46 



THE ORPINGTONS 



up of the Orpingtons is one of England's greatest table 

 fowls; the plump bodies of the fine texture of meat is not 

 only of the finest quality but of sufficient quantity to sat- 

 isfy anyone in that direction. 



We find the Orpingtons of a very hardy constitution, 

 and one of the most active of the largest breeds of fowls, 

 the young, middle-age or matured fowls are the same in 

 this respect — they are working from early morning until 

 late at night. We believe in letting them hustle at nature's 

 way to find at least a part of their living; this not only 

 lessens the expense, but we think we get results in this 

 way provided by nature, that is much better than any arti- 

 ficial food that is used as a substitute. We find our young 

 birds growing from the start and always show the picture 

 of a healthy condition in this way of handling young or 

 old stock. 



The Orpingtons are a cold weather bird, as you might 

 say, that is, they stand the cold winters and are not 

 pinched up as a lot of our small variety birds are. They 

 seem to have a winter's dress adapted to that purpose and 

 stand the cold weather better than some of our people. 



The beauty of the Orpingtons is second to none from 

 the fancier''s standpoint, with that 'deep, broad, massive 

 body so characteristic in the Orpington family, with a 

 golden bufif, or a green sheen, or a pure white, whichever 

 color your choice is, is certainly a picture in itself. We 

 do not care what breed you are breeding or admire, when 

 you stop and look at a pen of Orpingtons as bred today by 

 our leading Orpington breeders you cannot help but ad- 

 mire them. In the show room you will always see some- 

 one admiring them, whether a breeder or not. 



Some seven years ago when we took up the Orping- 

 tons, you could count the breeders on your fingers; now 

 there are thousands breeding them. In every state in the 

 Union, in the show room, we find the entries challenging 

 the old breeds of Rocks and Wyandottes, and we look for 

 the time in the near future when they will head the list 

 in our big shows of New York, Boston and Chicago. 



How^ We Raise Buff Orpingtons 



W. B. Buahell 



THE Buflf Orpington has come to stay. Why? Be- 

 cause they do not disappoint and they come up to 

 all that has been said about them by the intro- 

 ducers, the importers and the American breeders in gen- 

 eral. 



They are a grand all-around fowl. 



When we say that their meat is tender, juicy and of 

 fine flavor, we mean just that. All chickens might be 

 tender, but there is a difference in flavor and some are 

 more juicy than others. 



As a winter layer they are the equal of the best. 



The farmers are beginning to realize their value as an 

 all-around fowl, and as a winter layer, especially, so the 

 demand for male birds from farmers with which to im- 

 prove their flocks, is great. 



They are also buying lots of eggs for hatching, and 

 thus putting thorough-bred Orpingtons onto their farms. 



Many of our farmer friends and acquaintances tell us 

 that the Orpingtons are the best bird they ever raised for 

 layers, and their heavy weight and fine meat make them 

 very popular and profitable, when they get ready to turn 

 them into cash. 



Another feature that takes well with the farmer is the 

 fact that they are such great foragers. They make nice 

 quiet sitters, easy to handle and make good mothers. 



The chicks are hardy and easy to raise. They feather 

 out rather slowly but that is to their advantage. A chick 

 that feathers out too fast uses the most of its vitality to 

 make feathers instead of bodily growth, ccinsequently they 

 are very susceptible to the many chick ills, and easily 

 succumb. 



We find in our own experience that artificial methods 

 are by far the best for hatching and brooding. We have 

 used the high-grade incubators for the last twelve or fif- 

 teen years, have done all of our hatching with them, and 

 have raised the chicks in brooders. 



We prefer a 100 chick capacity brooder for SO chicks. 

 Lamp brooders are used in our brooder house, which is 

 12x70 feet. It is a frame building with drop siding on the 

 outside and lined on the inside with brick. The brick is 

 laid on edge between the 2x4 studding, and in this way 

 leaves a one inch air space between siding and brick. 



The building is divided by one-inch mesh wire parti- 

 tions, into pens three feet wide. A hot-water furnace fur- 

 nishes the heat through two one-inch pipes, which run 

 the length of the building on the north side. It keeps the 

 temperature from SO to 60 degrees in winter. 



We feed a patent chick feed and some hard boiled 

 eggs chopped fine, for the first three weeks, and then add 

 rolled oats to their rations. A few sods of blue grass are 

 in each pen for them to pick at. Rolled oats, or pin-head 

 oats are great bone and muscle builders. As long as these 

 youngsters are confined in the runs, we keep the yards 

 spaded up and keep coal ashes, sand and blue grass sods 

 in them, and we are never bothered with bowel trouble. 



After the chicks are six weeks old, they are given free 

 range and are fed as follows: — 



In the morning they get a mash composed of coarse 

 cornmeal and rolled oat meal, equal parts, that has been 

 soaked over night in cold skim milk. For dinner they are 

 given boiled potatoes, carrots and beets. For supper, 

 whole wheat; wheat bran is kept before them all the time, 

 but they are never given more than they will eat up clean, 

 of the other rations. 



Our laying stock never gets any corn except on very 

 cold, winter days; then they are given corn at night. 

 Wheat screenings are the main feed in winter. We give 

 them alfalfa leaves to scratch in, no other green food and 

 no mashes. Eggs run very fertile and hatch good strong 

 chicks. We use the stoneware drinking fountains, which 

 are emptied every night in winter. They are filled every 

 morning with warm water. 



Our matings consist of 7 or 8 hens with one male 

 bird, in the winter time, in a pen 8x20 feet. They do not 

 go out of the house sometimes for a month or more at a 

 time, especially if the weather is cold and snow on the 

 ground. The yards are 100x200 feet, are seeded with blue 

 grass and also contain plenty of fruit trees for shade. 



The chickens never get the best of the blue grass. 

 Some of the yards were sown to blue grass twenty years 

 ago and it is still very thick. During the breeding season 

 we take the male birds away from their mates every night 

 and put them in a separate pen and give each one all the 

 corn he will eat, and put him back with his mates in the 

 morning. 



With these methods we not only enjoy the work but 

 have had good success in raising the best breed of all. 

 The Buflf Orpington. 



