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Australorp Evolution ........
http://www.australianpoultryforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5042
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Author:  bunyanuternie [ Wed May 06, 2009 1:34 am ]
Post subject:  Australorp Evolution ........

Australorp Evolution ..... I thought I'd start a thread about Australorp Evolution and Try to get everybodys opinion about the Great Australian Breed ,Great Australorp Breeders and how we got here today , My Interest in Australorps started when my Brother and I used to sell Australorps at the markets for dad Many moons ago.... My Dad used to tell us boys if it wasn't for selling chooks and shoeing horses , he wouldn't have been able to put food on the table , What a great breed . I reckon I owe them .....

It's pretty common knowledge that the Australorp Was bred from the Utility Orpington with a bit of Langshan Blood thrown into the mix . Black Orpington that is , If you read the Ray Connor Book he tells you how the farmers of kent bred the Orpington . What I didn't know until I read the book was that the Orpington was bred from a Black Sport "Plymouth Rock",Langshan and Minorca .

So from Rock to Australorp what an amazing journey .....

who were and are the great Aussie Breeders that helped it out along the way Ray Connors of Course ..... He wrote the book , Literally .

I'll throw Freddy Brown and Henry Surtees into the mix , two of my personal favourites .

So what can you add to the evolution of the Great Australian Australorp ?

Author:  Gold Duckwing [ Wed May 06, 2009 12:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

Really enjoyed reading this, thank you.

Author:  Peter16 [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

Nice topic Ian.
Hopefully we can get some good information added.
I Cant add much regarding evolution, I just love the breed and hail all those who made it was it is :-D

Author:  bunyanuternie [ Thu May 07, 2009 10:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

Thats the whole idea of the thread , I think it's the little people that are just as important to the evolution of the Australorp , I know their are a lot of people who people who keep Australorps , because they are a good all rounder , They are a great table bird a great layer , and great to look at , When I look at an Australorp I don't just see a black chook , I see a Noble Fowl with a Beautiful beetle green sheen and an Amazing temperament , Bred to be able perform outstandingly in a multitude of Australian conditions , and after all it's our National breed of Fowl . If you read some of the early stories on laying trials the Australian Orpington were consinstently laying over 300 eggs a year while also producing a good body weight , These Early Austral-Orp soon became the prized fowl for farmers of the day .
The fact that people are still choosing the Australorp 90 years later confirms the benefits of keeping the Great Aussie breed alive .
Like a Kelpie or a Blue Cattle dog or an Australian Stockhorse or a Whaler the humble Australorp has played an important part in our history and helped put food on the table for many generations .
For me Locally Dennis Dowdle is another Breeder who plays an important role in the Breeds Existence , I ran into Dennis at the Nanango Markets recently Selling His beloved Australorps like my brother and I did all those years ago , My face lit up when I saw him , He was selling Australorps to the locals for P.O.L prices , along side the masses of Hybrid Fowl , as Humble as the next stallholder , and anyone who knows anything about Fowl knows he wasn't doing it for the Money, Just happy to see some Australorps in somebodys pen rather than a hybrid , This Year Denis is Judging at the Victorian State Australorp Titles and The Fowl will be just as good. That's why your just as important to the Australorps evolution Peter , Because it's people like you that were buying his Australorps ;)

Author:  AuntyAustralorp [ Fri May 08, 2009 7:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

The thing I like, is that our Aussie Bird is also a favourite worldwide :-D Japan, Russia, UK, South Africa, the US and the Ukraine just to name a few. They adopted the breed with glee and thought highly enough of it to develop even more. Colours including Black, Whites, Blues, Splashes, Buffs, Mottled Black, Wheaton Laced, Red Laced and Blue Laced. :-D


Michelle

Author:  oozcorpse [ Fri May 08, 2009 1:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

Maybe I'll keep some of my Cuckoo ones [was thinking of deleting them entirely] and maybe, just maybe these days I wont be told "Ya birds' ll be killed if ya show em lady." [they were somewhat tunnel visioned 20+years ago!]
all the colours overseas and the quality in a number of circumstances far outweighs our home developed/grown ones - it is truely wonderful when the student outdoes the 'master' [the 'master' being OZ in general of course]

so rock on the new colours

Author:  bunyanuternie [ Fri May 08, 2009 11:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

For the farmers of the day poultry formed part of their livelihood , The old farmers new a good thing when they were onto it , The uniform light brown eggs and not just quality eggs but 'Quantity' in 1934 an Australorp set the record 361 marketable eggs of course like all good Aussie inventions her and a 'Stable Mate' were exported to the states , for now the genetics of the humble Aussie Farmbird were sought after worldwide in 1925 the first Australorp landed in America .
Meanwhile Downunder The Australian Poultry lovers plugged away with the Australorp , Only the best Fowl were bred from , Only The Strongest and Fittest Males were Chosen to breed from , It was breed for the future ,and of cours only the best eggs went into the incubator , the rest went onto the tables of many Australian Homes .
I can remember when I was about 12 or 13 I went with dad to pick up chooks , Normally we went at night into huge sheds crammed with thousands of hybrid fowl to be loaded into the truck , but this time it was late afternoon , we drove into the city of brisbane and round to this poultryfarm , This one was like one I'd never seen before , a 'Freerange Farm' and the old Gentlemen loved his fowl, Everywhere you looked ,were chooks Mainly Australorps with the occasional Barnavelder amongst them . Dad handpicked about twenty good pullets and after some serious Poultry Talk we headed home .Even as a youngster that sticks in my head . This free range egg farm scratching out a living in the middle of Brisbane, and the most Beautiful Australorps one could ever see.....

Author:  Muscovy J [ Sat May 09, 2009 9:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

hi bunyanuternie ,
its great to hear about your favorite breed, 8)

i love it when someone has such a passion about there birds,



keep up the great work mate,


regards jase

Author:  spanky [ Wed May 13, 2009 11:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

i have some australorp x new hampshires that i got for eggs only and when i purchased them i purchased some fertile eggs to put under my broody, imagine my shock when it's been discovered i may actually have some pure bred 'lorps just a few days old!!

i don't know much about this breed other than they're hardy, decent layers and good for/with the kids so thank you for bringing attention to them in such a passionate way :)

Author:  greenaus [ Wed May 13, 2009 4:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australorp Evolution ........

Australorps remain my breed of choice

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