Chicken breed
Buff Orpington
Also called Big Buffs
The Buff Orpington is a large, gentle English dual-purpose breed with golden-buff plumage. Hens lay brown eggs at a steady rate and often go broody. They handle cold well but need shade and airflow in hot weather.
At a glance
150–280eggs a year
4–6eggs a week
20–26weeks to first egg
8 lbhen weight
10 lbrooster weight
Largeegg size
Traits
- Cold hardyhigh
- Heat tolerantmedium
- Goes broodyhigh
- Fine in a small runhigh
- Egg colour
- light brown to brown
- Temperament
- calm, friendly, docile
- Good with kids
- Usually, yes
- Noise
- quiet
- Origin
- England
- Comb
- single
- Bantam size
- Available
- APA standard
- Recognized
- Conservation
- Graduated 2016 (Orpington; no longer on the Conservation Priority List)
- Purpose
- dual
Good for
- beginners
- families with children
- cold climates
- hatching chicks naturally
Watch out for
- broodiness pauses laying
- heavy feathering means heat management matters in summer
Looks and feathers
Loose, fluffy golden-buff feathering makes the bird look heavier than it is; clean legs. Buff variety admitted to the APA Standard in 1902.
Our drawing shows the most common US variety; colours vary.
Similar breeds
All breedsSources
- 1Buff Orpington Day Old Chicks (product/breed profile)Meyer Hatchery
- 2Buff Orpington (product/breed profile)Cackle Hatchery
- 3Orpington Chicken (breed facts)The Livestock Conservancy
- 4Accepted Breeds & VarietiesAmerican Poultry Association
- 5Orpington (breed page)My Pet Chicken
- 6Chicken Breeds & Varieties (A2880), incl. APA standard weightsUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension
Hatcheries often disagree on eggs a year; ranges span every source we read. How we check the facts.