Is the Lavender Orpington chicken breed right for you and your family? This quick read will help you decide.
The Lavender Orpington is easily one of the most delightful birds you can add to your backyard flock. Lavender Orpington chickens are a beautiful breed that have grown in popularity in the past couple of years. Find out why we absolutely adore this breed!
Lavender Orpington History:
The first chickens of the orpington breed were bred by William Cook in the 1800s. They were named after the village of Orpington, in England. Cook bred black orpingtons, and other colors were developed later, including the most popular of the breed, the Buff Orpington.
The Lavender Orpington is a more recent addition, it was developed in the late 1990s by Priscilla Middleton, a UK breeder who specializes in the breed.
Want to read more about the history of Orpingtons? This article from The Orpington Club has everything you’d like to know.
Now let’s get on to the big reasons we love this breed and why they may be the perfect fit for your flock!
9 Reasons to Love the Lavender Orpington Chicken
1. They’re stunningly beautiful
Lavender Orpingtons are best known for their beautiful coloring, which is really not purple, but more of a silvery gray with a light purple tint.
The Lavender Orpington is a loosely-feathered bird with fluffy feathers. If you’re looking for the perfect star of Instagram’s Fluffy Butt Friday, this is your breed!
The Lavender Orpington has a medium-sized single comb. Their legs are free of feathers and gray colored.
This Large breed weighs in at 8 pounds for hens and a hefty 10 pounds for roosters.
2. They’re a Fancy and Rare Breed
If you take on this fancy breed, you’ll be the envy of your chicken lady friends.
Lavender Orpingtons, while they’ve seen a steady rise in popularity, are still quite rare.
This is due to the fact that the lavender is a recessive gene, and healthy chicks are not a given. Properly breeding these birds and getting perfectly healthy chicks to sell is quite a process.
Their rarity makes them a little more pricey than the average hatchery chick. The cost of these birds varies depending on if you’re getting live chicks, hatching eggs, or buying an adult bird.
Considering most people buy Lavender Orpington chicks, I’ll give you a quick run down of prices. Below are some of my favorite hatcheries that carry these birds. These prices are as of Spring 2024.
Cost for female chicks:
3. They Have a Winning Personality
Orpingtons are well known for their good nature, and the Lavender variety is no exception. These friendly birds will fit in easily into any flock and will quickly become a favorite due to their curious nature and cuddly tendencies.
Our last Orpington loved to sit on our laps while we lounged on the patio, it was a delight.
If you have young children, rest assured that the Lavender Orpington makes a great family pet. Their friendly disposition and docile nature make them one of the best breeds for families to raise.
While the Orpington tends to have a gentle nature toward people, they also may be some of the more assertive ladies of your flock. Our Orpingtons were always at the top of the pecking order and didn’t let anyone else push them around. Even so, they’re not at all an aggressive breed and you likely won’t see them picking fights with fellow flock members.
4. They’re a Beginner Friendly Breed
Orpingtons are one of the best breeds you can get if you’re a beginner chicken keeper. They’re very easy to care for, don’t mind being picked up and held, rarely have health issues, and are wonderfully friendly.
Want some more beginner friendly breeds? Don’t miss our post on this topic!
8 Best Chicken Breeds for Beginners
5. Orpies are Good Foragers
If you plan to free range your flock, the Lavender Orpington is a great breed choice. These ladies are excellent at finding insects, seeds, and plants to eat outside.
They’re also very predator savvy, and surprisingly fast for their size. They know to run and take cover at the slightest sign of a predator in the area. This characteristic is completely necessary if you’re planning to let your flock out into the yard.
6. They’re Great Egg Layers
Lavender Orpington hens lay medium sized light brown eggs. They average 170-200 eggs per year, which makes them good egg layers in the world of chickens.
7. They’re Dual Purpose
The Lavender Orpington is a great choice if you’re looking for a dual purpose breed, they lay large brown eggs and they grow to a size ideal for meat, though personally I think it makes more sense to use less expensive breeds if you’re raising them for meat, and save these beauties just for your laying flock.
8. They Make Excellent Mothers
A broody hen will be more likely to sit on and hatch a clutch of eggs. They will care for the baby chicks and raise them to adulthood.
We had several Orpington mamas in our backyard flock and I can attest to the fact that they are wonderful mothers to their babies. We even had an Orpington mama team up with a Silkie mama to raise a brood of chicks together. It was quite a sight!
If you’re even thinking about hatching eggs and having a broody momma raise the chicks, you won’t regret going with this breed.
9. They’re Great in Cold Climates
It’s so important to choose chicken breeds that will do well in your particular climate. If you live in a place that gets particularly hot, you need heat hardy breeds. If you live somewhere that sees brutally cold and snowy winters, you need cold hardy breeds. Having the right type of breeds will ensure you don’t have to struggle with illnesses and injuries caused by inclement weather.
Lavender Orpingtons are a hardy breed, and are ideal for cooler climates.
Their large bodies, small combs and teeny wattles make them resistant to frost bite and hypothermia. Even though this breed is cold hardy, it’s still important to provide them with a chicken coop that will get them out of the cold, snow, and wind on harsh days.
As you can see, there are many reasons to adore the Lavender Orpington and add a few to your flock. You won’t regret it when you see this beauty strutting around your yard and giving you hundreds of fresh eggs per year!