The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[deek]

Believe me, there will be pictures tonight!!!

 

[galanie]

Now, you know it is forbidden to mention Gold Laced babies hatching and not post pictures.

Believe me, there will be pictures tonight!!!

x2 lol

 

[aveca]

My new Sportsman has been delivered... Now, I need eggs to hatch! My girls went on strike again. I don't think they like frigid wind chills. The English Orps don't seem to mind. They actually nest outside at night. My chocolate boys are all suffering from frostbit combs. I guess no matter what you pay for them, they are still chickens and no one else said they were overly intelligent.

Mine get confused and or are once in a while bullied a bit by the hens so try to sneak out the door, but it only takes a few minutes to loose a comb in these wind chills..I carry them right inside if they do that.. ..they all now know that is where they are supposed to go now..sometimes you have to help them out a little ..they are creatures of habit so train them into a better habit..I feel like a shepherd herding babies around every year..the older ones know the routine..when it comes to weather in northeast there will be good days and bad days ..when it gets to 30 and above..which is a large part of the winter..they all go out....today they are all inside waiting it out...My dilema is I am out refreshing water in the covered runs every 2 hours otherwise it freezes up solid..they have to have that water to keep the thermostats and egg production running ...trying to grab up eggs befor they feeze is always fun too...lot of the hens like to use the privacy of the cages in the covereed runs to lay eggs and there is where they freeze fast...the eggs inside the barn stay unfrozen lot longer.

 

[galanie]

Mine get confused and or are once in a while bullied a bit by the hens so try to sneak out the door, but it only takes a few minutes to loose a comb in these wind chills..I carry them right inside if they do that.. ..they all now know that is where they are supposed  to go now..sometimes you have to help them out a little ..they are creatures of habit so train them into a better habit..I feel like a shepherd herding babies around every year..the older ones know the routine..when it comes to weather in northeast  there will be good days and bad days ..when it gets to 30 and above..which is a large part of the winter..they all go out....today they are all inside waiting it out...My dilema is I am out refreshing water in the covered runs every 2 hours otherwise it freezes up solid..they have to have that water to keep the thermostats and egg production running ...trying to grab up eggs befor they feeze is always fun too...lot of the hens like to use the privacy of the cages in the covereed runs to lay eggs and there is where they freeze fast...the eggs inside the barn stay unfrozen lot longer.

They for sure are creatures of habit. Mine are somewhere between pets and livestock as someone mentioned, I forget the thread... Anyway they all get to go out in front, which is unfenced, every evening for a couple hours, with me shepherding them. My first, the hatchery birds, were a chore. I had to keep running them back from the street and property lines constantly. Once they "got" it though.. I can leave them out there unattended and they don't go anywhere. The new ones are not too hard to teach since the old ones help out. It helps to know that they will hang around me generally and if I don't go close to the street, they are not likely to either. Once you get the habit ingrained on where to go to do what, they just do it. On the rare occasions that one looks to be heading off, I can speak in a menacing voice and back we come! hahaha

 

[thedragonlady]

My new Sportsman has been delivered... Now, I need eggs to hatch! My girls went on strike again. I don't think they like frigid wind chills. The English Orps don't seem to mind. They actually nest outside at night. My chocolate boys are all suffering from frostbit combs. I guess no matter what you pay for them, they are still chickens and no one else said they were overly intelligent.

English Orps are famous for NOT going to roost.This year when you hatch, make sure to put a branch in your brooder.The babies will learn to use it, and exercise their wing muscles too.This fall I was putting 45+ babies up on roosts, EVERY night, once they were outside.That lasted about a month. ALL my babies learned to roost in their insulated houses. I do keep a very low watt CFL going in the roosts. This lets the tardy ones see to roost, and stops arguments because of one blundering into another.It's much easier to keep an Orp who roosts in good condition when they get grown.

 

[aveca]

They for sure are creatures of habit. Mine are somewhere between pets and livestock as someone mentioned, I forget the thread... Anyway they all get to go out in front, which is unfenced, every evening for a couple hours, with me shepherding them. My first, the hatchery birds, were a chore. I had to keep running them back from the street and property lines constantly. Once they "got" it though.. I can leave them out there unattended and they don't go anywhere. The new ones are not too hard to teach since the old ones help out. It helps to know that they will hang around me generally and if I don't go close to the street, they are not likely to either. Once you get the habit ingrained on where to go to do what, they just do it. On the rare occasions that one looks to be heading off, I can speak in a menacing voice and back we come! hahaha

So far the big blue english orp hasnt been a problem, he is a comfort king, where ever it is reasonable temps, there he is..the blk orps, same way, , they prefer to stay in the yards ,When I let them out supervised in larger areas we are planning to fence, the Englsih and blks come running up to me like they are guilty or lost and look at you like , I dont think Im supposed to be out here. and they stay very close to me.... the baby buffs I have to herd around and watch, they now know what they need to do..found them trying to sleep out behind the door one night..they just got little confused they knew the door was a landmark, but which side of it? hee hee..they know now..had to pick them up and put them in couple times..once they see thier roost, up they go....its old hat to them now...the australorps are globe trotters..open that door and off they go..at 30 degrees they are gone ..like yours we had to fence along neighbors to keep them over here..the neighbor kids were giving them bread over there...and they remember stuff like that..thought I would put a stop to it befor I got a call saying your chicken pooped on my porch..we are planning a very large fenced area..about 1/2 of it is finished.

 

[Reyvaughn]

They were going in but decided to stay out during those couple nice days. They didn't see the forecast I guess and thought it's be okay outside. They are back in now. Now, when are these girls going to lay already?!

 

[heirloomorps]

THREE MORE EGGS HAVE PIPS!

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

I have 8 eggs from my Black EO's in the bator today is the 21st day and we have one little tiny pip in 1 egg...I don't really expect them to start hatching until tomorrow since they are bigger than your average chicken and I have read that Orps take longer to hatch for that reason...But I might be surprised

 

[delisha]

I still have no idea exactly how many chicks she has under there. She must have ate all the shells. I have never experienced a chicken who stayed in a nest so long. Usually by day three they have them outside or at least running around the pen. I have got to get out soon if she does not get out on her own.