Breed spotlight: the Orpington

Few breeds look as generous as an Orpington. Deep-bodied and heavily feathered, it's one of the best-known British breeds, and it began as a practical farmyard bird before the show ring reshaped it.

Where it comes from

The breed takes its name from Orpington in Kent, where its originator, William Cook, farmed. The Poultry Club of Great Britain dates Cook's black variety to 1886, followed by the white in 1889 and the buff in 1894. Exhibition breeders later crossed Langshans and Cochins to make a fluffier bird, and the Orpington moved from a dual-purpose breed towards a show bird. The PCGB classes it as Soft Feather Heavy.

Sizes and colours

Our encyclopaedia lists large and bantam forms, in Black, Blue, Buff, White, Cuckoo, Jubilee and Spangled. Buff is the colour most people picture, and it is the bird in the photo above.

Eggs

Our encyclopaedia currently gives a typical range of roughly 100 to 180 eggs a year, with tinted to light brown shells. Treat that as an estimate rather than a promise. Show-bred birds are generally kept for type and feathering rather than laying, and age, strain and daylight all affect how many eggs any hen lays. If eggs are your priority, compare breeds on the best laying chicken breeds list.

A rare breed worth keeping

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust lists both the Buff Orpington and the Orpington (non Buff) as priority breeds on its chicken Watchlist. The RBST notes that since April 2024 all native chicken breeds are priority breeds. Keeping and breeding good pure stock helps keep these lines going. Browse other RBST rare breeds in our encyclopaedia.

Finding birds and other keepers

If you're thinking of keeping Orpingtons, start with a breed club. Our directory lists The Orpington Club, and you can browse other UK breed clubs and poultry shows, where you can see good examples and meet breeders. The full Orpington profile in our encyclopaedia has the sources we used.

We're also building a hatching egg and bird marketplace. It isn't open for listings yet, but you can join the marketplace waitlist.