Breed Spotlight: Buff Orphington

- July 02, 2015

Today I'm going to talk a little about Helen, my Buff Orphington. Orphingtons come in different colors, but buff is the most common. The females weigh between 6-8 lbs and lay between 3-5 brown eggs per week. From what I've been told, true Orphingtons have white feet, but Helen's are yellow. I'm not sure if her lineage was crossed with something else somewhere down the line or if she's just a mutant chicken. ;) They are a great choice for cold climate areas and do occasionally go broody. I chose a Buff Orphington for my flock because everyone said they were sweet and friendly birds. I can honestly say that Helen is the only one of my chickens who has absolutely zero interest in anyone. She's the only one of my big girls who does not let me pick her up, and she basically keeps to herself all day long. She's been my only broody hen so far, and I'm really not a fan of how they act when they are broody. I had no experience with it before, but all she does is sit on her egg (a fake one from Cracker Barrel) and then comes out to eat and drink before hopping back on it again. When they are broody, they stop laying eggs and get really ornery when you get near them. She growls and puffs up her feathers then pecks my hand if I reach in to check for eggs (I wear snow gloves now, haha). When my other girls lay eggs, she moves their eggs underneath her to try and hatch also. I will admit though, a broody hen looks pretty stinkin' cute. I imagine the other girls coming over to lay their eggs and then saying to her, "I don't want this! My life is too exciting with running around the yard, so you can deal with it." Then adoptive mama Helen comes to the rescue. Poor girl will never have a baby of her own, and I hope she gets over it soon. I read that they stay broody for 3 weeks, so we will see. I haven't tried hard to break her of it, but if she keeps it up after the 3 weeks, I guess I'll have to. She's at the bottom of the pecking order of my girls and gets attacked by Dolly once she comes off her egg to eat and drink. I read that the other chickens often do this because they think the broody hen is either sick or hurt and they're trying to figure out what's going on. :( From what I can tell, I've had an uncommon experience with my Buff Orphington. Almost everyone recommends them, but I doubt I will have another one in my flock. But now onto some pictures!