Barred Plymouth Rock or Buff Orpington

[soot87]

Hi everyone new to the forum. Just got our first chickens and totally having fun with this. The wife and I decided we'd get another if we could keep these guys alive for a few weeks. She wants a Buff Orpington I want a barred rock. We live in town and can have a total of 4 and have 3 currently. They're basically pets that also lay eggs. And egg production is what we're looking for but a friendly chicken who will eat out of our little nieces hand would b nice too. Seems like they're pretty even from basic research. We currently have 2 black austrolorps 1 yr olds that are laying and a 2 year old brown leghorn that we're pretty sure is molting and they farmer we bought her from said she should start laying once it warms up. Would either of these breeds not work with our current breeds? I read the buff can sometimes get pushed around from other breeds. Thanks for any info.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think they'll both work fine with those breeds eventually. Your biggest issue will be integrating them. Do you have a source for a fully grown BO or BR?
BOs do tend to be docile but I've had both in the same flock and some of the BRs were dominant and some were submissive to the BOs.

Generally speaking, you can't just put a new bird in with yours. New birds need to be quarantined some distance from the others for at least 2 weeks. Then the best integration will be to pull the 2 most dominant birds and put the new one with the gentlest bird for a few days till they become friends and then add the others a day at a time.
If you have lots of space, extra feeder and waterer and they free range, you can just put the new one on the roost at night after the quarantine period.

 

[soot87]

Yeah we don't really have a way to do that. We might just have to watch them so they don't beat each other up. Being so new to the environment I wonder how hard it would be to integrate them. They aren't the smartest animals in the world so who knows after two days of being together maybe they think they've been together forever. LoL and to answer the first question yes we can get fully grown laying hens. Thanks for anymore feedback!

 

[cafarmgirl]

You are going to have really, really watch them if you just pop a new bird in with them. I really would not recommend it.

If there is any way possible that you could get two new birds instead of just one I would do that. Integrating just one new bird into a small flock can be a real nightmare. They just fixate on that one, lone, newbie and it's really hard. I've done it in the past, I will not do it again. It's just to much of a headache. The last time I tried to integrate a single newbie I was never successful and in fact they cornered her, scalped her and almost killed her. And this was even after I'd penned her alongside them for over 6 weeks and let her sleep in their coop in a wire dog crate and free ranged her with them.

When I get new birds now I get at least 3, my last batch was 8. At 5 weeks they go to their own coop and run right alongside the older girls and they stay there until they are about 15 weeks old. By then everybody is used to seeing each other and since it's a larger group nobody gets picked on too much. When they finally get together pecking order scuffles are very, very minor.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Anyone with chickens should have a quarantine space for injured or ill birds even if it's only a cage in the garage.
People often put new birds right with their flock but they take the chance on introducing disease and parasites to the entire flock. Just because a bird looks healthy doesn't mean it is.

The new bird will certainly get picked on initially. It may only be a day or 2 but keep an eye on them because if they draw blood they'll continue and could kill her. I'm not saying it will happen but I just want you to be prepared. At the very least she needs to be able to get to a place where she can hide and have access to food and water cause they'll often try to keep the new bird from the food.

 

[4H gal]

Well i have both barred rocks and buff orpingtons, of coarse I live in a rual community. If you like brown egg go with barred, if you like lighter brown eggs go with buff. Buff orpingtons are more docile then barred rocks and are more broody. If I had to pick I would go with buff orpingtons.

 

[Brandi Leigh]

Have both and love both. Ours lay about the same and have about the same temperment. So it just depends on what color you want.

 

[Cindy in LA]

Does the Plymouth or Orpington lay more eggs? I have read that the Orpington goes broody. What do you do when this happens?

 

[Michael OShay]

Does the Plymouth or Orpington lay more eggs? I have read that the Orpington goes broody. What do you do when this happens?

I've raised both Plymouth Rocks and Buff Orpingtons over the years, and the lay rate for both breeds is about the same; 3-4 eggs per day per hen. Both breeds will go broody, but the BOs seem to do it a little more often than the PRs. Broodiness is a hormonal response, so when a hen goes broody, you just have to wait for their broody period to pass.