you weigh them...
And how much do the LF choc orps weigh?
this is averages of course

Are there standards for the bantam choc orps someone can point me to

Kristi, here's the British Standard for Chocolate Orps.

Origin: England. First bred by Dr Clive Carefoot between 1993-94. It was bred as part of the Black Orpington Breeding Project. They are the rarest variation of the orpington breed of chickens.

Classification: Heavy: Soft feather Egg Color: Slightly tinted

General Characteristics: Male

Carriage: Bold, upright and graceful, an active bird.
Type: Body is deep, broad and cobby. Back is nicely curved with a sharp and concave outline. Saddle is wide and slightly rising with a full hackle. Breast is deep and well rounded. Wings are small, nicely formed and carried closely to the body. The ends of the wings are almost hidden by the saddle hackle. Tail is short, compact, flowing and high but not a squirrel tail.
Head: Small and neat, fairly full over the eyes. Beak is strong and curved. Large bold eyes. Single, small comb firmly set on the head. Comb is evenly serrated and free of side sprigs. Face is smooth. Wattles are of a medium length being oblong in shape and nicely rounded at the bottom. Ear-lobes are small and elongated.
Neck: Medium in length, curved and compact with a full hackle.
Legs & Feet: Legs are short and strong. Thighs are almost hidden by the body feathers and are set well apart. Four straight and well spread toes.
Plumage: Fairly profuse but close and not soft, loose or fluffy and in the Cochin or close and hard as in the Game Fowl.
Handling: Firm.


General Characteristics: Female

The general characteristics are similar to the male except that her cushion should be wide and almost flat and slightly rising to the tail.

Color: Chocolate brown all over. Beak is brown, eyes are either dark brown. Comb, face, wattles and ear-lobes are bright red. Legs and feet are pale.

Weight: Bantam

Male: Not exceeding 4½ lb (2kg)
Female: Not exceeding 3½ lb (1.6kg)

 

[jeremy]

Nellie, the girl in the middle there seems to have good type, how is the overall size of your Gold Laced birds?

 

[jeremy]

What is an average age for them to start laying? Mine are 4 weeks old so I think I have awhile.

My girls don't start laying until 7-8 months.

 

[jeremy]

Does anyone know someone who is wanting to sale an Imported Chocolate Orpington roo. I bought 3 straight run Chocolates about 5 months ago and they all turned out to be girls. So my girls need a boy. :0(

You should contact mediazeal here on BYC, I think she had several young cockerels recently that were looking for homes.

You could also try kidcody.

 

[jeremy]

I see you are a member of UOC. They have a buy and sell section now but you have to log on to post what you want to buy or sell. You are talking about buying UK blood since all Orpingtons are English. Some people when advertising do a play with words to mislead the buyer so you should be very cautious what you purchase. Good luck.

I would also advise you to use caution when looking for imported Orps. There are plenty of folks out there selling eggs that may only be 50% or 75% UK blood as "pure imported 100% English" Orps. Beware of who you're buying from and also ask for pictures LOTS of pictures, it should be relatively easy to tell the percentage birds from the pure ones. Also ask exactly where the seller got their stock from, not who's line they are but exactly who they bought the birds from. I have seen LOTS of ads on EBAY recently for "pure" eggs from birds that literally look like they might be 25% UK in heritage...

 

[jeremy]

Took a few photos this afternoon. This boy will be a year old in two weeks. He is so much like Charlie. I may name him Charlie Jr. BTW he doesnt have any red on his wing feathers. It is just the lighting of this pic

Julie, you are just trying to torment me aren't you? Is this the boy that I like so much? Or is it another big beautiful Blue boy?

Either way he is very, very nice.

He does look a lot like Charlie.

 

[BamaChicken]

Jeremy that is the boy you like so much.
Also thanks for sharing that standard on the Chocs. I was talking with Christina last nite about that because I wasn't sure about the eye color and want to breed for what ever color is the correct one we are working towards.
This should be a exciting year with the Orps here in the USA.

 

[Shaffer]

Julie,
As always you exceed the norm when it comes to breeding Orpingtons. You are such a great contribution to the hobby.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

4cats3kids: her screen name is 'Beth G.'. She breeds MF Cochins too. I don't know much about English Orps, I hatched out my first Orps this year and am very pleased with the breed. I was looking for some blue to put with my blue boy and got BBS hatching eggs from Beth G. Who is some where in the Northeast, I met her in Massachusettes at a poultry show. I can post pics of the Blacks that I got out of that hatch, and actually would like to hear how they look and if they should be saved from the pot - I really wanted blue, but if their type is good, then maybe no soup.

Schaffer, you are quite close to me, relatively speaking. I had a friend in high school who grew up in Tamaqua and would go back for holidays to see cousins and such.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

So, I'm going to try to post pictures which are quite poor I'm afraid. Please tell me if I'm making a mistake culling these boys. I plan to keep the pullet regardless for a layer. Thanks in advance. ~Martha