Years ago when I was entering the world of backyard chicken keeping, I pondered the vast variety of chicken breeds to choose from… I knew I wanted a breed that would be winter hardy, a good egg layer and also “family friendly”.
After searching through hatchery websites, online chicken forums, and poultry magazines – I decided the Buff Orpington met all my requirements. My first flock consisted solely of Buffs and I couldn’t have been more pleased!
They’ve been the “tamest” of all my breeds, they get along well with their flock-mates and seem to be the most welcoming to young chicks that I add to the mix.
Buffs do seem to go broody routinely and desperately want to hatch their own offspring of chicks. They also have a crazy molt – losing almost all of their feathers overnight! They grow back almost as quick as they lose them though and are soon covered once again in beautiful golden feathers.
Buff Orpingtons are also reliable egg layers compared to other breeds. My favorite Buff, Henrietta, continued to provide me with wonderful light brown eggs well into her advanced years!
The first Orpington was introduced in 1886 by William Cook of county Kent, England. Cook developed the first Black Orpington by cross breeding Black Minorcas, Black Plymouth Rocks and Langshans. Later other colors – blue, buff and white were added. The Orpington was first admited to the American Poultry Association in 1902. –Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds
Over the years I have added more variety to my flock, but I’ll always have a Buff or two. In my opinion – they’re one of the best breeds for a backyard chicken keeper.
Are you searching for perfect chicken for your backyard setup? – Well there’s an app for that!
Mother Earths News “Pickin’ Chicken” app features an illustrated guide to 82 chicken breeds and more than 100 varieties, with 250-plus photos. Users can find the ideal chicken breed for eggs, meat, personality or any combination based on results from 16 searchable characteristics.
Here’s the app’s info on Buff Orpingtons:
Dual Purpose Breed – Good balance to provide adequate meat and eggs.
Eggs – Good layer of large sized brown eggs.
Heritage – Meets ALBC’s (American Livestock Breeds Conservancy) heritage chicken definition.
Temperament – Calm, docile; more likely to allow holding from and interact with people.
Climate – Does well in colder and freezing climates
Confinement – Does well in contained areas in close proximity to other chickens.
Free Range – Does well in open spaces outdoors without confinement.
Forager – Not inclined to seek out naturally occurring food sources.
Broody – Mommy wannabe. Inclined to set or want to hatch eggs.
Sex Linked – Unable to be sexed at hatching based on color or feather development.
I know that I am a fan of this breed, but check out how other members of Community Chickens feel about their Buffs!
Jamie – Here’s my Roscoe. (See photo!)
Nichole – Chuck the Rooster! He was a little chick and would get picked on so I would carry him around in my shirt while doing chores. He grew to be nearly 3 feet standing. He was huge! A beautiful and gentle fella, our farm greeter for visitors.
Mary – Have 2 Buff Orps – they are the sweetest girls, so friendly and wonderful eggers. Would say very broody – especially one of them – but probably my favorites of the 6 hens I have.
Linda – Very pretty, friendly, calm hens until….they become broody. Which is about 9 months out of the year. We have no rooster and do not need more chicks. The eggs are somewhat smaller than other breeds. No one would believe what a grumpy face those girls can make when trying to move them from a nest.
Cassiopiea – Sweetest birds! We had one, but she didn’t make it. She was a sweet little girl, very talky, but no match for the Alpha hens-in our case, the Americanuas.
Barbara – Such gentle birds – knows who’s boss and great mommy potential.
Backyard Chicken Tractors – We love and want one, they make GREAT mothers….IDK why, they just do….
Carlie – My first chickens! This breed caught my eye with it’s beauty. I was convinced they should be my first chicken breed when no one had anything bad to say about them. They are so friendly, they follow me everywhere when they are out in the yard. And i’ll never forget that my Buff Orpington rooster saved me from getting bit by a copperhead.
Pat – My Buff Rooster is Charles. My husband calls him Charlie or Chuck.
Laurie – I recently added some to our existing flock and really love their temperament. They are 5 months old and have started to lay!
Carly – This is Peach. (See photo!) We adopted her (and 2 others) from a shelter after her owner surrendered her b/c she couldn’t afford to feed her. She was so thin, she could barely stand. She was also extremely anemic (absolutely no color to her skin). Despite being 8 months old, she had a lot of catching up to do before she started laying. She has wound up being the nicest hen. She certainly seems grateful for her new life! She is so friendly and lets us pick her up and pet her whenever we want. We are so glad to have her! I would also say she is extremely quiet and is one of our least flighty hens (especially around our dogs).
Annette – They are an all purpose bred. Meat,eggs, broody (good moms) docile and pretty. I just bought my first buff rooster. I have had the hens before. I also raise the lavenders. Those are great eye candy in the flock.
Kathy – I have two Orps! Jolene and Heather they are the best Chickens and so loving! My Partridge Cochins well, not so much!
Julie – I have a buff that gave me babbies and is my best friend in the yard!
Rosanne – Because they are so damn friendly to obnoxious humans, mine are just welcome girls for those who do not like chickens. My hubbies fave “Goldie” has provided us with big, beautiful eggs that would hurt! We always thank her.
Sarah – My three most favorite chickens ever were Lemonhead, Mellow, and Yellow. They were the sweetest girls. And they were the first ones the fox picked off. No more buff orps for me…
Dottie – Got our first egg from our new Buff Orpington this week…looking froward to raising them.
Laura – This is Ms. Pea
ches. (See photo!) On occasion, she likes to come inside and watch tv for a few minutes. Sweet, sassy and a great egg layer at 9 months old. She’s hanging out in her nest being broody at the moment!
Tom-Laurie – Love them for their beautiful coloring, friendly nature, and abundant egg laying skills. sweet sweet birds.
Megan – My buff Orpington is so shy and timid compared to the black star and the welsummers. I call her Chicken. Haha.
Teri – My Buff, Planchette, doesn’t hang with the other chickens, but stays with the 6 ducks in Duck Land. At night she goes in the pen with the ducks. If they’re late, she stands at the entrance clucking and looking for them. She’s the only one that gets in my lap for petting.
Monica – My favorite chicken was my buff named Nafratiti.
Deb -Love them … they are kind birds. We’ve had a few and they are gentle and a bit more timid. Not bossy or pushy.
Shanna – This is Magdalen
a. (See photo!) Our very vocal Buff Orpington.
Jo-Anne – My Buff Orphington is 2IC to the chicken in charge of the flock lol. However she is 3 and has never laid an egg!
Monica – We have 20 four month old buffs…free range..sweetest personalities..and they like to climb trees.
Shellie – Buff orpington are great egg layers and one of the breeds to lay as early as 5 months of age. And without fail, continue to lay.
They’re Hardy and a good winter hardy bird and continue to lay through the winter also.
Mine have not failed me yet.
Donna – Docile and social, sweet personalities, never jump the lowest fence – winners all around.
Monique – They’re beautiful and mellow.
Elaine – Too broody
Sam – Cause they’re so beautiful!
Dan – So broody though!!
Nathan – Although, not normally in the house, Honey is as close to a lap chicken as I have had. She will put up with a visit for a treat most any day.
Sally – I call them my dumb blondes but they are excellent free rangers, yet they are so aloof with the rooster’s warnings, they are the first one the fox sees and wants and gets!
Laurie – I recently added some to our existing flock and really love their temperament. They are 5 months old and have started to lay!
Stephanie – Ours 
are babies but we love our Orpies! (See photo!) The front 2 orpington’s are Peaches and Golden Pear “Goldie”. The Gold Sex Link in the back is Anna. Then peeking in the back is our Golden Laced Wyandotte Sofia. Our Orpington’s are definitely the calmest, “fluffiest” of our 6.
Keri – Buff Orpigntons, hands down, make the best Mama hens!
Jessica – Our Orpingtons are the most calm girls in our flock…and the “fluffiest” according to our kids.
Mylea – The sweetest birds ever. So caring and aware.
Stephanie – My Sandy….she is the queen of the coop and my baby!
Glory – My Buff, Molly, has been the friendliest chicken since she was a chick. She follows me around, rides on my shoulder and likes to come into the house for treats. She was the first to start laying and the most consistent. A smaller almost round egg.
Stephanie – Great egg layer!
Karen – Buffs are great layers and very friendly!
Heidi – They are gentle, friendly, and great Mamas! (See Photo!) This pic shows Buffy Mama (creative, huh???) with her SECOND batch of chicks last summer. Her first had four, this batch had 12!!!
Keri – Buff Orpigntons, hands down, make the best Mama hens!
Sharon – Kid friendly! We love ours.
Leah – We love Orps. They are really fun and easy going. They have such personalities!
Donna – “MaMa Ceta” aka in English as Hot MaMa! She is my first laying hen. She always comes up to me while I’m cleaning out their “poop boxes” and chitter chatters to me. She lowers herself so I can pet her. She is my cuddle hen!
Carlie – I’m starting to get my first eggs the past couple weeks! So exciting.
Brenda – Our girls… (See photo!)
Cher – I have 3. All very friendly and such big pantaloons!!
Jennifer – The butts!!
Deb – Nice large eggs too.
Carol – Their big puffy butts!
Jan – They are laid back and easy to raise. Just love them. Another good chicken to raise is the cinnamon queen. Love all my chickens.
Lauren – Just added 6 to my flock.. .can’t tell them apart yet so I named them all “Rita”!!
Thanks to the Community for sharing their photos and thoughts on why we love Buff Orpingtons!
Do you have a certain breed of chicken that you would like to have featured in our newsletter? Email your thoughts, stories and photos to RNickols@communitychickens.com – or share your favorite breeds on our Facebook page! Community Chickens on Facebook
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The Buffs of Community Chickens! ♥
12 Comments
Wyandotte chickens are also very good. Especially, the silver laced variety. The roosters are very beautiful.
When buying the Buff chicks, how does one tell between a hen and a rooster?
open range chicken good,like my aunt had, caged chicken get sick bought eggs pick & save sign said millions rid sick egg prices up. you got Bufy Be happy.Jeff
I like your Happy chicken & people,BBQ chicken legs today Like>jeff
We love our Orpingtons – they are so characterful! They make us laugh every day at their antics. We have just gone through our first broody / hatch experience. Our broody was very dedicated with the sitting and to the first chick that hatched but lost interest with the remaining eggs. Not without its stressful moments but we now have a three week old chick running around and being taught all things ‘chicken’ by its mother which is lovely to see.
I didn’t do yet, Budy told me have chickens to eat ticks,pine & oaks around house,want still dreaming bud chicken shack in woods,Buff sound ok.Jeff
Funny that you would leave this post just when I am selling my only 2 Buff Orp girls. Luckily I found someone to buy them who has 2 Orp roosters and no hens. I think (hope!) they will be happy in their new home!
They were lovely girls, but spent more time sitting on eggs than laying them, which totally screwed up my ability to find eggs to sell. They would sit in the nest box all day and night, and the other hens would somehow manage to lay eggs on top of them, so I never knew which eggs were fresh, and which were the ones they were trying to hatch. They managed to hatch a total of 2, but then gave up on the chicks and allowed 2 other hens to take over.
My Buff Orp rooster on the other hand (who was supposed to be a hen) is the best roo we have ever had. He is the nicest guy, gentle with the girls, doesn’t attack us—unlike any of our previous roos who all had one problem or another.
He is definitely a keeper!
They definitely are my favorites!
I so enjoyed reading this article….so many of the reasons you listed for getting Buff Orpingtons are the very same reasons I got Buff Orps….I did all the research as well and made my preparations and such for my girls. I love reading what others have to say about precious chickens.
My buff orpington was the nicest of our flock since she was a chick. She’d ignore food to hop up out arms to hand out on our shoulders. Now that sh’es grown, she wants to hop out of the coop to hang out and sometimes get hugs while the others chow down.
Thank you for posting things about chickens. I love watching our chickens grow around our yard. We let them loose around and they mingle with our cows,goats, turkeys, dogs and us around our 1,500 sq. m. farmlot/ residential compound. When I wake up in the morning they gather around upon seeing me and wait for the yellow corn grits I scatter for them. Before they roost, they come around to see again if I will let them have a few pecks before they go to their roosting place on the branches of our trees, the chicken house or in their favorite tree trunk hideout.
At four in the morning they wake me up with their crowing too.
What a wonderful life with them around.
We have a beautiful Buff Rooster, but he is soo nasty, just killed one of our chickens today and loves to attack any woman who might come into the yard, including me. I am looking to give him a great home, since he is a beautiful boy, but am petrified me just might attach a child walking by, since we live in a great neighborhood. Any suggestions?????