What colours will I get if I breed that colour Orpington with ???????? This article is the result of a number of common recurring questions on this topic posted on the Orpington Club of Australia’s facebook group. Whilst other articles and books on genetics have identified the various colour combinations of colours (sometimes of Orpingtons) being bred together the purpose of this article is a quick and dirty guide to what you could get if bred an Orpington with another Orpington based on practical experiences rather than pure genetic knowledge hopefully dispelling a few old wives tales in the process but also helping breeders understand the potential ( improvement and /or damage) of either discriminatingly or indiscriminately breeding the same or different colours of Orpingtons together. The colour combinations considered in this article are mainly the Five Standard Colours in Australia (BLACK, BLUE, BUFF, WHITE & CUCKOO) plus the Clubs one approved Colour (SPLASH). This article does not attempt to mention or consider the breeding of Orpingtons with colours only found in other breeds as well nor the various developing colours that have been shown at the National Orpington Show in the past 3 years and/or not shown at the National Club Show as this complicated process is in the hands of a few very talented breeders.

BLACK x BLACK Probable Outcome: If both parents are pure Black then you will breed only Black (likely only to be in Large) If either parent has Blue or Splash in its background you will get progeny in Black and Blue. If either parent has another colour in their background and you start getting red or buff feathers/ red eyes/white legs/barred feathers in the progeny you could have a problem if you are only wanting to breed pure BlacksCommentsThere are a few old lines that only have black in their genetic pool and if quality Large blacks are your intent getting hold of some of them is essential.Key thing is to ensure that body size isn’t diminished in Large.Recent investigation has indicated that the green and purple sheen on a Black bird is the result of how well the bird is. Purple sheen tends to show on feathers where the bird has been unwell, has suffered poor nutrition or has lived in an overcrowded, stressed environment. BLACK x BLUE Probable Outcome: This mating will give you Black and Blue in various combinations. Comments: The Blacks and Blue from this pen can be used to breed your Blues. Blacks bred from this combination can be shown but don’t use in a pure Black only line. BLACK x SPLASH Probable Outcome: This combination will give you the best Blues- if the Black has been Blue bred. Comments: Seriously the best combination to breed your best Blues. BLACK x CUCKOO Probable Outcome: This mating will give you black birds but with lighter brown and/or Red eyes as well as barred colouring on the body and potentially mottled/white legs. Only attempt this mating if you are wanting to improve Cuckoo. Comments: It will give you a darker colour in the barring as well as bring in a hybrid vigour that may improve size. BLACK x WHITE Probable Outcome: With pure White being dominant you will likely get mainly white birds with white beaks, red eyes and dark/mottled legs. Putting the offspring of this mating back to pure whites will give you bigger Whites and less colour on body feathers and legs. Comments: Great way to improve a colour with a limited pure genetic pool. BLACK x BUFF Probable Outcome: You will get a mishmash of a buff n black bodied bird with various coloured eyes beaks and legs. Breeding offspring back to buffs will give you black flecks on a dark body and vice versa breeding back to blacks. Comments: Pretty with a weird and wonderful colour combination. Usually big birds too thanks to the effect of hybrid vigour.Pullets make great layers. Boys should make great eating. Never breed with them if you want to improve the Orpington breed! BLUE x BLUE Probable Outcome: You will get some nice blues from this mating as well as some blacks and splash. The blacks will have lacing genetics when mated with Blacks (refer to Black to Black) When these Blacks mated with splash should give you the best coloured Blues. Comments: A couple of generations of Blue to Blue will give you some nice Blues with good lacing and applicable tone changes of dark blue hackle and back and medium slate body. However successive generations of a BLUE X BLUE mating will eventually dilute the lacing gene and give you some washed out lightly laced Blues- and watch the eye colour which could also dilute from dark brown to light. BLUE x SPLASH Probable Outcome: With Splash as a recognised by- product of Blue breeding you will get Blue and Splash progeny from this pairing. Comments: Splashes are great for improving Blues although the impact is dependent on the ground colour of the Splash. BLUE x WHITE Probable Outcome: Often used to give a hybrid vigour to the Whites and which may invariably improve shape in your Whites. Comments: Can improve the Whiteness of the White all be it with Blue legs in the F1 generation and dark eyes both faults of which can be bred out by with an F2 mating of the F1 progeny either back to a Full White or brother: sister mating. BLUE x CUCKOO Probable Outcome: Will almost invariably give you off coloured birds mainly in Blue but possible in Black and Splash with a mix of lacing) Blue gene) and barring (Cuckoo gene). Eye, beak and leg colours will also not be standard. Comments: Some have undertaken this mating and after careful breeding have ended up with what has been referenced to as Blue cuckoo. Not a standard colour and not a line of mating that will improve either your standard Blues or Cuckoos. BLUE x BUFF Probable Outcome: You will get a mishmash of a buff n blue bodied bird with various coloured eyes beaks and legs. Breeding offspring back to buffs will give you blue flecks on a dark body and vice versa breeding back to blues. Comments: Pretty with a weird and wonderful colour combination. Usually big birds too thanks to the effect of hybrid vigour.Pullets make great layers. Boys should make great eating. Never breed with them if you want to improve the Orpington breed! BUFF x BUFF Probable Outcome: Will give you Buffs in a wide range of shades from a lemon to a mahogany. Idea shade of Buff is the one the standard calls for which is a medium that is even throughout across head body wings etc. Comments: Nothing better than a medium shade of buff Orpington. Lots of advice on how one gets it and which is another FAQ in itself! BUFF x WHITE Probable Outcome: Likely to give you Whites with Buff feathers and Buffs with White feathers neither of which is desirable even through both colours have red Eyes, white beaks and white legs.Comments: Probably the mating that could do the greatest genetic damage to both colours if not contained. Can set buff colour in white for generations and vice versa. BUFF x CUCKOO Probable Outcome: Will almost invariably give you off coloured birds mainly in Buff with barring (Cuckoo gene). Eye, beak and leg colours might not be affected too far off the standard. Comments: Some have undertaken this mating and after careful breeding have ended up with what has been referenced to as a Buff Barred colour ( there is no such colour in the APS referred to as a Buff Cuckoo) Not a standard colour and not a line of mating that will improve either your standard Buff or Cuckoos. WHITE x WHITE Probable Outcome: If Pure white the progeny will be pure white with red eyes, wattles and white legs. Comments: Limited gene pool in Australia has seen White Orpingtons developed from crosses with white Wyandotte, White Sussex and /or other Orpington standard Colours. This means that the unexpected colours and colouring might turn up from white to white mating’s after many generations. WHITE x CUCKOO Often used to give that hybrid vigour to Whites (which should be dominant) with a compatible colour for eye colour and leg colour (white). Comments: Any cuckoo from this mating will invariably be dilute. WHITE x SPLASH Probable Outcome: Often used to give a hybrid vigour to the Whites and which may invariably improve shape in your Whites. Comments: Can improve the Whiteness of the White all be it with Blue legs in the F1 generation and dark eyes both faults of which can be bred out by with an F2 mating of the F1 progeny either back to a Full White or brother: sister mating. CUCKOO x CUCKOO Probable Outcome: If pure cuckoo you will get Cuckoo with correct eye and leg colour as well as the standard barring. If the Cuckoo has black in its background you may get the odd black thrown with red eyes and some extra pigment in the legs- which is permissible. Comments: Putting Cuckoo to Cuckoo for multiple generations may lead to dilution of the colour. Refer Black to Cuckoo on limiting the dilution effect. SPLASH x SPLASH Probable Outcome: Genetically one is supposed to get all Splash progeny from this mating. Comments: The biggest issue with Splash is the amount of gold they carry in their genes. Nothing worse than a lovely splash with some very gold hackles.