AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

I am interested in finding out more about these mythical birds. Does anyone have them or know anyone that has them?

I am aware that they are not show quality but my interest is in utility traits not showing.

thanks

Some of the Australorp 'Show people' in Australia have them Some of us even use them for their Utility traits when we are not showing them ,The line I have is over fifty year old now . From my understanding their are a few other breeders mainly in the Northern NSW area that also have the line that the CSIRO used , but they (the CSIRO) mainly used them to cross with Leghorns . The Australorp... that is the Australorp that is shown today is a Utility Fowl that was bred for utility purposes ..............


Thanks Greg Davies for the following info ..................

They were developed using primarily original William Cook type Orpingtons and Australian Langshans. Then known as the Australian Orpington, this became the Austral Orpington and finally, the Australorp. There was much dissent between the various states of Australia as to a standard and it was not until 1949 that an Australian Standard was finally agreed to, at a meeting of state delegates, called by Edwin Hadlington .

(the NSW Government Poultry Expert)

This Standard was adopted almost word perfectly by the British Poultry Club in its Book of British Poultry Standards. The illustrations for this first Australian Standard were of a cockerel bred by Jim O'Malley of Queanbeyan and a hen owned by the late Claude Ubrihien of Bega.

The Australorp is one of the ---- World's finest utility breeds and proved itself in laying trials for many years. ------ In 1963 it was honoured at the World Poultry Congress being depicted on medals and stamps. ----- The breed was recognised as the single most important utility breed ever developed.

The Australorp could best be described as a bird of curves. There should be nothing angular about these chickens at all. The back should be long and concave, sweeping gracefully up to the tail. A most striking feature of the Australorp is its big, bold, black eye, which sits in the centre of a clear, open, bright red face. The face has no signs of coarseness and any hint of "beetle brows" should be eliminated. The plumage should be glossy black with a rich beetle-green sheen and tight, not loose and fluffy as with Orpingtons.

It is a wonderful show bird, often winning major awards. It is quiet and docile and may be had in both large and bantams. In Australia, only blacks are bred, this being the only true colour.

Thanks Greg -----


Yes some of us proudly show our humble utility fowl alongside the noble fowl , Game fowl , Rare breeds , Crested Breeds and Colour Breeds .But when they come home it's the Australorp Australia's National Breed of Fowl thats back to work providing food for our families .

Hahaha
You don't have to sing the praise's of the Australorp to me. I am the converted. They are amazing birds and cope really well with the hot humid weather in the north and continue to lay at an acceptable rate during floods and cyclones. Other people's chooks went off the lay, our dipped a bit in lay rate but generally kept going.

My interest in the CSIRO Australorp is in laying ability. Our current flock of Australorps comes comes from a range of sources and the laying ability varies. I have heard these tales of how purebred birds used to lay well but don't anymore (but perhaps not from this forum ). I have started keeping records of egg production in the last few months so I know how good my current birds are. Trap nests interest me but I work part time so maybe that is a project I could do when I am next on Mat leave. When I sell purebred laying hens, I want to give some reliable information about laying ability. I think that is honest selling.

When the new house and chook pens are finished ( I hope before christmas), I am interested in getting another line of Australorps and then breed from the best of best. I would prefer to buy from a line that has a proven egg laying ability rather than do the lucky dip thing again.

Maybe I will get into showing one day but right now we have a few to many projects on the go.

Good on you marias creek our Australorps are exceptional layers ,They far outlay some of our fancy breeds we keep ,trap nests sound like a good way to go if you want to do your own laying trial If you want a good line or to improve your line get good genetics into your flock , a lot of us Australorp breeders still put their utility traits high on the list