Featured Breed/Variety for the month of July 2012

Black Australorps 

I can honestly say that My Australorps are about the best layers that I have. The Black Australorp was developed in Australia, from Black Orpingtons imported from England, hence the name: Austral for Australia and Orp for Orpington. Before the name was widely adopted they were also called Australian Orpingtons and Australian Laying Orpingtons. The first Australorps in the United States were imported in the early 1920s, and they were accepted into the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection in 1929. They are  extremely docile, dignified, calm, and sweet and they don’t mind being confined and tend to be a little shy.Australorps are smaller than English Orpingtons and are more dependable layers. They will lay in excess of 200 brown eggs each year, and some have been known to lay as many as 300. One hen set a record by laying 364 eggs in 365 days! Black Australorps, while smaller than the English Orpingtons from which they were originally derived, are still heavy chickens. They have big, stately bodies. The bottoms of their feet are pink, and they have a comb with five points. My Australorps are from Jeff Thornton. He got his start from APA breeder Mr. Wiley.

Featured Breed/Variety for the month of June 2012

Buff Orpingtons

I have recently been gifted 20 of Jeff Thorntons line of Buff Orpingtons...here is his story regarding these Buffs. 

In the fall of 1984 while on an Elk hunt in northern Idaho, I noticed the rancher kept a large house full of chickens to feed the family and the ranch hands. After a couple of days I went out there with the cook one night to gather eggs, I guess I was missing the 1000 head of gamefowl back in Texas at Diamond T or hungry or just nosey. Never the less when we got there I was amazed to see, I'm guessing in excess of 100 Orpington hens, most of them  buff  or as the cook called them “Yeller”, and about 4 or 5 white colored ones with yellow streaks. Now as I look back I assume those were sports. There were also 8 of the biggest buff roosters I had ever seen. I asked the cook about them and he shared all of his knowledge about them with me “they lay bout a foot tub fulla big o eggs a day”, Yea he was a real scholar. The next day I ask around and found out that the ranchers wife had gotten them from her father in Oregon who because of health issues had been forced to get rid of most of his Orpington show birds and had brought them to her. She said he would bring 10 or 15 marked pullets every year and some roosters and he would pick up a few hens and all the roosters. She said that was what he showed for the year. She said he showed his birds in Oregon and did very well. Now I wish I had written down names and such. Because I was back there in the spring for their round up. I worked for a big cattle company that contracted their calf crop every year, and while I was there the lady gave me 8 dozen eggs. Well about 2 weeks later after hauling them in a truck and turning them by hand, I got back to Diamond T and loaded the Incubator. Out of 96 eggs I hatched 39 chicks, That was the start of our exhibition Buff Orpingtons. Over the years  I have bred the very best to the very best and continuing to cull to the guidelines of the Standard of Perfection, as well as trying to keep egg production up, I have added some top bloodlines. 

hen looking for bugs

hen on perch

4 mos old

4 mos old

4 mos old