The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[jeremy]

...I explained to her that I was trying to hit a happy medium between the very short backed Engilsh birds, who are not very good layers, and the SOP type, who are good layers...

Huh?

I haven't noticed my girls with shorter backs producing less?

 

[Chickengirl1304]

sounds like a good thing for that girl vickie..i learned that years ago and it truly works..they just sit still in your hands..took some practice but i got it..i find it a bit harder with these very big birds for me but we do pretty good..not much if any struggle..you need the bottom half of a fridge box to haul these things in..i used to carry sebrights all over balanced on 1 hand..so took me a while..now i dont even think about it.

can you explain how you handle them? So they don't struggle?

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

Quote:
I haven't tested it myself but I have read that the shorter the back is the less eggs they will produce in their life time than a bird with a longer back would. But it also has to do with width of the bird so the wider across the back the more eggs the will produce in their life time...there has to be plenty of room inside for egg making and if there isn't much room there wont be many eggs.

 

[Irishhenman]

I pick my birds by putting one hand underneath them and spread my fingers so that two fingers are between their legs and one finger either side of the legs and then pick them up and support them with my lower arm up against my body. I have had no problem with any bird I have picked up only a couple ever struggle,even birds I am just looking at at friends yards who have never been handled very much

 

[deek]

Some do have very thick fluff and some don't, it depends on the breeder and where the birds were sourced. I tend to prefer birds with thick fluff but a fairly upright stance. A lot of breeders breed birds very like Cochins with a low to the ground stance with a lot of cushion on the tail. Those are the birds I don't like. Birds with thin fluff are not very good though. Another problem I have seen lately is orps with incredibly flat chests, I am not liking those either.

There has been a more recent version of the book published in 2008 if anyone wants to see the standard,I have an electronic copy in I pad

I would very much like to see the standard, mine is older.

 

[Irishhenman]

Here is the standard, I have removed the scale of points because it doesnt come up right but it amyone wants ot I can type it out myself

ORPINGTON
LARGE FOWL
Origin: Great Britain Classification: Heavy: Soft feather Egg colour: Brown
In the Orpington we have an English breed named after the village in Kent where the originator, William Cook, had his farm. He introduced the black variety in 1886, the white in 1889 and the buff in 1894. Within five years of the original black Orpington being introduced exhibition breeders were crossing Langshan and Cochin and exhibiting the offspring as black Orpingtons, the birds fetching high prices, and attracting many for their immense size. But this crossing at once turned a dual-purpose breed into one solely for show purposes, and it has remained so until today. A late introduction, the Jubilee Orpington, is now rarely seen.
General characteristics: male
Carriage: Bold, upright and graceful; that of an active fowl.
Type: Body deep, broad and cobby. Back nicely curved with a somewhat short, concave outline. Saddle wide and slightly rising, with full hackle. Breast broad, deep and well rounded, not flat. Wings small, nicely formed and carried closely to the body, the ends almost hidden by the saddle hackle. Tail rather short, compact, flowing and high, but by no means a squirrel tail.
Head: Small and neat, fairly full over the eyes. Beak strong and nicely curved. Eyes large and bold. Comb single, small, firmly set on head, evenly serrated and free from side sprigs. Face smooth. Wattles of medium length, rather oblong and nicely rounded at the bottom. Ear-lobes small and elongated.
Neck: Of medium length, curved, compact and with full hackle.
Legs and feet: Legs short and strong, the thighs almost hidden by the body feathers, well set apart. Toes, four, straight and well spread.
Plumage: Fairly profuse but close, not soft, loose and fluffy as in the Cochin, or close and hard as in the Game Fowl.
Handling: Firm.
Female
The general characteristics are similar to those of the male. Her cushion should be wide but almost flat, and slightly rising to the tail, sufficient to give the back a graceful appear- ance with an outline approaching concave.
Colour
The blue
Male plumage: Hackles, saddle, wing bow, back and tail dark slate-blue. Remainder slate-blue, each feather to show lacing of darker shade as on back.
Female plumage: Medium slate-blue, laced with darker shade all through, except head and neck, dark slate-blue.
In both sexes: Beak black. Eyes black or very dark brown, black preferred. Comb, face, wattles and ear-lobes bright red. Legs and feet black or blue. Toenails white.
The black
Male and female plumage: Black with a green sheen.
In both sexes: Beak, etc. as in the blue. Soles of feet white.
The buff
Male and female plumage: Clear, even buff throughout to the skin.
In both sexes: Beak white or horn. Eyes red or orange colour. Comb, face, ear-lobes
and wattles bright red. Legs, feet and toenails white. Skin white.
The white
Male and female plumage: Pure snow-white.
In both sexes: Beak, legs, feet and skin white. Eyes, face, ear-lobes and wattles red.
Weights
Male 4.5kg (10lb) min. Female 3.6kg (8lb) min.

Serious defects
Side sprigs on comb. White in ear-lobes. Feather or fluff on shanks or feet. Long legs. Any deformity. Yellow skin or yellow on the shanks or feet of any variety. Any yellow or sappiness in the white. Coarseness in head, legs or feathers of the buff.
Disqualifications
Trimming or faking.
BANTAM
Orpington bantams are miniatures of their large fowl counterparts and the standard for those should be followed.
Weights
Visually 25% of large counterpart. Suggested weights:
Male 2kg(4–1lb) 2
Female 1.6kg(3–1lb) 2

 

[thedragonlady]

Huh?

I haven't noticed my girls with shorter backs producing less?

Jeremy,
Have you ever owned a SOP bred Orp ? My SOP girls lay like crazy, and produce about twice as many eggs a year as my English birds.They are stlll laying now, in molt. I wish they'd just stop.

 

[deek]

Thank you Irishhenman.

 

[thedragonlady]

I just heard from Lynne, AVECA, that her Monty son from me just won CH. English at 10 1/2 months old at his first show. Lynne has done a beautiful job of raising and conditioning him. Here's a photo from The Twin Tiers show in NY. taken today. I couldn't be more pleased. Lynne has 2 pullets from me who will be out shortly.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Are chocolate cuckoo orpingtons common here in the US?