Australorps

Today lets check out the Australorp chicken. Funny name for a chicken you say? Well, 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).

The Australorp has three recognised colours according to the Australian Poultry Standard: black, white and blue. White Australorps have been recorded since 1949 but they were only recognised in the second edition of the Australian Poultry Standards in 2011. The Poultry Club South Africa recognises four further colours: buff, splash, wheaten laced and golden. Australorps were developed as a utility breed with a focus on egg laying and the breed is famous for laying more than 300 eggs, which are light brown in color.

When Amaretto came out with the 3.0 Barnyard Bird update, one of the new breeds was the Black Australorp! You could have a chance at one of the exciting Non-Starter Breed Birds by breeding any bird with a starter bird or by breeding together two starter birds.

The Black Australorp breed CAN be passed on. Obviously, they can't lay 300 eggs, as the regular Amaretto bird only lays 12, but have fun breeding them anyway!