Solitary chicken - need advice

[kissinuk]

Hi,

Starting to get ideas for our next few chickens and I'd really love to have a buff Orp. Currently we only have an eglu classic with run extension (+ lots of free ranging). Whilst I know I'd be looking at a larger run, what is the smallest house you'd get away with for an Orp + 2 smaller breeds? I would consider upgrading to a cube if required but would prefer to stick with Omlet products and not move to wood if possible.

 

Thanks!

[Daphne]

Some people will tell you that you can't/shouldn't keep orps in a classic, but I used to have 2 hens in one and they were as happy as anything. You do need an extension to the run, and mine got a lot of FR, so its the same as your set up. Orps really don't need as much space as you might think as they are not super-active and all the feather and fluff hides quite a small body! In the past I have also had 1 LF, 1 bantam and several bantam polands in one (it was a bit of an emergency but they were also all very happy so I left them there for a while, the small girls loved having a big fluffy to hide under) I have also housed a new LF orp cockeral on his own in an eglu classic as a quarantine measure. That was OK but I wouldn't house one permanently there. What are the 2 smaller breeds you have/are planning to have?

[Beantree]

We have Buff Orpingtons Kissinuk and they are BIG. I have built coops with enlarged pop-holes which are 380 high and 280 wide. You might get away with 300 x 250? They also have very wide steps into them. Don't know how that compares to a Classic.

[Daphne]

The classic works just fine as the door is on a hinge like a regular door, rather than being a pop-hole

[Redwing]

Personally I wouldn't as it's a bit too close for comfort for my personal liking but Daphne has had success with it so I won't knock that real life experience

 

Something else to consider would be Orpington bantams, they are pretty big themselves and can also be easier to source, they are cheaper to feed, easier to handle and are more common in more colours

[Patricia W]

They are mostly fluff. Andrew, astw, has always had Orpingtons in eglus. And Anna, his last remaining one, who is a BIG girl still lives happily in one within a WIR. His other chickens though are smaller breeds. You could PM him if you'd like a view.

[Daphne]

Over the years I've had orps in a classic, a cube and wooden housing. The classic is only good for one or a max of two females. The cube could house a breeding group (male and 3-5 hens) but I didn't like the roosting bars - on more than one occasion birds' legs became trapped as I think their great weight caused the bars to move - so I took the bars out and let them roost on the floor, something which is frowned on usually but it is quite common with LF orps as they shouldn't be jumping down from heights. My cube was on the ground so they didn't have the ladder to negotiate either. The wooden houses also had no roosting bars and also could house breeding groups, I didn't need to alter the popholes as the houses were made locally and I specified a drawbridge type door which was plenty big enough, although I'm not sure if a LF brahma would have fitted very easily. Really there wasn't much to choose between any of them, I'd go with whchever you prefer, but for one LF girl, the classic will be just fine

 

Tasha - my orps were of a good standard, but they were not as big as some of the best exhibition birds and I can understand that these might not even fit in the door! I remember being shocked by the size of Matt Hanson's breeding blues en masse, the hens were absolutely enormous let alone the cockerals, and of course the blacks are even bigger than the blues

[kissinuk]

Thanks for all the advice. Interesting to hear that some people have them in classics, I may just get away with just my current setup then, or maybe a WIR. We do let ours out regularity to free range round the side of the garden, so that wouldn't be a problem.

 

Bantams may well be an option though, I will do some reading...