The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[flgardengirl]

Its rainy today and the big babies have been getting wet and muddy. I took out the camera and it was kinda useless. My Isabel Cuckoo Male is getting some color on his head, hackles & saddles. His beak...is that the color it should be or will it change? He's a big ole sweetie.

The Lovebirds lol. They still hangout like they are the only two in the room. Why is there a yellow glare in these 2 bottom pics? ugg I hate my phone camera. I guess it highlights their buff though lol.

 

[flgardengirl]

Better representation of coloring

This is my Black split to Lav male. He is freaking huge. Hes next to a 5 gal bucket. I like him better than my Lav males lol. I can see why the breeder I bought eggs from was adding his blacks in to improve the Lavenders. Hes just turned 4 mos.
Its hysterical when he runs. Ever see a Bowling ball running bowlegged? lol I about die laughing.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Do you think Suede could have cocci? Once we got flooded here and even a few older birds got it.
Did he get beat up? His comb looks bad or is it just purple from respiratory issues?

No, I don’t think he has coccidiosis. I do think he’s having a MG flare up though. I’m pretty sure that’s what they all had over the summer and I think the stress of the event weakened his immune system enough for it to rear its ugly head. We’ve gone from a gentle cough to something a bit more frequent and productive. I hate not being able to find Denegard locally, I’m not sure a bottle would come in time before he gets worse.

At least he’s inside and in a constant temperature. No stress in here or anything to make it worse. He was flapping around earlier making a mess of things, but that set him coughing which is why I’m think MG...

And yes, his comb is bloody because Golly, my American Buff gander mauled him really well one morning. I never saw any of the younger boys go after him really but he’d run from them to the point where he wouldn’t leave the hen house. That incident is what prompted me to work on and move them into the barn much earlier than expected. The full story is several posts back.

Also, @Faraday40 I got two eggs again today. Agatha laid in the hay on the dropping board and another SLO laid off the perch again. This shell was darker so it doesn’t appear to be the same layer as yesterday. I’m not sure why in the world they’d start doing that, they never have before.

 

[Faraday40]

View attachment 2030687

Good-looking roosters..... but OMG is your black handsome! Now you know why we called our lav pullets & cockerels "bowling balls." (BBs for short) Of course as adults, they're more like giant basketballs with heads & feet!

 

[flgardengirl]

Colt, so sorry about your boy. I hope he gets better soon!

Faraday, Thank you. The black roo is so sweet and gentle and lets the others boss him around even though they are smaller than him. I wish he would stick up for himself more lol.
I'm probably gonna put him w my Lav hen first. I wish I had more Lavender girls for him. I will have to add some other ladies w a diff egg color to the group until then.
How long until the English Orpington males are fully grown?

 

[flgardengirl]

This is the only Lavender female that I hatched. She is missing some tail feathers. She is 4mos and a little interested in the nestbox. She isnt squatting or anything yet though. Still a bit early.

 

[ColtHandorf]

How long until the English Orpington males are fully grown?

I'm pretty sure 18 months is a pretty common age to assume a male English Orpington has reached "full-maturity".

 

[ColtHandorf]

Colt, so sorry about your boy. I hope he gets better soon!

Also, thank you. I hope he does too.

 

[Faraday40]

@ColtHandorf
How's Suede today?

I found this old pic of Mr Dummy. Still makes me laugh!

 

[ColtHandorf]

Well he started crowing at 2 AM yesterday morning...lol He's still not walking well but appears to be feeling better in regards to being aware and bright-eyed. I gave him another bath Saturday night and he enjoyed "standing" (floating) in the full bath tub. He also got a nice but trim because I was tired of cleaning him where he'd sat in his poop. I've started giving him oxytetracycline as an antibiotic. 0.5 ml per day. I'm hoping that knocks the upper respiratory out.

For now I've put Caspian in the middle pen with Suede's ladies. I might as well get a head start on Blue Silver-laced I suppose. Agatha and Prudence (Blue and Chocolate pullets) are now laying. Not anywhere they are supposed to, but they are laying. I have't found a Silver-laced egg smashed on the floor in a couple of days, so I'm hoping which ever one of them thought that was a good idea has learned to use the nest box. I haven't found anymore laid in puddles either. The Whites still aren't laying but Odette is a bit young, and quite frankly I think Derek needs some more manners. The girls hide from him on the perch a lot. He is frustrated I think because he hasn't successfully bred anyone yet. Just does that horrible "head grab" and breeds the ground. lol