The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Jobele]

Dogs , no matter how big and fierce, can only really give you warning about an intruder. Anybody intent on harm will simply shoot the dogs. Little dogs are hated by burglars because they are hard to hit, and won't shut up, if the big dogs let them get that far. Then it's up to you.

That's so true Vickie....that's why I keep mine close to me at all times....they stay inside and not outside....they bark if they hear something outside to alert me! I did have an incident when I was single and at that time I had a Rottweiler and a huge Long Haired German Shepherd. There was a man who came to my house and was so drunk that he thought it was his house and started to beat on my door and screaming to let him in! He just kept hitting the front door (even though the dogs where barking like they were going to tear him to pieces). I WAS SO SCARED! I knew the dogs were trained and would attack (I am a retired dog trainer), but still the same....there's that fear of the reality of the moment. I had a cop that lived across the street and THANK GOD he was off duty that night. I called his wife on the phone and told her what was happening. Then I went and got my 9MM. So, the deal was if he came through the door...the dogs got him first and then I would shoot him.....luckily the cop came up behind him with his gun and made him back off of my door. He was sooooo drunk. The cop's wife called the dispatcher at the station and had them send a patrol car by to pick him up and I went and filed charges the next day because I wanted my front door paid for.....LOL The guy seriously thought he was at his own house and his wife wasn't letting him in. He had splintered my front door from beating on it!

So, that's why I tell everybody to keep their dogs CLOSE to them....don't send them out because they can be shot. You want that cushion barrier of protection so that you can have a defense set up to deal with the intruder. Too many people open their front doors so willingly to just anybody. I never do.....I have my big dogs go to the door with me and I look outside my peep hole before I open up. It has definitely made people think before coming in my house.....LOL

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
Here are our livestock guardian dogs/ The male is just a puppy at 10 months old. Nicole adores him. The female is 2 years old. Both are Anatolian X Pyrenees mix.

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

I am finally using my bator for the first time...I have 8 Black EO eggs from my trio and also 3 bantam lavender cochin eggs..this hatch is just a test run to see what is going to work best. I have a Hova-bator 1588 and I have the temps set at 99.5 and I am keeping the humidity in the 30's seems to be holding around 35% so we'll see how this hatch goes and if it does not go as planned I will investigate what went wrong and try to fix it with the next hatch

here is my bator all set up...that tube running down into the bator from the vent hole is to fill the water trough up so I don't have to open the lid.



and look!! our first real accumulating snow of the season!!! it is only about 1/4 of an inch deep for now but by daylight tomorrow we are supposed to have 2 inches!!! I know it does not sound like much especially to those that live in the northern states but it is exciting to me, that is the most snow we have had since last year around this time...this is my chickens first snow so I am excited to see how they are going to react to it!

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Jim, Beautiful Kids, Goats AND dogs. We took the plunge and got our first LGD this fall, a Great Pyr.

Lots a cluckin: VERY cool, your first hatch!! looks like you've got things under control. I have a Hovabator 1588 and found that my hatch rates are lower when I have so few eggs in. (Not trying to be an enabler here) If you don't want to (or can't) add more eggs, maybe consider some 'sinkers'? which I haven't yet figured out how to add with the auto turner.

JMO.

And… I call this one, 'the chicken/goat whisperer'. This child just LOVES her orpies, especially the big Roos!!

 

[galanie]

Are your cockerels big eaters? I have a young 8 month old cockerel that may be chicken but eats like a horse. My DH has been feeding them all for the last week and he noticed too. He told me today that pen eats a lot of food. He is a growing boy. I looked at him a bit to day and my my he is going to be something. I will try and weigh him next month after I get over all  the eye surgery and there is not danger of injury for my eyes.
We have cooler weather tonite. I put a few down on the ground today with a light hanging in their pen. I hope the do okay. I may have to go get one of those red heat lamp lites cause they are say ing we might have a freeze here by the weekend. My chickens think it is spring.

I call that "the eating gene." I've had one or two like that and they do nothing but eat and grow. And grow. And eat. My cockerel I have right now is like that. He's a hungry thing. Grow, boy! Grow!

 

[delisha]

As far as English grow and how big they get..is it beter to grow them out slow? or better to free feed? I feed a large quanitity of Fermented Feed to them and it seems I can't fill them up. I have three English and they eat more than 8 American chickens. Is that normal?

 

[delisha]

Blarney,

Those are the sweetest pctures!

 

[Renie'sPeeps]

Love the photos Blarney

I see a few changes have been made to the 1588 since I bought new ones a couple of yrs ago. The company had changed the cords so you couldn't detach them from lid... I hate that... Now I see they have changed location of the cord.. Is it detachable now?? I found it necessary to keep the humidity more in the 40s because when it starts dropping .... It sure doesn't fool around about it.

I just hatched out 3 splash and 1 blue chick in my sportsman this morning I am going to use my older hovabators to hatch quail eggs this spring

 

[thedragonlady]

As far as English grow and how big they get..is it beter to grow them out slow? or better to free feed? I feed a large quanitity of Fermented Feed to them and it seems I can't fill them up. I have three English and they eat more than 8 American chickens. Is that normal?

The English Orps DO eat a lot more than SOP birds when they are growing, and tons more than hatchery birds. It takes a lot of vitamins, minerals and protein to grow them up.Look at the size the EOs end up ! Bigger, deeper bodies, huge bones, and lots of feathers. Every morning I am raking up a 5 gallon bucket of baby feathers from 15 babies. It takes a lot of feed to grow those new ones while growing frame and meat.

Once grown, the EOs don't seem to eat much more than the SOP birds, and their eggs are HUGE.

 

[pampered_poultry]

Hi Don -

We have gold laced bantams from Orpingons Galore here and will be releasing in mid to late spring.

Thanks,
Richard

I tried breeding a buff ckl over some single comb GL Wyandotte's that came from a hatchery in Texas. I got buff birds with alittle black in the neck. Could have been the hatchery type bird wasn't bred that good. You do have some pretty birds. I love that GL color, I'm trying a GL project with my orp bantams.