OVERVIEW
Breed Standard: Males plumage has dark slate hackle,saddle,wingbow,back and tail.The rest of the lower body is light slate with dark lacing. The females plumage is all over medium slate with dark lacing and a dark slate neck.The beak,legs and eyes are all black/dark.
The Blue Orpington is one of the harder Orpingtons to breed to exhibition standard due to the complexity of the blue gene.In 2012 we were lucky enough to attain an exhibition line of these birds from Matt Hanson,who had experienced great success with this colour. Matt had to take a time out from poultry and we purchased his entire largefowl stock. We have since continued to work on this colour and feel that these blues are some of the best in the country at the present time. We have four different breeding groups mainly comprising of blue x blue which gives the most consistent results. [below is a table of the results from crossing blues,blue splash and black]
Buy Blue orpington Chickens that we have for sale
Please note: to purchase cockerels or breeding groups please contact us to discuss availability via our contact form.
Reserve by paying a £5 deposit per bird. Simply add birds to the cart and then checkout. We will then contact you regarding collection / further payment / courier services via email, phone etc..
Blue Orpington Chicken Photos
Please click on the images below to enlarge.
Further information
The Blue Orpington was created much later in 1908 which was four years after William Cook the founder of Orpingtons had died. These were created crossing the original Black Orpington with white and were bred because they had greater egg laying potential due to the white birds used. Breeding the correct shade for the show standard is very difficult with blue because there is a tendency to drift back towards white[lighter] or black[darker] than the colour required. Orpingtons are bred as much for their looks and temperament as for their egg laying capabilities. A healthy Blue Orpington hen should lay 120 – 200 eggs per year and achieve a weight of between 7-10lbs and a cock bird should achieve a weight of between 10-12lbs.
Breeding table for blue,black and splash
blue x blue =50% blue/ 25% splash/25%black
blue x black=50% black/50% blue
blue x splash=50% blue/50% splash
splash x splash= 100% splash
black x splash=100% blue
black xblack=100% black