The Black Orpington was created and introduced in 1886 by William Cook. This new hybrid bird was then named after William\'s residence in Kent. To create the black he crossed it with Minorcas, Plymouth Rock and Langshans. The White Orpington followed 3 years later and was a cross between a White Leghorn and a Black Hamburg and a White Dorking. This was not such a popular colour at the time. The Buff Orpington was introduced later as people wanted a buff coloured bird. The Queen Mother was apparently a keeper of this bird.
Orpingtons are birds which like to be free range. They have a very strong tendency to go broody and therefore make great mothers. Their eggs are small and pinkish. They are greedy birds and need exercise to keep fit. Their wingspan is short therefore they can be kept in areas with low fences.
The standard colours for an Orpington are black (single or rose comb), blue (laced) buff and white. They are a heavy but loosely feathered bird which makes it look large. The blues and blacks are the largest colours. The buffs and whites are slightly smaller. The dark colours have dark eyes and legs while the paler colours have red eyes and white legs.
Please Note: All Chickens listed here are for collection only. They cannot be delivered by the Seller or by Omlet. Once you have purchased the Chickens you will be emailed the Seller's contact address details.
Lovely birds do tend to get a bit messy underneath with so many feathers. Very friendly with all the other birds as well. Have found that one of the hens lays round eggs which appear to have a water in the shell with the egg, not sure if anyone else has experienced this. A bit off putting when poaching as a cloud of white appears along side of solid white.
I have two large fowl gold laced hens and some bantams. I also have my original bantam cockerel and his son. Really good looking cockerels as for that matter the hens ain't bad. The bantams can fly though. I have 3 recently hatched, hopefully not cockerels but hard to tell early on. Have posted pic of the cockerel.
Bought my sexed youngsters from Beacon Stud in Kent and because I bought them as youths-they have been great to tame up and are now as friendly as a pet dog-lovely, healthy, HUGE & puffy birds and just started laying at 24 weeks now and I am told by a friend that they lay through winter! I spent a long time with these helpful people and was so happy with the care and attention they gave us, their breeding birds are truly stunning-all good advice 1st hand and loads of tips-strongly recommended.
After keeping larger breeds I bought some Orpington Bnatam hatching eggs and am now totally hooked. They are super sweet natured, pretty, total characters and excellent good sized egg layers. Yes they do go broody, but are easy to get out of it unlike some of the more determined bantam breeds. They make excellent mothers too. They come in a good range of colours and are very decorative garden birds and excellent pets especially if you are new to poultry keeping.
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E-mail: andrew.srichardson@virgin.net
Website: www.theorpingtonclub.co.uk
Tel: 01995 601772
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