The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Blarneyeggs]

Seriously, I never knew that.  I had Nubians and Lamanchas but all the kids had to be dehorned......What a chore.   Interesting.

My darling Lily - a polled ND goat will be kidding shortly, I was sure to steer clear of any polled goats on the papers of the stud buck we used for just this reason.

No kidding.

No Kiddin? You got that right! Bwahahaha!

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

Would somebody (via PM) help me select which English Orp bantam hatching eggs to buy? I have no experience with these and am trying to select hatching eggs to buy. I know it is really a matter of opinion, but I don't want to buy hatching eggs from birds with obvious faults that I didn't notice because of my non-experience of the breed. Anyone who is willing to help, please PM. I already have narrowed my search down to 3 different trios from different people.
Thank you.

 

[rockinpaints]

No kidding.

 

[delisha]

I think that is one of the nicest lavenders I have seen..
I normally do not like the *ratty* looking feathers..but this male is beautiful..

 

[RedReiner]

what? naturally horned cattle twins dont have the sterility problems?

Can't speak for cattle except for bull and heifer twins. Most often the female is a freemartin...hermaphrodite. 2 Naturally hornless goats bred together will produce hermaphrodite female offspring. I had the top winning Nubian dairy goat herd in the SE in the early 80s, so I've seen a bit of this.Keepers on the English estates shoot out the polled deer for this reason too.

oh!! ok you were talking about goats and some were talking about cows . makes more sense now lol

 

[rockinpaints]

I think that is one of the nicest lavenders I have seen..
I normally do not like the *ratty* looking feathers..but this male is beautiful..

I have not seen a really nice "lavender" either. I believe this guy is so nice because he is a cuckoo so was lavender crossed with cuckoo (that has MUCH better feathering). I have the imported lavender line (my avatar) but I am going to cross them with blacks and see if that helps the feathering. Some even look like they have an Indian headdress on their butts, with 2 or 3 long feathers sticking straight up

(no offense intended, I have American Indian heritage). Hens are all pretty nice, just the roos.

I have one roo I imported, if I could get over the embarrassment I would post a picture..........he is in the bachelor pen and I am thinking about moving him to the freezer and just haven't had the heart yet. I keep thinking he is going to grow something else, but it ain't happnin

... and he is almost a year.

The one that s on my avatar is better but not like the other English orp varieties we have.

 

[aveca]

The good black should give some neatness to them Nellie..LOL on the indian headress...I have native in my family..doesnt bother me a bit. thought it was pretty funny..

 

[thedragonlady]

I have not seen a really nice "lavender" either. I believe this guy is so nice because he is a cuckoo so was lavender crossed with cuckoo (that has MUCH better feathering). I have the imported lavender line (my avatar) but I am going to cross them with blacks and see if that helps the feathering. Some even look like they have an Indian headdress on their butts, with 2 or 3 long feathers sticking straight up

(no offense intended, I have American Indian heritage). Hens are all pretty nice, just the roos.

I have one roo I imported, if I could get over the embarrassment I would post a picture..........he is in the bachelor pen and I am thinking about moving him to the freezer and just haven't had the heart yet. I keep thinking he is going to grow something else, but it ain't happnin

... and he is almost a year.

The one that s on my avatar is better but not like the other English orp varieties we have.

Based on what I've seen in cats, and dogs, who are dilutes in coloring, I question if Lavenders will ever have really profuse feathering. Isabella and Fawn Dobes, all dilutes, and Sharpeis, who are mostly dilutes, have very sparse coats, and all sorts of skin problems. Chocolate Labs, ditto. There seems to be a tendency to weakness in dilute animals.Maybe if you can infuse enough true Black blood into the Lavenders, you will see better feathering, but it will involve a lot of breeding and culling to keep that pretty color, with profuse feathering of good quality.

 

[Phantom_Rooster]

Stepped out the door with my coffee a few minutes ago and noticed a couple visitors and thought I would share this lovely family.

They don't stay long. They just stop for a quick swim then they are usually on their way to the pond up the road (without a dog......)

The pond up the road is about a mile but the geese walk it through the fields with their babies (baby in this case). Nature is amazing.

I would love to step out and see this scene first thing in the morning. Beautiful. I can only imagine reeling in a big ole catfish too.

 

[Christabelle]

Me, with my morbid curiosity, would love to see the lavender rooster Nellie, but I can understand why you would not show him- lol.

I have seen lavender outcrossed with black and it seems that all the problems come back with the lavender color. I read that it has something to do with the fray gene being close to the lavender one (like how the blue egg gene is inherited with a pea comb usually). Again this is what I read... Don't take it to the bank just yet. I just love to read about genetics stuff.

Part of me is curious about the color pattern helping feather quality. I saw a picture I greenfire farms website of a lavender Wyandotte. He looked pretty perfect, but it was a magazine article so who knows. Chocolate and blue are both dilutes and they have profuse soft wonderful feathering, so I can't knock all dilutes. I also had a Cremello (double dilute) mare that was a champ. She had creepy looking eyes but no health problems. I am not sure if I made a point in this ramble of a post- but oh well, it's early