The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[piglett]

OK, someone please post a picture or ask a question...new subject, plz. All of these compliments are making me blush.

ok here goes

at what age can you sex your britts at?
i can do my american buff orps at 4 to 8 weeks no problem
having trouble with my Britts though
some are clearly cockerels but others i just can't tell.



thanks
piglett

 

[galanie]

Ok Dee well here's Lucky, my surprise Buff O. I think she is 100% English but I can't be positive and I'm only 99.99% sure of which egg she hatched from. She is 3 months old.

The broodies were all over the place in April and May and I just seemed to have missed a couple eggs. And this one hatched. I was so surprised the day I went to check them and heard peeping. Not only was she never supposed to be hatched, but at around a week old was carried off and bitten by cats. She managed to wedge herself where they couldn't get to her and cheeped her heart out for I don't know how long. She was silent when I was closest to her location in my neighbor's shop, but when she heard me she cheeped like crazy and I found her. Filled her wounds with triple antibiotic and the next day, let her out again with her "mother." She recovered perfectly from all the punctures in her back and left leg. Her "mom" was one of the most lackadaisical I ever saw with raising a baby. When Lucky called for her, she never would come. Well sometimes maybe but usually just ignored her. If Lucky was close by, she'd feed her bugs and goodies but if Lucky wandered off, she was on her own till she found Mom herself. Taking the cats and hawks and everything else into consideration, she really did live a dangerous babyhood.

I never did take her in and make sure she was coddled and safe because to be honest, I just wanted to see how tough she would be. And she is a survivor!

So this is Lucky, who's had a very hard life and is very, very lucky. Best forager of the whole flock and smart as a whip!

PS: "Mom" and two other non-Orps stayed behind after my recent move. The new owner of the house wanted them. Yay!

 

[deek]

That's quite a story! She's definitely earned her name. I'd venture to say that she's going to be quite the beauty too. Sweet baby. Doesn't look like she wanted you to tell her woes. Look at her expression.

Piglett, everyone might give you a different answer. I bet it will depend on the variety and even the line. I can sex the GL fairly easily now but last year I had cockerels named Biscuit and Sweet Pea. Their combs and wattles are different way ahead of their gender feathers. The two black lines that I have are terrible to sex (for me) I have one that I hope is a cockerel, but I'm afraid I'll have to wait for an egg or a crow.

There are some experienced breeders on this forum that get it right almost 100% of the time.

 

[chickydee64]

Good Morning.................
Still getting my feet wet here and read every post every day to absorb all the information I can.
My thoughts this morning are that I can understand the importance of giving the English time to mature.........
I have two black 100% pullets that I have viewed with disappointment and had decided to sell.
They are just under 6 months.............Maybe they just over heard my plan

But they have started blossoming out..........getting rounder, feathering nicely.
I'll see if I can post pictures this afternoon. Just watching them gives me a wonderful feeling of peace.............
Sometimes I cannot believe how lucky I am to have this breed...............

 

[aveca]

im kind of hopng everythhing is OKk with miss Nellie.. we havnt heard from her latley..shes probably busy as beans right now..

 

[aveca]

she is a beauty sarah..congrats on getting through with the move...they are a tough bunch of birds for sure..

Ok Dee well here's Lucky, my surprise Buff O. I think she is 100% English but I can't be positive and I'm only 99.99% sure of which egg she hatched from. She is 3 months old.



The broodies were all over the place in April and May and I just seemed to have missed a couple eggs. And this one hatched. I was so surprised the day I went to check them and heard peeping. Not only was she never supposed to be hatched, but at around a week old was carried off and bitten by cats. She managed to wedge herself where they couldn't get to her and cheeped her heart out for I don't know how long. She was silent when I was closest to her location in my neighbor's shop, but when she heard me she cheeped like crazy and I found her. Filled her wounds with triple antibiotic and the next day, let her out again with her "mother." She recovered perfectly from all the punctures in her back and left leg. Her "mom" was one of the most lackadaisical I ever saw with raising a baby. When Lucky called for her, she never would come. Well sometimes maybe but usually just ignored her. If Lucky was close by, she'd feed her bugs and goodies but if Lucky wandered off, she was on her own till she found Mom herself. Taking the cats and hawks and everything else into consideration, she really did live a dangerous babyhood.

I never did take her in and make sure she was coddled and safe because to be honest, I just wanted to see how tough she would be. And she is a survivor!

So this is Lucky, who's had a very hard life and is very, very lucky. Best forager of the whole flock and smart as a whip!

PS: "Mom" and two other non-Orps stayed behind after my recent move. The new owner of the house wanted them. Yay!

 

[deek]

Nellie and I exchanged emails a couple of days ago. I missed her too. She is, as one would expect, quite busy and does check in on the forum just not as frequently. No worries. We love you Nellie!

 

[delisha]

I have a very unusual looking blue Orp. I am not used to seeing one so upright. Spindly legs too. It can't be a cross breed since I only have Orp roosters.

 

[wekiva bird]

Here are two of the 6 month olds. You can see their tails coming in. They are getting that cobby look. In the second picture you can see what these naughty girls do all day long. They prance back and forth in front of the cockerel pen. Drives them batty. They are in for a rude awakening IF those boys get their opportunity. If I do decide to breed those young cockerels I will need to put them in with the hens when the time comes. They will need some lessons on courtship. (BTW, their skirts are very black, but they were just dusted)

DragonLady, they do show legs.

Wow deek they are very nice !!!!!!!!

 

[deek]

Thank you!