About Waninga Orpingtons
Atlas the Large White Ck ( Egg by Sue, Hatched by Eve M Feb 2010,Prepared by Waninga) (Photo June 2012)
(Since starting breeding this beautiful heritage breed in 2005 we have done all the beginner things by buying indiscriminately whenever something was advertised locally , mixing lines and strains, having too many colours, breeding far too many for the space we had available at the time, not vaccinating for Marek's and not getting into a system by changing everything too often including the food. However from this expensive trial and error plus some voracious reading of anything Orpington including books, newsletters, articles and the world wide web has helped formulate what is now Waninga Orpingtons.
Our Large Blacks
Thanks to Leanne Curphey we started improving our Blacks (who came from Max Wilkinson) in 2007.
Thanks to the generosity of Wayne Robinson and Jeff Wouters during 2008-10 we settled on the Wilkinson Bloodline as our Large Black bloodline base which have the distinctive type shown by the boys and girls in the photo's posted around the website. After a disastrous breeding season in 2012 we added some birds from Sonya Ford in time for 2013 season and for the one season ran two lines of Blacks. In 2014 we returned to the pure Wilkinson line and have maintained it since.
Our Large Blues
After stuffing around for 8 years we finally got back into Large Blues in 2013 when We were fortunate to get a Large Blue Cockerel from Chris Hardman whose line is from the master breeder in Qld Clive Claus. He was a beautiful Blue and showed no hint of brassiness or the sun colour fading apparent in many Blues. In 2014 we added another two Blues and a Splash from Chris and are looking forward to running a separate Large Blue line again. These Large Blues have been successful with Ch Orpington at the 2015 Royal Melbourne Poultry show.
Our Large Whites
The original Large Whites from Leanne definitely had some White Sussex in them as well as some WA blood.
The Large Whites are a bit more of a challenge but with the help of Sue V and Eve M the 2012 crop of birds were more uniform in Orpington type, pristine white in colour and larger too. In 2014 we added some White pullets from Sonya Ford . Just have to keep the mud off them as all our birds are in large grassy yards under the cover of our developing Fruit Orchard.
Following some major losses to a fox in late 2009 and early 2010 - over 50 growing birds killed in two nights- all pens now are higher, double fenced and have a Maremma patrolling them. Add to that the pack of Heelers currently residing on our farmlet and we pretty much know when anything out of the ordinary is happening!
Since joining the Orpington Club of Australia in 2007 we have been privy to a wealth of knowledge, support and wisdom that can only come from what must be the friendliest Poultry Club in Australia. For anyone contemplating taking up Orpingtons 'seriously' we would recommend that their first step should be to contact the Orpington Club of Australia Club Hon Sec at [email protected] and/or download the Club membership form from www.orpingtonaustralia.com.
I would also recommend liking the Clubs facebook page and also a separate group 'Orpingtons of Oz' both which have a wealth of information shared and also available stock advertised.
Our aim is to breed our birds to the current APS Show standard and to compare them with others in public regularly. Because of day job commitments we only show once or twice a year normally at the Orpington Club of Australia sanctioned show(s)
Our Large Blacks
Thanks to Leanne Curphey we started improving our Blacks (who came from Max Wilkinson) in 2007.
Thanks to the generosity of Wayne Robinson and Jeff Wouters during 2008-10 we settled on the Wilkinson Bloodline as our Large Black bloodline base which have the distinctive type shown by the boys and girls in the photo's posted around the website. After a disastrous breeding season in 2012 we added some birds from Sonya Ford in time for 2013 season and for the one season ran two lines of Blacks. In 2014 we returned to the pure Wilkinson line and have maintained it since.
Our Large Blues
After stuffing around for 8 years we finally got back into Large Blues in 2013 when We were fortunate to get a Large Blue Cockerel from Chris Hardman whose line is from the master breeder in Qld Clive Claus. He was a beautiful Blue and showed no hint of brassiness or the sun colour fading apparent in many Blues. In 2014 we added another two Blues and a Splash from Chris and are looking forward to running a separate Large Blue line again. These Large Blues have been successful with Ch Orpington at the 2015 Royal Melbourne Poultry show.
Our Large Whites
The original Large Whites from Leanne definitely had some White Sussex in them as well as some WA blood.
The Large Whites are a bit more of a challenge but with the help of Sue V and Eve M the 2012 crop of birds were more uniform in Orpington type, pristine white in colour and larger too. In 2014 we added some White pullets from Sonya Ford . Just have to keep the mud off them as all our birds are in large grassy yards under the cover of our developing Fruit Orchard.
Following some major losses to a fox in late 2009 and early 2010 - over 50 growing birds killed in two nights- all pens now are higher, double fenced and have a Maremma patrolling them. Add to that the pack of Heelers currently residing on our farmlet and we pretty much know when anything out of the ordinary is happening!
Since joining the Orpington Club of Australia in 2007 we have been privy to a wealth of knowledge, support and wisdom that can only come from what must be the friendliest Poultry Club in Australia. For anyone contemplating taking up Orpingtons 'seriously' we would recommend that their first step should be to contact the Orpington Club of Australia Club Hon Sec at [email protected] and/or download the Club membership form from www.orpingtonaustralia.com.
I would also recommend liking the Clubs facebook page and also a separate group 'Orpingtons of Oz' both which have a wealth of information shared and also available stock advertised.
Our aim is to breed our birds to the current APS Show standard and to compare them with others in public regularly. Because of day job commitments we only show once or twice a year normally at the Orpington Club of Australia sanctioned show(s)