Poultrymad Orpington

The Black Orpington was created and introduced in 1886 by poultry developer, William Cook and named the new hybrid bird after his home town in the county of Kent, UK. William Cook crossed Minorcas, Plymouth Rocks and Langshans to create the Black Orpington.

The White Orpington followed in 1889 and was the result of crossing white Leghorn males with black Hamburg hens and a white Dorking cock. It was some time before they bred true however, with blue cuckoo offspring often appearing. They were not as popular as the Black Orpington at the time. The revival today of the White Orpington owes much to the crossing with white Wyandotte and white Sussex.

The Buff Orpington was introduced in 1894 to satisfy the demand for buff coloured birds. The new variety was achieved by crossing gold spangled Hamburg cocks with dark and red Dorking hens and then mating the offspring pullets with Buff Cochin cocks.

The other main varieties include Jubilee, Spangled, Cuckoo and Blue Orpingtons with several other colourings including Red, Partridge, Barred, Gold and Silver Laced. These large fowl are classified as heavy soft feather. They are brown egg layers and are greatly admired when prepared and penned for showing. Their immense size and soft almost fluffy appearance together with their rich colour and gentle contours make them very attractive.