Blue and Splash Orpington

When I placed my order for 2 Blue Orpingtons from My Pet Chicken, I understood that the chicks may not be blue in color. Blue does not hatch "true" in chickens,  and there would be a chance that I would receive a blue, black or splash Orpington. I received a blue and a splash.
At 40 weeks old, Dolly, my Splash Orpington and Queeny, my blue are the largest chickens in my flock. They are both stunning in appearance.  Queeny towers over all the other chickens and has always been the loudest.  She sounds like a goose when she sees me coming with food. Like my Buff Orpingtons, both girls have a very calm temperment, and are not aggressive.  But unlike the Buff girls, Dolly and Queeny are not "sit in your lap" chickens as the Buff Orpingtons are. As a young chick, Queeny was always, the loner of the flock and still is. Neither Dolly or Queeny are high up in the pecking order, but don't seem to get picked on often.  They seem to know how to avoid conflicts.

Dolly started laying eggs at 26 weeks and Queeny at 29 weeks. At the present time, they lay the least eggs of all during a week's time. I get an average of 4-5 eggs each. Dolly's lays eggs which are smaller than the other chickens of the flock. Her eggs weigh 1.8 ounces which are medium size eggs.  I've always read that the size of the chicken is not an indicator of the size of the egg, and Dolly has proven this true. Queeny lays large 2.0 ounce eggs. We often call her eggs "torpedo eggs" because her eggs are often very elongated in shape.

These photos were taken when the girls were 39 weeks old.

Queeny

Dolly

 Waiting for a Nesting Box

Eggs from Dolly and Queeny