The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

flgardengirl · Jan 21, 2020

Thats terrible about the baby quail. Yeah, we lost our dog of 13 yrs (a lab) a little over a yr ago and we haven't replaced her. Even though dh took her hunting etc., she still thought of our chickens as 'hers' and even let baby chicks climb on her and let the big ones eat her food. The predators have increased a lot since she's been gone. We need to get serious about getting a new pup and putting in the training to get him/her set up protecting the flock again.

There's a few people selling Livestock Guardians about 80 mi from us. I know they like to wander though and I'm not fencing in 4 acres when I want to move soon lol.
Maybe even if I got a smaller dog for now, his scent might make these crazy raccoon think twice about breaking into coops and runs.

ColtHandorf · Jan 23, 2020

Well i'm getting over a second run in with the flu since Christmas. The weather has been awful lately. I'm so glad I was able to get wood chips down, but I really wish I could have gotten the rest of it down in between being sick and all the wet. The chickens are barely above standing water. Half the back yard is under water which means my floors are covered in mud from the dogs. I think I have four hens laying now, Dahlia, Agatha, Mel or Sue, and Victoria. I'd know better if I could get everyone sorted and separated. I'm really loving the larger of the two SLO cockerels. The smaller one needs to probably find a home with a friend but I'll let him finish filling out and coloring out before I make the decision. Derek is turning into quite the handsome fellow.

I keep debating on the best way to sort everyone for breeding. Obviously I want the Silver-laced together, the whites together, and the BBS. But then I have the single Chocolate and the single Lavender pullets. I don't have a black male to breed to them currently, so I may just leave them in with the SL for now.

Eventually I want to have:

1. Silver-laced Orpington breeding group; occasionally crossing Hollywood onto Blue females to work on the Silver-laced Blue Orpingtons, and Lavenders for Silver-laced Lavender. Have considered allowing Hollywood to breed Dahlia to bring her larger size to the SLO line. Is that a terrible idea?

2. Blue, Black, Splash Orpington breeding group; occasionally crossing Suede onto Silver-laced hens to work on Sliver-laced Blue Orpingtons.

3. Recessive White Orpington breeding group; to get splits I may cross them to some Black Orpingtons to increase genetic diversity. Is that sound?

4. Black Cockerel over Lavender and Chocolate pullets to create splits. Once the splits can be sexed, breed a split son to each of their respective mothers to create some full-colored siblings. Eventually they will need to be penned separately with one pen devoted to chocolates, and one pen devoted to Lavenders. Probably with a Lavender cockerel over split and lavender hens.

Do those sound like decent plans?

Also in a Benadryl induced misunderstanding the dogs were left out one night over the weekend. I woke up to maybe twelve feathers in the floor and the three month old pullet in the house had vanished. There was no blood, nothing like the amount of feathers present when the two outside were killed, and no bits of chicken. I have destroyed the house looking for her with no luck. She's been missing since Saturday morning. I'd hoped she'd wedged herself under or behind some furniture but after moving everything I can't find her. I can't imagine the dogs ate her entirely. But I also kind of hope they did at this point and she's not stuck or starving to death somewhere and I'll find her when she starts to smell in a week or two...

Faraday40 · Jan 26, 2020

ColtHandorf said:
the three month old pullet in the house had vanished.

Did you find her (..... or her remains)?

Faraday40 · Jan 26, 2020

I tried to take some more pics, but it was getting dark & for some reason, the orps didn't want to stay outside for pictures. LOL

Here are my September babies:
This is Smudge's black/lav split. "Schmutz" looks amazing for a 4 mo old and has her mama's BIG body & glossy feathers.

..... and there she goes!

This is Smudge's Lav pullet named "Deary" She has her mama's face.

"Darling," my other lav who came from @homeschoolin momma , was not in the mood for pics at all. First she insisted on pecking at the ground & then ran away. Trust me; she's gorgeous. I just couldn't get any proof tonight. LOL She's also older and more filled out. She recently started laying..... but then when Mr Nice Guy left, she decided to stop.

This is Smudge's son, "Mr Potential." He's OK but doesn't have the nice comb like Mr Nice Guy. He does have more genetic diversity, so that's why he was chosen. He'll have to make do until a better rooster comes along. I'm hoping he'll give me a nice looking son with Darling.

And here's Mr Wonderful's son. Don't let the grumpy face fool you. He's a big sweetheart.

Here are pics to show the size difference between the 2 boys. (Both hatched in Sept on the same day)

Faraday40 · Jan 26, 2020

Here's my blue silver laced orp. Blizzard went to a friend, so "Stormy" will take her place in my blue SLO project. Stormy has better lacing but is also somewhat awkward-looking. (Blizzard always had a regal look.)

And here's Big Blue.... just because she's pretty.

ColtHandorf · Jan 27, 2020

Faraday40 said:
Did you find her (..... or her remains)?

I did not. I've even closely inspected potty time to see if there were any bones when the dogs went to the bathroom with no luck.

I was out of the house all weekend so I wasn't able to get any good pictures. And it was so foggy I couldn't see across the yard today. Maybe it will be clearer when I get home and I can grab some before bedtime.

How long do you all generally wait on hatching pullet eggs? I'm being very impatient and want to start hatching to see what I get. lol

Faraday40 · Jan 27, 2020

ColtHandorf said:
I did not. I've even closely inspected potty time to see if there were any bones when the dogs went to the bathroom with no luck.

I was out of the house all weekend so I wasn't able to get any good pictures. And it was so foggy I couldn't see across the yard today. Maybe it will be clearer when I get home and I can grab some before bedtime.

How long do you all generally wait on hatching pullet eggs? I'm being very impatient and want to start hatching to see what I get. lol

You technically CAN incubate any egg. Just know that those 1st eggs will likely give smaller, possibly weaker, chicks. If you can wait 6-8 weeks, you'll see a noticeable size difference in eggs.

I of course don't always follow my own advice. When I was "chicken sitting" for @homeschoolin momma her little silkie x serama mix hen laid her 1st eggs. I happened to be gearing up for hatching season in the schools, so a few of those eggs found their way into the incubator.

One hatched

all grown up:

Micro was a cutie, but he stayed very small. He also nearly died and probably would have if I left him in the brooder. Because he was a runt, I had to take him out several times a day and give him some personal time with a dish of vitamin soaked feed. For the 1st 2 weeks of life, if I did not feed him, he wouldn't eat. In the case of a serama, being small isn't a bad thing.

Faraday40 · Feb 2, 2020

I took the camera outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. (crazy temps in low 50s today)

Here's one of my Sept babies, named "Treasure." I just find her pleasant in every way.