The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Faraday40]

Updates on "My Last Hatch" of the year.....

The last few eggs remain in the incubator - one is zipping now. The others may not hatch, but it doesn't hurt to keep the incubator plugged in for another day or 2.

I started moving some chicks in with their mamas today. (2 whites & a black went in last night and were already bonded by this morning. I didn't get their pics)

Here are 3 seramas (1 white, 1 golden chipmunk, & 1 light chipmunk)

5 silver laced (the 2 white recessive were also from my SLO group)

3 black/lav split orps (one blk was already with mama)

One blue orp

and
3 lav orps

 

[PlainOrpingtons2018]

@PlainOrpingtons2018 - I know it's been hot where you are. Are your girls laying at all? Mine are molting quite a bit. I got one egg in the whole month of August I think. lol I'm expecting the Silver-laced and the Black pullet should start laying anytime based on age, but with it being warm, they may wait until the fall to start.

Yup! It’s hot here lol, the girls are still laying surprisingly! Mainly my silver laced, which I’m glad about. I had given the hens a break, but I lost a few due to the heat so I’m hatching what I can.

Nice orps. I know how you feel about stolen pics. I have so many floating out there and my kids are always pointing them out in the Google image search or Pinterest.

BUT... I actually had someone on Craigslist use one of my orp pics to sell their chicks. (The seller was in another state. I only knew it because a family member sent me an email asking why I was selling my favorite rooster. ) It's always been a pet peeve of mine when sellers don't use their own pics.... especially if they're selling an animal. Unless its something new in a box requiring assembly, there's no need to borrow photos. (Ok my venting is done now.)

That’s crazy!! I’ve seen many of my friends photos being stolen, I’m doing my best to try and prevent that!

 

[ColtHandorf]

They are adorable @Faraday40! I hatched out two little puffballs over the weekend. One "gold" and one silver.

I didn't realize Seramas had feathered legs. I see little fuzzies on the white baby.

@PlainOrpingtons2018 I got one egg Tuesday that I found in the yard near the chain link fence. The birds hang out there in the shade of the house during the heat of the day. I'm surprised one of the dogs didn't find it first.

Both the Black pullet (Dahlia) and the Silver-laced pullet (Victoria) look like they are ready to lay any day. Dahlia is really red in the face, while Victoria (I'm still not sure I like that name for her... I wanted it because the Jubilee Orpingtons were created to Commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. I can't call her Diamond, she'll sound like a stripper. lol And I'm not sure about Jubilee either...) is a pink-red. Neither one of them are letting the roosters breed them yet.

And speaking of roosters, it has been great with the other Silver-laced rooster gone. I didn't realize how much he stressed everyone out. Sterling and Hollywood get along fabulously for the most part. Hollywood doesn't challenge him because he's so much taller and has always been higher than him in the pecking order. Suede and Dahlia don't bolt constantly to get away from them, although they do still range a good distance from the other birds when they are turned out on the yard. Suede finally faced off with a couple of the Lavender cockerels and though they don't like him, they do respect him. I'll be glad when they are all able to be in their respective pens though. This fall is going to be a headache with all the colors in together.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

I agree on your guesses. And thank you for the words of encouragement.

Here are a few pics from this evening.

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Those hens are SO fluffy!!! I've forgotten what an Orpington looks like with actual feathers on its back!

 

[Faraday40]

I ended up getting one more chick. My last hatch is now done and the incubator got unplugged. Time for me to clean it and put it in the attic. (so I will not be tempted to do another "last hatch")

Final results:
5 silver laced orpingtons
3 black/lav split orpingtons
3 lavender orpingtons
2 blue orpingtons
2 recessive white orpingtons
and
3 seramas


The chicks were divided into 3 groups and adopted by 3 broody hens.
Smudge - my jumbo black orp - got all the black, lav, and blue orps = 8 chicks

Crystal - my very round SLO - got the laced orps and the 3 seramas = 8 chicks
Crystal is a 1st timer, so I hope she does OK with 8. So far so good.

PR- got the 2 white orps. I was going to give her the seramas because she's the smallest broody, but her current cage has 1" mesh. I fear those serama chicks could accidentally slip out.

 

[ColtHandorf]

@Faraday40 I snapped a few horrible pictures of the whites yesterday. Are you still thinking they are a pair? One was much slower developing feathers than the definite pullet and showed comb and wattle development sooner but that’s come screeching to a halt and the male SLO siblings are still feathering in with combs and wattles larger than the white’s now. If they are a pair the roommate has named them Odette and Derek from The Swan Princess because she’s white like a swan. Lol

 

[homeschoolin momma]

@Faraday40 I snapped a few horrible pictures of the whites yesterday. Are you still thinking they are a pair? One was much slower developing feathers than the definite pullet and showed comb and wattle development sooner but that’s come screeching to a halt and the male SLO siblings are still feathering in with combs and wattles larger than the white’s now. If they are a pair the roommate has named them Odette and Derek from The Swan Princess because she’s white like a swan. Lol

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I think they are both pullets. I think there is something genetically there that makes double recessives girls. So far, i haven't heard of a single guy yet from mine or Faradays. My double white girl this year popped comb and wattles early, but they stopped growing right after they popped. She's clearly a girl. The double whites feel softer than the others too. Do your whites feathers feel soft?

 

[Faraday40]

The one in front is a definite pullet. The back one looks a little boyish in this pic. It's harder to tell with the imported English Orp bloodlines because their combs are much smaller. I see some wattles and the color is a little darker. ( @homeschoolin momma , Speaking of combs, I'll have to post a pic of the cockerel BB's comb. The points angle to the right & left like someone messed up his hair. Hope he grows out of it. They are sleeping in the coop now, but I've been putting them in a tractor during the day. The girl takes food from my hand now and no longer goes crazy when I pick her up. The boy still thinks I'm scary.)

With with chicks from my laced pairing, the whites can be either sex. I know I had one male white chick, 2 females, and 2 that just hatched a week ago. We'll see how they turn out.

Jewel's recessive white chicks have all been female. In her case it may have to do with the chocolate gene. By breeding her, I eventually discovered that she's a mauve - not a blue like I thought for well over a year. She pretty much looks blue, but now that I know, I can see a bit of smokey gray-brown in her color. All of the white chicks from Jewel or relatives of her line have been female. I got rid of the rooster we used last summer, so she hasn't given us any white chicks this year.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I think they are both pullets. I think there is something genetically there that makes double recessives girls. So far, i haven't heard of a single guy yet from mine or Faradays. My double white girl this year popped comb and wattles early, but they stopped growing right after they popped. She's clearly a girl. The double whites feel softer than the others too. Do your whites feathers feel soft?

They are super soft. Odette is like a cotton ball or a cloud. Derek (perhaps misnamed now) is also super soft. He (?) had way thicker legs than the definite pullet too. But now he looks very pullet-ish. But some of the SLO I swore would be cockerels look to be pullets too. I really like the type on them even though they are in that hideous stage where they look all awkward. But they are low slung and have a nice round shape. Of course that could be because all they do is eat!

But yeah, I'm having some issues sexing these little ones.

 

[Faraday40]

But yeah, I'm having some issues sexing these little ones.

Me too. Remember this boy?
(Slow feathering, larger body, thick legs, & always standing tall....... but smallish comb)

Here she is today.
- and still BFFs with the grumpy-looking white. Since they're always together, I nicknamed them "Peek" & "Boo" (= the white one.... like a ghost)

Here are a few more orp pullets running around the yard. The Blue SLO, Blue orp, and a SLO (that I was hoping would be another unrelated blue SLO.....looks like black lacing, though.) are Trouble's chicks.

Sadly the blue SLO has a big blank white area on the chest.

Trouble (mama Sebright) is finally letting her babies go. They've been bigger than her for about a month now.