Australorp Chicken

Facts about Australorp Chickens. The Australorp Chicken is a breed of chicken that originates from Australia. The Australorp Chicken was developed mainly as a utility breed in the 1920s from Black Orpington specifically for egg production rather than for meat. Australorp Chickens are exceptional layers, they lay characteristic tinted eggs and they hold the record for egg production – a hen of the breed can lay 364 eggs in 365 days.

Physical description of Australorp Chickens

Australorp Chicken quite smaller and neater compared to their predecessor Orpingtons, despite that they still have a lot of meat. There are three varieties of this breed, the black birds have feathers with an amazing beetle-green sheen and have prominent dark eyes. It has a single comb which is evenly serrated. They have red earlobes and medium length wattles. Australorp Chicken have black strong legs that have four toes and are free of feathers. The other variety includes the white and the blue feathered. The blue Australorp Chicken has grey-blue plumage and the white Australorp Chicken has pure white feathers, and splash is white with randomly spotted grey and black feathers.

The weight of an Australorp Chicken varies, the large Australorp Chicken weighs around 8.5 lbs to 10 lbs (3.9 to 4.7 kg), for the cock and 8 to 9.5 lbs (3.3 to 4.2 kg), for the hens, the Bantam Australorp Chicken weighs around 2.6 pound (1.2 kg) for the cock and 28 ounces (790 grams) for the hen.

Characteristics of Australorp Chicken

The Australorp Chickens are an active breed that grows very fast and the hens will reach point of lay around five months of age. They are quite productive and are not prone to broodiness. The Australorp Chickens can make very good pets as they are pretty calm and friendly, although they can be a little bit heavy for the children to pick them up.

Australorp Chickens can live in runs, but they enjoy having their freedom so free range is mostly preferred. Generally they are not good fliers so the fencing doesn’t need to be very high. Australorp Chickens are very hardy and can withstand the cold weather amazingly well.

A well looked after Australorp Chickens can lay an average of 250 light-brown eggs in a year. Australorp Chickens are also known to be good mothers and nest sitters, this makes them among the most exceptional huge utility breeds.