# Australorp



## confederatemule (Aug 16, 2015)

What color should an Australorp rooster's legs be?

Thanks fer any help.

Mule


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Black or slate blue. 

I did some digging to find that. Some where in the back of my brain was an issue about leg color but danged if I can remember which breed we were discussing.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

This person does a good job of describing what they should look like: http://www.roysfarm.com/black-australorp-characteristics/


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## confederatemule (Aug 16, 2015)

Thanks Y'all.

What I have is one full blood Australorp hen. I also have a large black rooster. I call him an Australorp, but I do not really know. When the sun hits him, just right, he has a red tint to his hackle feathers. He was given to me, along with eight other Roosters. The others look like a White Leghorn, a Dominique, and four red Roosters. They all have a red sheen. I want an Australorp flock, but I am not sure about my Rooster.

I'll try to get a good picture today.

Mule


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

This going to take some thought or excavating in my brain for why you're seeing the red. I don't think I've heard of birds with the whole body having the red but the hackles, yes. That is an undesirable color gene for breeding. I'll have to do some more digging on why we see the green in black birds. I've just been away from the breeding aspect for too long now to just pop it out.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They are calling the red you're seeing purple. And no one has a good explanation for why it's happening. 

Since I bred Silkies and they can be a bit different from other birds when it comes to coloring this is what I remember, after doing some reading, birds with the green were understood to be silver gene birds. Those with any red, especially in the hackles were gold gene birds and were not considered good candidates for breeding to maintain the right color.

That said, I saw where some bred their purple sheen birds, not Silkies, to silver gene birds and were able to obtain the desired color.

What I would do, is not get rid of him based on the purple but give him a try with a silver based bird to see how the peeps turn out. That's pretty much what I did with the Silkies too. Turns out most of the time it was the right choice for me.


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## confederatemule (Aug 16, 2015)

From here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australorp , I got this;

"The original stock used in the development of the Australorp was imported to Australia from England out of the Black Orpington yards of William Cook and Joseph Partington in the period from 1890 to the early 1900s with Rhode Island Red. Local breeders used this stock together with judicious out-crossings of Minorca, White Leghorn and Langshan blood to improve the utility features of the imported Orpingtons. There is even a report of some Plymouth Rock blood also being used. The emphasis of the early breeders was on utility features. At this time, the resulting birds were known as Australian Black Orpingtons (Austral-orp)."

I'll post pictures after while.

Mule


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

This pic is a white bird. The other breeders were guessing he was a double silver gene because of all the gray in his white feathers. I was looking for one of my blacks with the silver in his hackles but came up empty. I do have a silver gene paint in my pen but no pics of him.








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## confederatemule (Aug 16, 2015)

I hope this works. There is a picture of his leg color in there.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

Looks like a mixed chicken.


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## confederatemule (Aug 16, 2015)

After I put him on the tether I was going to put my hand under his front, to pick him up to be moved. He bit a gash out of my arm, through a hoodie made of sweat shirt material and a thermal shirt. He got my hand with his spurs. All of the above listed roosters are very aggressive. I had another red rooster till he attacked my Bride's arm. He is now in the freezer. 

Mule


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## confederatemule (Aug 16, 2015)

I had an older rooster when I got the ones I listed. He is very calm and easy to handle. The ones I listed came from the same person and out of the same incubator, last spring. I got them from the person's brother. So, I, actually, know nothing about them.

Mule


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Agree with NM, he appears to be a mix. And he was not black, he has or had a lot of deep mahogany in his plumage. I'll try to get a good pic of my boy's hackles tomorrow so you can see what they're talking about with the hackle color.


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