The Chocolate Bantam Orpington

"The Chocolate Orpington Bantam has probably caused the biggest stir in the poultry world for many years."

The Chocolate gene was discovered by the late Dr Carefoot in 1995. Dr Carefoot had decided not to release any Chocolate birds to the rest of the poultry world and the stories of it's rescue around the time of his death are well documented.

I beleive that the excitement that this caused, the huge amount of money that was generated and the fact that i'm sure every rare breed poultry keeper in the country has discussed and debated the Chocolate Orpington has done a huge promotion for the breed in general. Many  breeders will have jumped on the band wagon to earn a quick buck but these will fade as the price levels but also many others new and old will have fallen in love with these birds and will continue to breed and keep the future generations.

Having never had the chance to meet Dr Carefoot I can not begin to understand his reason for keeping the Choc gene to himself but wrong or right the man was a genius and I strongly recommend to anyone that is interested in gene interaction in poultry to read his book

 " Creative Poultry Breeding ".

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE WHAT GENES THE CHOCOLATE ORPINGTON BANTAMS CARRY