POULTRY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 181, 2 May 1925, Page 24

POULTRY NOTES

(By “New Laid.”) THE ORPINGTONS. The first specimens of that great family, if we may call it such, of birds which are known by the name of Oi pingtons, first saw the light of day about 1886, when the late Sir. William Cook, who lived at the village of Orpington, in Kent, introduced them to the public. There appears to have been considerable controversy at that time, and in the succeeding years, not only as to their origin, but also as to their various qualities, and a great deal of opposition to them was raised by fanciers of other breeds. Like many other things met with in the course of one's life, the opposition only served to fan the enthusiasm of the supporters of the breed, and the result as we know it to-day has been the establishing of one of the most profitable breeds of fowls in the world. There are some seven varieties of the breed—Black, Buff, White, Jubilee, Spangled, Cuckoo, and Blue, and which were bred at different dates between the years 1886 and 1967, but the breed is chiefly known in this country in connection with the black and white varieties. The description of the origin of the blacks, as given by the late Mr. Cook, was that “the method of production employed in regard to the singlecombed Orpington was to cross a large Minorca cock ivitii black sports from Plymouth Rocks; pullets of this cross being then mated with clean-legged Langshan cockerels, and the produce carefully bred to a doip-bodied and short-legged type." The result was a black fowl with the green gloss of the Lansjihan, but with clean legs, of plump make, with white skin and meat, and a well-shaped carcass, and which is an excellent winter layer of brown eggs. The weakest point of the Orpington is that the eggs are not so large as might 'toe expected from the size ,of the fowl. Still, they are, in single-combed strains, of a fair average size. There is no doubt float some original Black Orpingtons were produced as stated; but there is as little doubt that the. breed has since changed considerably in two distinct directions, one of which was a tendency J towards the pur© Langshan, and the other more in the direction of the type we know to-day. Some five years after Mr. Cook s Orpingtons appeared, another breeder, a Mr. Partington, exhibited at the great Dairy Show in England two cockerels and two pullets of practically new blood, which secured first 'and second prizes in each class, three of the four birds realising .£3O each. These birds created considerable curiosity, and were in fact the talk of the show, being larger than anything previously seen. The breeder stated that these Orpingtons had none of Mr. Cook’s strain m them, but were built up by himself, with the idea of producing more striking and handsome birds. They were very large, of splendid colour, and all had dark eyes. These points caused them to carry all before them in the show pen. j The general characteristics of the male of this breed may be summarised as follow: —Head, skull small and neat; beak, strong and nicely curved; eyes, full, bright, and prominent; .comb, single, of medium size.., erect, evenly serrated, and free from side sprigs; face, smooth, of fine texture, and free from wrinkles or frothers; ear lobes, of medium size and length, fine texture; wattles, of medium length, rather oblong, and nicely rounded at the bottom; neck, of medium length and abundantly covered with long hackle feathers, which should reach well on to the shou’der. Body, deep and broad; ■wide and slightly rising saddle, with full hackle which, witlf the long neckhackle, gives tile back a short and somewhat concave appearance. Breast, broad and well rounded (not flat), carried forward. Wings, rather small, carried closely to the body, the end almost hidden by the saddlr-hackle. Tail, rather short, compact, flowing, and inclined backwards, but by no means in squirrel fashion (carried at an angle of about 45 degrees). Legs and feet, legs short and strong, the thighs almost hidden by the body feathering. Legs, set well apart. Toes, four on each foot, straight and well spread. Carriage, erect and graceful. Weight, cocks, 811 b.: cockerels, 7Mb. Plumage, fairly close, but not so' hard as in the game fowl, \ per so soft, loose and fluffy as in the Cochin. Hen, the general characteristics of the hen are similar to those of the cock, allowing for the natural sexual differences. Weight, hrns, 71b.: pullets. Bib. Colour, beak b’ack. eyes black with dark brown iris, comb, face, wattles, and t-nr lobes bright red. Legs and feet, black. Too nails, soles of feet and skin white. Plumage, black with a green sheen. Notes on varieties other than the black 'will appear later.