The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[ColtHandorf]

The shelf liner I added seemed to have no effect on hatch rate. Every egg that was fertile hatched. But, the eggs did have a shiny wear spot around the middle due to turning.

That's good to know. I may try that after this hatch.

I removed the chicks very shortly after the last hatched. This was an active group that enjoyed playing soccer with their unhatched siblings. There were only 9 orps but it was quite a party. I think 22 "normal sized" chicks could work, but truly doubt 22 orps could move in such a small space. When standing, the chicks are so tall that they had to crawl under the center. You can see my height concerns in this pic.

I had the same problem. My first hatch had chicks bouncing eggs all over the place. I actually ended up losing two whites that were unable to hatch after pipping.

The 360 view is nice to see and interact with chicks.... BUT the misc. floating chick fluff quickly sticks to the sides, so hard to take pics after a few have hatched & dried. Also camera flash glare from dome shape. My Coolerbator is still the best for photos.

I agree. The fluff made it very hard to identify pips.

Since the main goal is incubating and hatching chicks, I say this is an excellent incubator. Can't beat 100% hatch rate. It's also pretty easy to clean. The lid has all the electronics and gets wiped. The bottom with the water trays and hatching debris can be thoroughly washed in the sink. (Refill water, turn back on, heat it up, and then add more eggs. LOL) It has auto everything and is easy to use. The only thing I had to do was add water - especially at lockdown.

I was not a fan of cleaning the incubator at all! lol With the plug for the turner on the bottom I had to be very careful to not get that wet when I was rinsing/wiping it out. I agree that there is a lot of water usage with this incubator. I had to stay really on top of the humidity.

I moved the last hatch out into a water trough yesterday in the bird room. They are much happier with room to spread out. I moved the four week old set into the tractor with Amanda's Silkies. For the most part both groups completely ignore one another.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Lavender Silver-Laced Orpington sounds so pretty I've never seen one before. Do you have any pictures? The Silver-Laces alone are gorgeous

 

[Faraday40]

I got a nice SLO hen today. Since Crystal is broody and my blue SLO is molting, I'm only getting eggs from 1 hen. Yep, All that work of separating them for the last month to get about 5-6 eggs/week.

The lady needed to rehome her 4 chickens that I sold her in 2018 & 19. They are just about the most spoiled hens. Since one is a SLO, they're going to live with @homeschoolin momma. However, since 2 of my 3 SLOs are not laying, the laced girl will be having a "layover" at my house.

Awesome thought it was love at first sight. I put her in a play yard and he ran right up to it and started dancing for her. Then he did his tidbit call. When I put him in with her, he danced & tried to mate but she wasn't squatting. He was sad and kept dancing`his little wings off. Then I put the 2 in the tractor to meet the other SLOs. I think it was just about the easiest introduction I've ever seen.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

@Faraday40 where are the pictures? We've come to expect pictures!!

 

[ColtHandorf]

Sounds like a great introduction. The last hen I introduced integrated fairly well in a day or two. She’s a little smaller and a bit more nervous than my girls, but she’s settled in nicely. I’m getting about three or four eggs a day from the five of them. Provided I don’t go out and find something like this of course...

I just knew there was one in the nest box because the hay was piled in the middle and the golf ball moved to one side. I poked and prodded with a little stick and nothing happened. I raised up the hay with the stick and the stupid thing struck at me. So after I wrestled it out of the box with the hoe I threw it across the pen and went to town. I had such a horrible day I actually managed to kill it in two swings and took the head completely off. Of course then I was horrified to find out the head was still very much alive. It tracked me and would open its mouth to strike every time I walked past it until I got it on the burn pile and disposed of it in proper fashion with a lot of fire. Gave me the heebie jeebies.

I don’t know what I ever did to deserve so many snakes. Makes me want to ring the whole property in fire. If they can get through that maybe they deserve the eggs. And it’s always the Silver-laced pen. Never the pen being covered by Sterling. Or the Whites. The turkeys haven’t laid an egg in a nest box yet. They just drop them on the ground. You’d think that would be easier to get an eat. But apparently it’s more fun to nearly give me a heart attack by waiting for me to find them in the wall nestboxes. Blech.

 

[sunnie7]

Is this a Silver Laced Orpington? Or mixed breed?
It came from a friend that breeds the following but didn’t have her flocks all separated yet when she gave me eggs to hatch. It’s 5 weeks old and I was really hoping for a pullet but I’m worried I’m wrong...

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Looks silver laced to me, but as for pullet, I'm not so sure. Pretty red comb for 5 weeks and I see a few wattles starting to show. Time will tell though. By 8 weeks you should know for sure. If you can have roos, slo roos are some of the most gentle, well behaved guys out there. Basically fluffy teddy bears with wings. My slo roo is the apple of my eye and favorite chicken in the flock.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Looks like a Silver-laced Orpington to me. And I'd guess cockerel based on the feather pattern at this age. Usually cockerels feather in slower in my experience and the feathering coming in on the back looks fairly recent. I'd imagine a week ago or so it was pretty bare back there.

I have another broody! lol I guess that's what I get for saying none of mine had gone broody. I was debating giving her another clutch of eggs, but I feel like she needs a place equally as secure as Prudence to avoid snakes getting to the eggs or chicks. There is room in the small prefab coop for her to set alongside Prudence. However, I think giving her a set of eggs that are a week behind Prudence would result in her getting off her eggs when the chicks under Prudence hatches.

I could:
- split the eggs Prudence has between the two of them in the same coop so that they hatch at the same time
- set her in the coop with eggs that require a full 21 days and hope for the best
- set her indoors in a large water trough with food and water on one end and the nest box on the other
- wait another week until I'm able to get some cages from a friend

I'm leaning towards the trough idea at the moment, but I don't have any way of covering it. Do you think a broody would hop the side and go for a walk very often? What would you all do?

All the babies are growing like weeds. I candled the Turkey eggs and they all appear to be in some stage of development, which is quite surprising, considering how bad the tom is at actually mating. I think I may let a friend of mine take all the other eggs I've saved up and hatch them in her large cabinet incubator. I told her she could keep some of the chicks as payment.

 

[paxfarms]

I have a question for you folks. I got my stock last year and a few weeks ago, I hatched out my first clutch. The birds are in a pen by themselves and have been since last fall with absolutely no possible way for the girls to have been fertilized by any other rooster except for the Silver Laced. All the chicks hatched out the proper color except for 2 that hatched out brown. I assumed that my rooster must be split to gold and the brown ones were pullets. The brown ones have begun to feather out now, though, and they are silver laced. Does anyone have any idea what could be going on with my birds genetically? I am completely lost.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

This thread is to post pictures and discuss the beautiful English Orps. Please, no discussion on APA standards, auctions, etc. We just want to see pictures and talk about this beautiful eye candy.

Winston and Clementine are our English Blue Orpingtons that we imported last year. I took some photos today of their oldest chicks, The O's (Olympia and Octavia), Hagrid, Rumples, and Bluebell, and thought I would share.

Bluebell - she is such a pretty little girl

Hagrid

Hagrid and Octavia

Hagrid and Olympia

Rumples

The Three Butts - Hagrid and The O's

The O's, Bluebell, and Hagrid

The O's, Hagrid, and Rumples

The O's

Olympia

Rumples and Bluebell - I love this picture

The O's

Octavia - I think she is absolutely stunning, if I do say so myself.

They are so beautiful!