4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[quickcluck]

are they too young for me? I've got the offer of some orps.

 

What do you think?

 

He says they are free running and on growers

Edited July 22, 2009 by Guest

[Cooks]

my two orps I just got are 12 weeks... what orps are they??? I LOVVVVVE orps

[beach chick]

erm, probably! I got 5 of our last lot at about 10-12 weeks, and they thrived.

 

you will need:

separate accomodation from the big girls

chick food rather than layers

 

orps are quite slow to mature I think, so you will have to be patient on the egg front. lovely birds tho, and although they look huge they are so fluffy its like touching a cloud!!

[Patricia W]

If you have separate accommodation for them, you should be fine. They'll need growers pellets instead of layers. It's a good age to get them if a) you can sex them - or have plans for the cockerels b) you want to socialise them easily

 

They won't be able to mix with the big ones until they are about the same size - generally about 17-18 weeks or POL

 

See what others think too

 

Tricia

[Falkor]

My original 3 chooks were 10week Orps...they were also my first back garden chooks!

 

As long as they are off heat (and I would expect them to be at 10 weeks although i have seen it!) then i don`t see why not!

 

 

The only thing I can think of that is different to older birds is that they should be fed growers pellets and no oystershell.

 

And remember it will be a good while before they can be introduced to your existing flock so seperate accomadation will be for at least two months if not more.

 

Orps can be slow to mature so you may not have guarenteed girls

 

And as Cookie says.....what colour are they? Are they minis or Large fowls?

 

We love Orps!

[Cooks]

my plan is to keep mine seperate for a fair few weeks to let them grow up... I have split my WIR in two to allow this

 

I have growers pellets for them, and they soon tuck them back.. and grit with no oyster shell in.

I think you will be fine with them, as long as you are prepared in advance.

[eggregiousness]

Sorry to change the subject slightly but why no oystershell? Also, I was going to order 2 10 week old female Cochins from the dtb and they didn't mention that they could not be sure of the sex at that age. Is it not possible?

[Falkor]

Forgot to add.......

 

I took the roosting bars out of my when mine came as 10weekers as I was told by my ex FIL the farmer that Orps bones are still developing at that age and they shouldn`t roost as it puts pressure on the legs before they are grown.

 

Roosting bars went into the eglu at about 22 weeks...eggs took another month or two....

 

Oyster shell is extra calcium needed to form strong egg shells, as growers are not making egg shell the additional calcium that they would get from the oyster shell would have to go somewhere and can cause deformaties on the bone (i think that is it)

 

In some cases with pure breeds sex can be obvious from an early age...but it is a possibilty that they are slow to mature and what is sold as a girl can turn out to be a boy. Angels4 on the forum had this with a buff orp not long ago. If the breeder is good then they should take back a wrongly sexed bird...the only problem being that you might be left with one girl on her own of to intergrate

[Cooks]

mine are sleeping in a covered cat box, and very cosey they are too..

[quickcluck]

They have splash, buff & partridge, and a orp/wyandotte cross!!!!

 

they will be seperate in an eglu in a segregated section of the WIR.

 

have have been sexed are are living outside and on growers pellets...

[Falkor]

ooooh PARTRIDGE!!!!

 

Orps have such a nice nature

 

So are you going to go for it? Are these instead of your reserved ones?

[quickcluck]

they could well be, although not good for egg production.... I like the sound of the orp/wyandotte cross...

 

Is very temping.

[Falkor]

My 2 orps are currently laying eight to ten eggs a week between them....obviously this is likely to stop over winter...depends how many eggs you need i spose

 

yes the cross sounds pretty.....have you seen them yet?

[Cooks]

splash are gorrrrrrrrrrrrgeous!

[quickcluck]

palmer are they teeny tiny eggs?

[Falkor]

Not at all! More often than not they are bigger than my hybrids eggs. I have stopped weighing them but when i was doing so the orp eggs were coming in around 63-69g.

 

Also the yolks (the best bit) are MUCH MUCH bigger than the hybrids

 

My orps are LF....I would assume a mini would lay bantam sized eggs.

[quickcluck]

cookie i cant find your pics!

[Redwing]

I have an orp x wyandotte (bantam) she is very pretty and soooooooo soft

 

If they have wyandotte in them it should up the egg production a bit

 

And yes of course you will be fine

[Cooks]

cookie i cant find your pics!

these are mine... I am just about to upload some more pictures actually

[quickcluck]

Ooooooooooh lovely are they bigger than your dog

[Falkor]

There was a thread recently called Orptastic with LOADS of pics on but I think that was delected in Christians mad five mins

[Cooks]

Ooooooooooh lovely are they bigger than your dog

slightly deceptive photo, she IS small but this photo makes them look larger than they are...

[Falkor]

Yup they are dinky little ladies at the mo.....Mum and dad were very impressive weren`t they CM!

 

here is my Splash for your info

 

and this is what my lot looked like at 10 weeks

 

edited to resize GIANT pics

[quickcluck]

lovely.

 

I am gonna ring him and see if i can go for a visit!

[Cooks]

oooh good idea, I tried to find a splash but couldn't and then came across this lady and I think these are beautiful (although I didn't at first) I was a bit like and then I saw the mum and it was decided.