The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[homeschoolin momma]

So I did a thing last night.....

Isn't it adorable? It's in perfect condition. The guy only used it for a few weeks after his bigger one blew away in a windstorm. Then the coyotes finished off his flock due to the run being destroyed as well. So he's just waiting until spring to start over. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but it will be perfect for Taji and Blizzard come spring. Their own little love shack.

I'm beginning to wonder if I made a good decision when I processed my lav rooster. I kept wonky's brother as his comb was better and he has the nice shape. But he was picking on a gorgeous black pullet I hatched this spring so I picked him up. He's screaming like I'm killing him. Then he starts biting me. Like several times. Not quite sure what to do about him.

 

[flgardengirl]

I love your little chicken Love Shack lol. Now I have that B-52's song going through my head lol.

Wonkey's brother sounds like some of my wilder Key West chickens..I bet people can hear them scream 3 blocks off, if you pick them up. Its like bloody murder lol. They literally sound like banshees

 

[flgardengirl]

Hey I was gonna ask you guys if the English Orps often take a long time to feather in. They all have their wing feathers but some have hardly any back feathers. These are my Lavender English Orp chicks. The Lav Black Split one looks almost bald on his/her back lol. Is this common? I had the regular/standard Lavender Orps before that I hatched from eggs. They were not this slow to feather in.

 

[Faraday40]

Hey I was gonna ask you guys if the English Orps often take a long time to feather in. They all have their wing feathers but some have hardly any back feathers. These are my Lavender English Orp chicks. The Lav Black Split one looks almost bald on his/her back lol. Is this common? I had the regular/standard Lavender Orps before that I hatched from eggs. They were not this slow to feather in.

It all depends on the line. My orig lav orp line all feathered in quickly - no matter the gender. For them sexing gender was all about the headgear. The males' combs started between 3-4 weeks.

My friend had males which feathered in slower than the females. His little cockerels had porcupine backs &/or bald spots well past age 5-6 weeks. His males had smaller combs, and surprising to me, his females had little wattles by 4 weeks. I mixed the bloodlines for genetic diversity, so now I often have some false positive males that end up laying eggs.

*BTW- This is why I'm keeping both Mr Nice Guy & Mr Potential around. I really like the Sept "cockerel" but I'm still not 100% sure he's male. 2 years ago I was in need of a lav roo & hatched 8 lav orp chicks. I thought 2 were male but it turned out only 1 was male. The girl had me fooled for 15+ weeks. By 20 weeks her brother had flowing saddle feathers & she still had none. I finally sold her and used a black/lav split for breeding the following spring.

 

[flgardengirl]

Wow they do sound like they were tricky to sex. I had heard from byc'ers in the past, that if they feathered in slow, they were males but when I started researching the 'slow feathering gene' tonight, I saw something about crossing a slow feathering gene hen with a fast feathering gene rooster... yada yada yada..so I guess both sexes can have it?That being said, I'm thinking only one of my lavenders is female ..I do hope I get a surprise like you did and get more girls lol! The Lav Black Split has a big comb already.

Gosh these babies are so fat! They are going to be big.
Im gonna try and post some updated pics tomorrow and you guys can help me guess what they are lol.

 

[Faraday40]

Im gonna try and post some updated pics tomorrow and you guys can help me guess what they are lol.

I can't wait to see them. In many cases the slow feathering = males, but with my orps, it doesn't mean anything.


Speaking of pics....

Here's the Sept "cockerel" If he's not related to Jewel (my female with giant wattles), then I believe he's a HE.

His sister is obviously female

Here's Big Blue. She's from my blue laced orp projects.

Big Blue's BFF / hatch mate (I think she's a blue SLO)

Crystal with her son & daughter

 

[flgardengirl]

The coloring on your Lavenders is beautiful! A couple of mine seem to have the darker lavender and a few the lighter lavender.
I love Big Blue! She IS a BIG girl! She reminds me a lot, color-wise of my favorite Blue Marans hen, Cocoa lol.
You're so lucky to have pretty Laced Orps! So jealous! I tried to hatch Gold Laced off ebay but they were all duds.

I feel like mine are too heavy..Ive never had chicks this fat lol. I was afraid at first, it was the higher protein feed I started them on because I had the 3 guineas with them. The guineas have been moved out into their own big birdy coop because they quickly grew more than twice the size of the Orps. The Orps have been on regular chick starter for a couple weeks but boy, do they like to chow down lol.
DH is building a bigger brooder for them until I finish fixing up their permanent coops and runs (doing an overhaul) The brooder frame is done we just have to finish roof and doors. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow :/

 

[homeschoolin momma]

@flgardengirl pics would help us to see and id.
In the past, mine feathered in pretty quick, but most were from @Faraday40. But the bowling ball English orps that we hatched this summer from a different breeder feathered in painfully slow. My cockerel is just now getting his tail feathers! They are maybe halfway in. The girls have finally filled out though. But one one out of the batch of 7 was sickly and never really grew any feathers. It looked like a naked bird. My dog seems to know which ones are sick sometimes and stalks those. He ended up taking care of that particular bird.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

I feel like mine are too heavy..Ive never had chicks this fat lol.

Pure English orps are supposed to be fat and round like they swallowed a bowling ball. Hence why i called mine "bowling balls" or bb for short.

I'm a horrible picture taker. These are even more round a fluffy now as these pics are a couple of weeks old.

 

[flgardengirl]

Wow that baby looks sunburnt. Thats basically how some of mine look but way more bald on the backs lol.. I just looked at my calender and they are just over 5 weeks. It seems like they are older than that. Time sure does fly or maybe its just cuz they are such little chunks.