jam Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 How are chocolate orpingtons bred. ive read that they are black orpingtons with the special gene, but how does that work, and does that mean that if you bred 2 chocolate orpington chickens together, would all of the chicks have the gene and therefore be chocolate coloured? jam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom123 Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 http://chirpychicks.com/chocolate_orpingtons.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 Thanks, very informative! 'sex-linked recessive gene, that when pure, dilutes black to chocolate, - what does that mean exactly?! Its been long day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) The male needs two copies the chocolate gene to be coloured chocolate (it's recessive). If he only has one copy (aka split), he will be black but can still pass one copy of the chocolate gene to his offspring. The female only needs one copy to be coloured chocolate and she also has one copy of the gene to pass on. If you mate a black male to a choc female Orp, any chocolate chicks hatched will be female as they only need one copy of the choc gene. The males will be split black with one copy of the chocolate gene. To get the chocolate coloured male, you mate the split black male to a chocolate female, which means that two copies of the gene can be inherited by the male. The colour chocolate can't be created, it occured naturally as a sport quite a few years ago and was then studied and propagated by a small group of breeders. I believe they have it in Wyandottes too but I'm not sure what else. That's about as far as my technical knowledge goes, you're best off buying a book for any more! Grant Bereton published a beginners guide to poultry genetics last year but I don't know if he covered chocolate Orpingtons. Edited December 18, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Wow - the cockerel on the link is gorgeous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Dear Santa, Please may I have a pair of Chocolate Orpington Bantams with a lovely as my stocking.............. Lots of Love from Sha x p.s. I have been a very good girl............I just seem to have adopted too many waifs & strays to have a lovely safe home for them Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Dear Santa, Please may I have a pair of Chocolate Orpington Bantams with a lovely as my stocking.............. Lots of Love from Sha x p.s. I have been a very good girl............I just seem to have adopted too many waifs & strays to have a lovely safe home for them Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 wow, thanks jools, you certainly know your chickens! I love chocolate orpingtons, theyre georgeous, but theyre fertile eggs are so expensive off of ebay I would save up and buy some to sell their eggs and chicks to get some extra money, but i think it might just be too risky. Oh well, we shall see. If I do i will definatly give some to you sha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Saw a pair at The National last month, they were gorgeous, but VERY expensive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Thanks Jam ! I considered buying some CO eggs to put under Buffie last year & thought better of risking £150 on 6 eggs which she was liable to walk off & leave as it was her first broody session as it happened I bought 6 Light Sussex eggs for £5, had a 50% hatch rate, 2 of which were boys .......mind you I understand that Chocolate boys would be fairly easy to rehome............ Hind sight, magnificent isn't it Em (Palmer07) remembers the tribulations of that decision as she was at my shoulder all the way through weren't you hunny !!! Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 oooh the tribulations, i remember them well! Choc orps are lovely! however there are a fair few chocolate mongrels (orp crosses) about and they are equally gorgeous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I have a choc opr x Wyandotte, she is a sweet bird, she didnt get a rose comb from the Wyandotte side of the family so looks for all the world like a choc orp and I often wrestle with myself about putting her in Salisbury auction and having a bit of a jackpot day......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 Maybe breeding choc orps is worth considering seeing as there is a lot of money to be had (and im a bit short of the stuff atm ) and would use it to fund my ever growing animal obsession, which my parents are getting a bit tired of! people are obviously willing to pay a high price for them, mmmm. And because i love the bird, its not just the money!!! If only i could convince my parents... Breeding them sounds hard, but i love a challenge! Better start saving up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 oooh the tribulations, i remember them well! Choc orps are lovely! however there are a fair few chocolate mongrels (orp crosses) about and they are equally gorgeous! but you always manage to be in the right place at the right time for these lovely bitzas........mine all turn into boys..........beautiful but boys none the less BTW Berry is crowing Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I have a choc opr x Wyandotte, she is a sweet bird, she didnt get a rose comb from the Wyandotte side of the family so looks for all the world like a choc orp and I often wrestle with myself about putting her in Salisbury auction and having a bit of a jackpot day......... Arrrh that is interesting...my choc orp X Wyandotte is for all intents and purposes related to yours i assume and she DOES have a rosecomb She has also started the laying this week very pretty eggs they are too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 the trouble is Jam that to buy breeding choc orps is expensive - pairs often go for between £600-£1000 If you buy eggs and raise birds to breed from by the time those are breeding age the bubble will probably have burst and they wont be worth as much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I have a choc opr x Wyandotte, she is a sweet bird, she didnt get a rose comb from the Wyandotte side of the family so looks for all the world like a choc orp and I often wrestle with myself about putting her in Salisbury auction and having a bit of a jackpot day......... Arrrh that is interesting...my choc orp X Wyandotte is for all intents and purposes related to yours i assume and she DOES have a rosecomb She has also started the laying this week very pretty eggs they are too! They are very pretty eggs arent they On delivery the lady did say she thought she had bought a choc orp to me by mistake, she thought she put that one aside to take home.... maybe she didnt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 the trouble is Jam that to buy breeding choc orps is expensive - pairs often go for between £600-£1000 If you buy eggs and raise birds to breed from by the time those are breeding age the bubble will probably have burst and they wont be worth as much My thoughts exactly when I had ideas of breeding them... just like mobile phones and laptops, the price will come down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 A couple of people on online auction site are selling vouchers for birds not hatched yet talk about literally counting your chickens before they have hatched! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I have a choc opr x Wyandotte, she is a sweet bird, she didnt get a rose comb from the Wyandotte side of the family so looks for all the world like a choc orp and I often wrestle with myself about putting her in Salisbury auction and having a bit of a jackpot day......... Arrrh that is interesting...my choc orp X Wyandotte is for all intents and purposes related to yours i assume and she DOES have a rosecomb She has also started the laying this week very pretty eggs they are too! They are very pretty eggs arent they On delivery the lady did say she thought she had bought a choc orp to me by mistake, she thought she put that one aside to take home.... maybe she didnt I had a 50/50 chance then i love my little (well not so little anymore) Raisin, she is a big softy. Still gets beat up by the pekin babies though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
