Buff Orpingtons Ideal Market Fowl 



W. B. Bardom 



I PREFER the S. C. BufF variety on account of their 

 beautiful plumage and for the further reason that I 

 live in the city, and believe that they will stand close 

 confinement and not show the dirt as much as the other 

 varieties, I find that they will be fully feathered at the 

 age of six to eight weeks and that they will weigh two 

 pounds by the time they are fully feathered. 



They will begin laying at the age of about five months, 

 if forced, but as the forcing is liable to ruin them as two- 

 year old breeders, I try to lengthen the time to five and a 

 half to six months. By doing this you are also able to 

 grow larger birds and the progeny will be the better for 

 the delay. 



The hatching of show birds depends on the manner of 

 handling them before the shows, I make it a practice to 

 hatch during each month from January to July 1st, but find 

 that the birds hatched in May and June will make the best 

 showing, if large. enough, and there is no doubt but that 

 they will be up to Standard weight if given proper care 

 and food. 



I use trap nests in all my breeding pens and keep a 

 record of the number of eggs laid by each female during 

 the breeding season, but have never kept them for the 

 whole year, so cannot give yearly records. I have but one 

 female that laid 117 eggs in 126 days and a pen of six 

 pullets that averaged 108 eggs in the same time. In mat- 

 ing my pens I use only progeny from my best layers and 

 by doing this year to year, hope to improve the whole 

 flock. 



I have always found a ready sale for all the birds I 

 could raise. In fact last year I did not have a bird to sell 

 after the first of March. The demand for high-class birds 

 is on the increase in the west and the western breeders 

 are being educated to buy the best as they find it pays in 

 the end. The price does not seem to matter so long as 

 the best of quality is furnished. 



The color of the skin and legs seem to increase the 

 demand in the local market as they present a cleaner ap- 

 pearance when dressed. If the Orpington Standard was 

 to be changed to read yellow legs and skin, I feel that 

 the popularity of the breed would decrease to such an ex- 

 tend that they would be diopped in a few years. In fact 

 it would be hard to tell them from the Bufif Rocks, as a 

 great many breeders do not seem to be able to tell the 

 difiference in shape, if you take their birds as an example 

 of their judgment. 



If I were to make an ideal all around fowl it would 

 be the same as the S. C. Bufif Orpington is today, as I 

 believe they come as near filling the wants of the fancier 

 and general breeder as any variety we have in the Stand- 

 ard. They will lay in the most severe winter weather 

 when eggs are high in price as well as late in the fall when 

 other varieties are resting. 



The chicks will grow more ounces in a given time than 

 almost any other kind of chickens. They are very hardy 

 and are not as susceptible to diseases as are some of the 

 other varieties. In fact the Orpingtons are the only bird 

 as far as I am concerned. 



A partial bird's-eye view showing houses and yards at 

 Hawliesbury Agricultural College, New South Wales, 

 where are held the well-known Australian Egg- 

 laying Contests. 



