Why do you feel Orpingtons are impractical?
It is probably largely just the ones that one can get here, rather then the breed in general; and my set up.
The first two I got were Cuckoos, and looked very well bred and everything. One hardly ever laid eggs, and they were always wonky and thin shelled. I had to put her down at 8 months old for water belly.
The other cuckoo is better, and still going strong at two and a half years old, but has hardly laid since she was a pullet. Just a few eggs each spring, and that's it. Her eggs are very hard to hatch under broody hens, and almost always end up getting broken and making a mess.
(although, one egg I did hatch of hers is my favorite rooster, so its not all bad. he is a mix breed though, which helps)
Then I got two Buffs, and they hardly ever foraged, got left behind from the flock, and did things like finding a hole in the fence, getting out and then not finding their way back in and getting soaking wet in the rain in the middle of the night. None of my other chickens have ever done that.
Their only upside was they were fabulous mothers, although they were the only broody hens that actually attacked me, which I don't like.
One also had very bad wry tail.
And the last thing with all the Orpingtons I have had, is their feathers get rooster a damaged far more then other breeds.
