- Purpose:Eggs, Meat, Pet
- Eggs:Light Brown, Dark Brown
- Egg Size:Large, Extra-Large
- Color:Blue, White, Black, Buff
- Comb Type:Single or Rose
Glinting like a ray of golden sunshine, the image of a Buff Orpington chicken striding across the yard is a vision in soft, fluffy, curves and shimmering feathers. If you’ve ever had the delight of sharing space with one of these friendly, gentle, and generous birds, you’ll quickly understand how this chicken has firmly earned its place in the coops of farms across the world.
Do you want meat for your family? Enough eggs for your baking? A friendly creature to share time with? A beautiful-looking bird to grace your farm? The Orpington can be the answer to any new chicken keeper’s query of what breed to get.
当涉及到家禽行业时,这些双重用途的美女真的是万事通,几乎提供了你可能需要从鸡身上得到的任何东西。
The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens
Thinking about getting your next flock of chickens?
Quit searching around the internet and take a look at our complete course to Raising Chickens.
Our instructor Wren gives you 22 key lessons over nearly 3 hours of videos coveringeverything you need to know to get started with your first flock, caring for chickens, keeping them healthy, diagnosing problems, and more.
Characteristics
With a single or rose comb – both are found in the breed – and thick, fluffy feathering, Orpingtons take cold winters in stride. They are decent at foraging, but they don’t roam very far in search of food.
In addition, their heavy body keeps them from taking to the air, so you can be sure that your birds will be well-grounded! If you decide to keep them contained, they will existquite happily in confinement.
One of the stand-out qualities of the Orpington is its friendliness. They arequite people-oriented, often excitedly running up to their keepers. As far as children are concerned, they are curious and gentle, and a highly-recommended breed for both 4-H projects and families in general. This is the bird that will make your small homesteading children love, rather than fear, chickens!
Hens are willing to brood and are known as good mothers. They will oftenbrood the eggs of other chickens –and even other species of poultry – and raise the young with careful attention. Roosters are sometimes gentle enough to keep asflock protectorwithout fear of them turning on the hands that feed them.
Of course, every rooster is an individual, so be sure to know the temperament of a cock before you turn your back to him, regardless of breed!
A Bird Without Reproof!
If you research chicken keepers’ experiences with their birds online, you will encounter dozens of individuals who say that the Orpington is their favorite breed they’ve ever had. Some keepers even claim that it is near impossible to find something to dislike about the Orpington — unless theirlarge sizetakes up too much space in your coop.
But if space is a problem, perhaps you should just opt for the bantam variety of the bird! As a keeper of two wonderful Buff Orpington hens, I must admit that I find nothing worth complaining about. They’re just that good!
What’s the Yield?
In keeping with its dual-purpose intentions, the Orpington is a generously-fleshed and dependable egg-layer. Hens usually lay at least 200 large or extra-large eggs a year, though some have been reported to lay an egg almostevery day. Eggs range from light brown to dark brown.
Females are weighty at 8 pounds, and roosters can reach 10 pounds at maturity. You’ll have to do some research into different breeding lines to find them, but some strains of Orpington are able to grow atquite a quick rate, resulting in the most meat for your dollar.
Though there are showier birds that you could choose as a pet chicken, there’s no denying the charm of agentle Orpington Hen.它们倾向于悄悄靠近它的主人,愿意被抱起,满足于坐在主人的腿上,它们愿意忍受人们——以及他们的孩子——比其他品种的狗狗要多得多!
Orpingtons Steal the Hearts of England
The original Orpington was created by an English chicken breeder, William Cook. A resident of the city of Orpington – hence the name – he crossedMinorca,Langshan, andPlymouth Rockbirds to make an ideal dual-purpose bird.
在此之前的几十年里,“鸡热”席卷了整个西方——造就了美丽而又有争议的实用的鸟类,他的双重用途创造的实用性让它一夜之间获得了成功。Thefirst Orpingtons他们被培养成黑人——这样,当他们生活在维多利亚和爱德华时代被烟尘笼罩的英国城市时,他们看起来仍然很干净!
Photos of Orpington Chickens
Resources:
- Orpington, My Pet Chicken
- Chicken Breeds ~ The Buff Orpington, Community Chickens
- Buff Orpington All You Need To Know: Temperament And Egg Laying, The Happy Chicken Coop
- Orpington Chicken, The Livestock Conservancy
- All About Orpington Chickens, Countryside Daily
- PROS & CONS of Keeping Buff Orpington Chickens!, Types Of Chicken
- Poultry Breeds – Orpington Chickens, Oklahoma State University
- Chicken Breeds: Orpington or Buff Orpington, The Spruce
- 10 Breeds Of Chicken That Will Lay Tons Of Eggs For You, Idea Hacks
- Raising Buff Orpington Roosters, Roy’s Farm
- Orpington, Backyard Chicken Coops
- Buff Orpington: Our Favorite Backyard Chicken Breed, The Tangled Nest
- 5 Reasons To Love Orpington Chickens, Backyard Chicken Coops