- Cuckoo Stud
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Orpingtons '101'
- Orpington Club Membership
- Orpington Type and Main Colours
- Non APS colours - new and pre-existing but not approved Orpington colours
- Blue Cuckoo Colour Standard
- Lavender & Lav Cuckoo Colour Standard
- Buff Cuckoo Colour Standard
- Red Barred (Cuckoo) Colour Standard
- Chocolate Orpington colour Standard
- BREEDING SPLASH to carry the silver gene >
- Buff Orpington improving Type
- White Orpington improving Type
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About us
- the Stud colours/breeds
- NEWS and UPDATES
- Breeding Cuckoo Orpingtons >
- Cuckoo and Black original lines
- Blue Cuckoo Orpington development
- Buff Cuckoo Orpington development
- Crele, Partridge and Gold Barred Buff Orpington development
- New Colours, acceptance of the colours
- Lavender and Lavender Cuckoo Orpingtons in the backyard
- the Chocolate Orpington >
- Cuckoo Double Bar and Single Bar factor
- the Blue Gene - theory of Mendel's Law
- Blue Cuckoo and Mendel's Law
- Developing multiple related lines
- Orpingtons - larrikin mateship = our first birds
- Our Cuckoo Silkies
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Gallery
- Show results
- Lavender & Lavender Cuckoo Orpington, bantam and large >
- Crele, Partridge Orpington
- Blue Cuckoo Orpington AORC, large >
- Buff Cuckoo Orpington, large >
- Cuckoo Orpington, bantam
- Black Orpington large
- Splash Orpington, large >
- Choc, Choc Cuckoo & Mauve Orpington large
- Choc Crele, Choc Partridge and Choc Birchen large size
- Black Orpington, bantam
- Gold Barred Buff Orpington
- Phoenix
- Silkie
- For Sale
- Contact us
- Acquiring and caring for your Orpingtons
- Feeding - what we feed our birds
- Heat waves, hot days, Summer and Liquefaction
- Artificial UV lighting
- Chook Saddles
- Fertility and my secret recipe
- Posted chickens - how to make them
- Embryonic developmental stages of a chick
- Mareks Disease
- Hatching larger std size birds
- Size = breeding down
- Brooder - recycled and effective
- Growth patterns and assessing birds
- Microchipping your birds
- Secure housing
- Lime - Hydrated and Garden (AG) Lime and their uses in the chook pen
- MOUSE/RAT TRAP chook friendly
- Appraisal pictures of your birds
- Showing - training your birds
- Coccidia Oocyst cycle and treating Coccidiosis with Baycox
- Lymphoid Leukosis – Avian (The Wasting Disease)
- Coryza Avibacterium Paragallinarum
- Crop problems in poultry
- Mosquito control
- Maremma - training a pup
- Fox Traps
- Snake Bite
An outline regards acquiring and then caring for the breed
by the Cuckoo Stud
all the following is the authors opinion only
First and foremost – DO NOT BUY ON IMPULSE as you will probably get burnt (usually big time!!!!) only buy at Auction
IF you have a long time breeder/exhibitor there to help you decide = when ‘viewing/examining’ the birds prior to the start of
the auction they WILL take your arm and walk you away if the birds are not good enough = well I would anyway!
Always do your homework – make sure the Breeder is well known in the exhibition side, with a good reputation, and honest
(some are only trying to ‘cash in’ and sell everything, poor quality culls included, and often use any means to make a sale)
Ask as many questions as you can - go armed with questions written down so you dont forget to ask.
There are a lot of good people out there breeding Orpingtons (and other breeds) that will steer you towards another of good reputation if they cant help
Always do your homework.
# remember the saying =
"The bitter taste of poor quality remains long after the cheaper price is paid"
I have no concerns about anyone contacting The Orpington Club and/or The VIC Rare and New Breeds Club and asking about
The Stud or me, but if a breeder seems unnerved or anxious when you say you are going to contact the ‘Club’ = walk away!
The Club can advise if the breeder exhibits birds regularly =
this can help to establish if the lines are good. Often the Club can advise where the lines originate from.
Always acquire the best birds you can – always acquire them from a well known and honest Breeder
(preferably an exhibition Breeder - do not depend on social media {or internet sales sites} to find a person that has birds)
if possible WAIT another 5 to 6months after you decide to get the breed and save a bit more =
go the extra few yards to get good birds from good lines = it is worth the wait
The Orpington is NOT hard to keep, the std size ones are just a bit bigger than most other breeds
To keep Orpingtons (or any of the largest breeds) exclusively on deep litter = allow 2½mt X 2½mt PER BIRD (that is NOT 2½mt squared = that is 2½mt BY 2½mt) and make totally certain the litter is kept dry and changed about every 3-4 months – they can do well free ranging but if grown out free ranging they will never reach their full potential size wise as the free ranging reduces the amount of nutrients they require for correct growth = as with all breeds, large birds need a lot of good quality feed
with adult birds = mid Spring up the greens thus reducing the protein to help get any Winter fat off them then mid Autumn reverse the process so they have moderate fat stores for Winter and for showing
Make sure all roosts and nesting boxes are no higher than ½ to ¾ mt. Unless you want them to land with a real thump and potentially a broken leg as they WILL land with a decided THUMP =
a 3yr old rooster can weigh 6+kg depending on the colour and line.
The Orpington is a heavily feathered breed and some may need their rears trimmed for natural breeding otherwise you need to Artificially Inseminate = not easy with such a large breed
The feathers grow back early each Autumn so you don’t need to worry about full feathering for exhibition
Of course they will eat a bit more than the smaller breeds
Orpingtons require housing that allows them plenty of room to move around and will also protect them from the heat. They tend to do better in cooler climates but many are successfully breeding them where the summer temperatures get to 40 degrees Celcius and sometimes above, making sure they have fridge chilled water that also has cordial bottle iceblocks in it –
in my opinion no Orpington owner should ever wet their birds to keep them cool = due to the amount of feathering and other factors they may get sick as a result – if needs be use air-conditioning to keep the air cool thus keeping them cool on days 35c and over. The Stud has air conditioners but also uses the chilled and frozen water 'giant' iceblocks
The Orpington is a complacent/docile breed with only the odd random ‘narky’ rooster and the rare ‘flighty’ hen.
Overall the saying “you can throw them at a brick wall and they will come back for more” applies to this breed
BUT DO NOT THROW THEM AT A WALL = it WILL KILL THEM !!!!
I used that saying only to indicate the overall temperament of the breed.
Orpingtons look gangly and ugly as teenagers and MANY sell them off at this stage not realising they are probably selling a future best in show winner (I know someone that has done this) – the breed can take 2-3years to fully grow out and should not start to be assessed for final quality until they are a minimum of 10 months old.
Only culling (killing) up to that age for obvious defects.
However, they grow out to be graceful elegant looking birds that will become very humanised if interacted with regularly and can be very long lived (one of my girls passed in her sleep a few weeks after she turned 20) the roosters are viable breeders for 8-9 years the hens for as long as they are laying = at 18yrs old my elderly hen became a mother yet again and her sister also became a mother a few weeks later, aged 17½ yrs old
As they grow so large I recommend the chicks are given vitamins for at least the first 5-7months –
The Stud has exclusively fed all chicks as outlined in detail in the attached page, titled 'Feeding - what we feed our birds'
Also you can feed them starting with ‘Turkey and Meat Bird Starter’ with a sprinkle of Seaweed powder to age 8 weeks then ‘Turkey and Meat Bird Grower’ until the first egg is laid. At 9-10 weeks you can start to introduce small amounts of crushed grains, at about 12-14 weeks whole grains, and once that first egg is laid = there is no concern feeding all the feed stuffs that have a lesser protein content
eg: the 3 Gs = grains greens grubs.
Remember the equation - ¼ breeding ¾ feeding - this makes people wonder, but it is true, if you dont feed the hatchlings / chicks / juvenile birds well they do not grow well, regardless of the breeding behind them.
Note though that good bloodlines / breeding is vital for good quality / good type birds.
Now I KNOW I will get shot down (by some) for how I feed the birds, but for The Stud it does work much better than what is sometimes heard from a few other poultry owners = referring to very young chicks and juvenile birds - “Oh but they are so cute so I give them treats” or “ I let them free range from 16 weeks but they just don’t seem to grow as well” and 9 times out of 10 then go on to say “My chicks have Cocci what do I do now?” or ‘They just haven’t grown as well as I thought they would” my answer is always the same “If you had of fed them well to start with they would have a good resistance and they would have grown properly as well” = many dislike/hate me for saying that I think this is the best way to grow out Orpingtons (std size) as they say “Oh but my OEGs or Leghorns (or what ever) really do do well if I change them at 16 weeks onto adult food” but I remind them I am NOT talking about those breeds, I am talking about ORPINGTONS and they will argue for a bit longer then just shut up – as I stand my ground and keep saying Orpingtons Orpingtons Orpingtons until the breed name gets in their heads.
The Stud has exclusively fed all chicks as outlined in the attached page, titled ' Feeding - what we feed our birds", with no incidence of Coccidiosis. Except for the time immediately after the heat and fires of 2009. The Coccidiosis is believed to be the result of wetting the birds and by association the ground and pen litter. Prior to this the Stud had not experienced Cocci in any of the pens. During the fires it was 49c during the day and 35c at night for 4 days/5 nights and I did go against my better judgement and out of desperation wet my birds.
The birds range (as adults) from 3.5 to 5kg for a hen and 5 to 10kg for a rooster.
For me it works and I am happy with the results.
Of course I am more than happy for others to give their opinions over mine, and am always happy to listen to , and to learn from, others knowledge.
How we feed our birds is outlined on the next page in the 'more' list, also a small article about artificial lighting.
# subject to copyright laws of Australia