The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40 - Those are great pictures! I love, love the White pullet and her Silver-laced friend. They are gorgeous. I just want to set them in my lap and pet them they look so soft. lol The Gold-laced pullet is pretty, but her lacing is a little off in some places. She'll probably molt out of that in subsequent molts. I'd probably hang on to her just to see how she finishes up.

Blech on the Cream-crested Legbars. I'm just not at all a fan of them. They weren't around 15 years ago when I was breeding and now they just seem like a fad breed and a lot of people are just indiscriminately breeding them. I don't know, I just don't like them. *shrugs*

The two round BFFs are actually very friendly, so anyone could just scoop them up for cuddling. They hang around the outer rim of the flock and are not "insiders" yet. This makes them jump at the chance to follow me around the yard to get some extra attention, loving pets, and sometimes "treats". Their "older sister" Leghorn often joins them, but she can also be on her own adventures elsewhere. I wish the CCL was a little more friendly like the Leghorn.

All 3 of those pullets were supposed to be sold months ago. (The CCL was the only planned keeper since we lost "Dolores" last year.) DS wanted a back up Leghorn since he really loves his "Tillie." She kept us in eggs all winter & her eggs won Best in Show at the county fair. We kept one Leghorn from DS's incubator experiment & sold the rest before they were a week old. The chick turned out to be female, so we're letting "Millie" stay.

The SLO looked male-ish from age 3 weeks to 11 weeks, so it obviously wasn't chosen by anyone. I planned to grow it out and decide later if it would be a breeder or a dinner. Now that I'm pretty sure it's female....... Do I really want to keep another female laced orp?

The white orp was supposed to be for a former customer but schedules never aligned & she's still here. Another..... She's very sweet and loves to be held, but always looks so grumpy.

 

[Faraday40]

@Honora I guess you were right and have 2 males.
I love this pic:

 

[ColtHandorf]

All 3 of those pullets were supposed to be sold months ago.

They can come live at my house! lol They are adorable.

She's very sweet and loves to be held, but always looks so grumpy.

I called that in the first pictures you posted of her. lol She looked like such a little grumpy bird. But I think it is adorable.

I was looking over my chicks yesterday and the two white ones are a pair I think. And I've already got wattles developing on a few of the SLO. The two newest ones are much too young to tell.

Still no eggs yesterday, but it's cloudy and only supposed to hit 96 degrees today with a 70% chance of rain for the first time in about three and a half weeks. So maybe if it cools off for a bit they will start again. That pullet is getting a nice red comb and wattles now, but I figure if it stays warm she may wait until the fall to start.

I've been turning the Lavender's out each morning so they are learning to chase bugs and forage. They are like a pack of little velociraptors. Sometimes they are all under foot being inquisitive and others they are all in a group acting like whatever I'm going to do is going to kill them. lol I need to catch up all the roosters and pick my favorite three and let the others go.

@Faraday40 @PlainOrpingtons2018 - Lavenders should ideally have five points on their comb like the other varieties right? I noticed while looking yesterday that a lot of mine have more than that. When I catch them up to look them over, I'm going to have to look closely at that.

 

[Faraday40]

They can come live at my house! lol They are adorable.

@Faraday40 @PlainOrpingtons2018 - Lavenders should ideally have five points on their comb like the other varieties right? I noticed while looking yesterday that a lot of mine have more than that. When I catch them up to look them over, I'm going to have to look closely at that.

Thanks.

Yes, 5 points, nice & straight, no nasty side sprigs, etc.

I don't think the APA actually accepts lav orps yet (or laced orps, or chocolate orps), so they're still considered a project bird. Never hurts to continue trying to improve your breeding program, though. Two years ago, a 4H kid from Iowa was passing through our area and bought some of our lav orps. He showed them later in the year and won best in breed/division at his county fair. I suppose the judges in 4H wouldn't be so harsh as to disqualify a kid with a beautiful bird. We honestly never showed any of our chickens. (I'm a little too nervous about exposing them to other birds.)

 

[ColtHandorf]

Yeah, I'm not interested in showing at the moment, but there's no harm in breeding them to the Standard. And of course with English Orpingtons you'd be following that Standard versus the APA SOP. According to the Standard I found online:

https://www.countrypure.net/OrpingtonStandards.html

Five or six points is acceptable. I myself prefer five. So I'll have to look them over closely. I know these have hinkjc bloodlines in them as well as another. And on the matter of breeding them to a Standard, I'd just intended on following the Black Orpington Standard, and apply the Lavender coloration instead.

I've found some fantastic looking Orpingtons recently but they'd all need to be shipped in. I haven't had any luck finding any within a relatively short driving distance.

https://www.chickenridgefarm.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/goldentouchchicks/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1615817005192031

https://lotsacluckinfarm.webs.com/blue-black-and-splash-bbs

I imagine that is going to have to wait until next Spring. I think I'm about done with chicks for the moment unless I happen upon something fantastic.

 

[PlainOrpingtons2018]

@ColtHandorf yes all Orpington varieties should follow the Apa standard of 5 points of their comb, although it’s not uncommon for them to have more that that. They shouldn’t have points on the side of their combs or wonky combs either.

Here’s a blue pullet that I’m growing out I really like how she’s looking so far. I gave the birds extra bowls of water that they can lay in so they won’t get their drinking water so dirty. This heat is unbearable!

 

[PlainOrpingtons2018]

Only pic I’ve got atm of the lavs lol! They’re still young and quite sun bleached from sunbathing daily lol

 

[Faraday40]

@ColtHandorf
How are the yellow legs of your laced orps? I was pretty concerned & now it looks like the yellow on mine is fading.

 

[Faraday40]

Only pic I’ve got atm of the lavs lol! They’re still young and quite sun bleached from sunbathing daily lol
View attachment 1887008

Looks like a nice group. I can't imagine trying to keep them cool in such heat. Mine start panting in the mid 80's. Right now we're good at upper 70s. It's cooler at night but my chicks have a broody (& each other) to stay warm.

 

[PlainOrpingtons2018]

Looks like a nice group. I can't imagine trying to keep them cool in such heat. Mine start panting in the mid 80's. Right now we're good at upper 70s. It's cooler at night but my chicks have a broody (& each other) to stay warm.

It’s difficult to keep them cool triple digit temps are NOT fun! I’ve lost quite a few babies sadly, as well as a splash cuckoo showgirl cock that I prized. He was one of the first chicks I ever hatched in an incubator other than his brother which is a black showgirl with leakage