The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[thedragonlady]

Vicki
I have never really liked the buff orpington, cant really explain it..for the first time i can say i am impressed ..i see them all of the time, an occasional nice one..these are really lovley birds..i cant wait to see in a few years how you are doing with them.are you planning to show any this year? ...what a treat to see those in person !!!!..thou they are something im never going to buy..i know you had a vision as to how you wanted them to look.i think to show , would the tail tenting need to be a bit more ironed? nice type..meaty bird as intended.

i thought you said you are waiting for main tail to come in..hope you post more pics for us because when i think buff orpington i think big - round. meaty bird.
very exciting..not sure why i had not seen marc's birds befor.

not really sure why i never really liked buffs befor..some of them too much emphasis on parts that you dont eat maybe..some are kind of scrawny , scraggly looking, thou big might feed a family of 1....not great coloring on some. toes bent all they way backward, wings like a seabright.. dont really know..they were meant to be great table fowl..nothing ever jumped out at me about them befor..couldnt find much to get excited about ..like meat..i would catch myself saying, yea that parts nice but wheres the beef?....i really like these..

i wish there were more egg shows, or division 2 show egg samples with the hen.like around a lot of europe...rather than worrying about a toenail..what kind of meat quality do they have...does that perfect toenail color bird lay high quality egg? that part is a little lost on americai think..we tend to dwell on a part that would never even make it into a stew.I have an australorp hen, little miss BBB and BV , but she has spotty eggs..

Thanks so much, Lynnie! All the credit goes to Marc . When I opened the shipping box with fingers crossed, I was very happy to see the type even at 6 weeks. Having raised SLW LF and bantams, plus Col. W. bantams/ I have always been a stickler for good main tail feathers. So many are "bunny tailed" due to soft main tail feathers, or pinched looking in the tail due to narrow hips or the tail coverts being too short to cover at least 1/3 of the main tail. Can't stand a horse with a plow horse or weak rear end either. Wings are another problem in Orps. Too many loose wings that mean slack pectoral muscles ( no breast meat). Love the "Dolly Parton" look on an Orp. If the structure for meat and laying ability are there, I'm happy with a few loose "curls" ( fluff) as long as the birds can function in the mud and grass without getting their fluff tangled or mucked up, and make a mess. Nothing I enjoy more than my gang of Buff Orps out in the orchard busily foraging. Green grass really shows off the gold.

I won't show these at least until I have some Eng. Os hatched as well as some crosses. Give me a year or so.

 

[jmanderson777]

here are my younges BBS orps. thoughts on sex. they were hatched appx 5/3/12 im thinking pullet...cockrell...cockrell based on combs. the last one i'm not sure if its a blue or a dark lavender. I bought some lavenders from the same breeder and its not as light as those but not as dark as the first two.

 

[jeremy]

here are my younges BBS orps. thoughts on sex. they were hatched appx 5/3/12 im thinking pullet...cockrell...cockrell based on combs. the last one i'm not sure if its a blue or a dark lavender. I bought some lavenders from the same breeder and its not as light as those but not as dark as the first two.

I'd say pullet, cockerel, cockerel.

The last one is Blue, it looks like it has faint lacing, something that Lavs do not have.

 

[aveca]

I think your right Jeremy.

 

[naturespace]

I love that last photo. His head looks huge. So cute at this age.

I had the hardest time sexing my 4 chicks, it ends up they are all girls!!! I think you have girl, boy, boy.

 

[aveca]

Thanks so much, Lynnie! All the credit goes to Marc . When I opened the shipping box with fingers crossed, I was very happy to see the type even at 6 weeks. Having raised SLW LF and bantams, plus Col. W. bantams/ I have always been a stickler for good main tail feathers. So many are "bunny tailed" due to soft main tail feathers, or pinched looking in the tail due to narrow hips or the tail coverts being too short to cover at least 1/3 of the main tail. Can't stand a horse with a plow horse or weak rear end either. Wings are another problem in Orps. Too many loose wings that mean slack pectoral muscles ( no breast meat). Love the "Dolly Parton" look on an Orp. If the structure for meat and laying ability are there, I'm happy with a few loose "curls" ( fluff) as long as the birds can function in the mud and grass without getting their fluff tangled or mucked up, and make a mess. Nothing I enjoy more than my gang of Buff Orps out in the orchard busily foraging. Green grass really shows off the gold.

I won't show these at least until I have some Eng. Os hatched as well as some crosses. Give me a year or so.

Stunning birds..we went down to union town, saw a nice buff down there, she wasnt english but nice balance and one look told you what she was..she was owned by 2 people...there was a black also , hen, nice tail, nice head great color feather and the most cut away chest i have ever seen..keep me posted. love to follow how they do..

 

[jeremy]

A few shots of my youngest with their adopted momma.







They weren't the easiest chicks to get pictures of, they're scared of anything that moves right now. LOL.

 

[naturespace]

Jeremy, is that black in your second picture? Why is the fluff so light?

Mom looks like a nice girl.

 

[jeremy]

naturespace, that's Liam, the same chick pictured in my avatar. He's actually a Blue. The lighting is a bit off in the photo but he is feathering in darker than what I expected too. I'm hoping that it's just his hackles/back/saddle that are going to be a deep blue. I want his underside to be a nice pale shade, his down was very light so we'll see...

 

[Phantom_Rooster]

Do you know if this is a boy or a girl?

I give him 2 or 3 weeks to start crowing. I have several like him. The pullets that I have from both Marc's bloodline and Greenfire's have very small combs and waddles. But, that's mine.