Description
Created by William Cook and named after the Kent town where he lived, the black Orpington was the first to arrive in 1886. Cook had set out with the simple objective of creating what he considered to be the perfect all-rounder. He wanted a heavy, soft-feathered bird that would offer great utility performance (good eggs and meat), possess a practial level of hardiness and look attractive too. Cook and his children after him stayed active breeding Orpingtons and come up with other colours including; white (1890), buff (1894), jubilee (1897, celebrating Queen Victoria’s Diamond jubilee), spangled (1900), cuckoo (1907), blue and red (1908), although the last three were not created by Cook himself. Also the Chocolate first bred by Dr Clive Carefoot between 1993 & 1994 it was bred as part of the Black Orpington Breeding Project, they are the rarest variation of the Orpington breed of chicken’s. The Orpington lays a good number of light brown eggs. It has a small single comb. Its friendly, docile nature makes either the large fowl or the bantam an excellent choice of breed for the first-time chicken keeper. Perfect though the large fowl Orpington is as a beginner’s bird, the bantam is in a league of its own when it comes to providing the absolute children’s pet. Cuddly and attractive, as well as being very easy to tame.
We have available:- Chocolate, Black, Buff, Chocolate Mottled, Cuckoo, and Lavender Mottled. Please use the Chocolate/white and Lavender/white for the Mottled coloured birds.
Breed Characteristics:
Key: 1 = low, 5 = high
- Class: Large Fowl
- Purpose: Exhibition/Dual
- Laying:
- Easiness:
- Sociability:
