The Australorp chicken breed was first originated from Australia. It is a dual-purpose breed which means it can be used to produce both meat and eggs, but it is quite famous for its egg-laying capacity.
The Australorp is one of the most recent members of the chicken breed. In a very short interval of time, it had generated a very good impact on the poultry industry. Since the Australorp first emerged from Australia it is considered to be the nominal national bird of the continent of Australia.
Breed Origin
It is believed that in the early 1900s the Orpingtons were exported from England to Australia. The Orpington chicken was then crossed with Rhode Island Reds to produce a different Chicken breed (Australorp Chicken) for the Australian clime.
In a very short period, the Australorp become popular and won many contests between 1922-1924. The Australorp made its way to Europe and the western countries as a notable chicken breed.
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Appearance
The Australorp is a big heavy fowl whose body is covered with soft feathers. This breed is obtainable in blue, white and black colour. However, the American Poultry Association have only recognized the Australorp chicken in its black colour.
The Australorp has an erect stance and the comb is in the upright position with 7 distinguish points, like the other chicken breeds legs of Australorp chicken, are clean of feathers and are mostly black or blue. Each foot has no more than four toes. Their eyes are glossy and are mostly black. Australorp’s beak is dark in colour. The comb and the ear lobes of the Australorp chicken are brick red.
Weight
The Australorp chicken is labelled as large and heavy birds. The hen of this breed weighs around 6 to 8lbs which is about 3 to 4kgs and the rooster weighs around 8 to 10lb which is about 4 to 5kgs.
Egg-laying Capacity
As we have already discussed that the Australorp is quite popular because of its high egg-laying capacity. In case of the Australorp breed, the hen gives about 5-6 eggs per week which means around 240-250 eggs per year.
Egg size and colour
The Australorp chicken does not lay very large eggs like the size of their body but is medium in size. The egg colour in most of the cases is light brown but sometimes medium brown eggs have also been observed.
Behaviour
The hens of the Australorp breed are broody which means they love to sit on their eggs and thus appear to be very good mothers to their chicks. Like other chicken breeds, they love freedom and like to be active. They love to roam here and there but don’t like to be touched.
They are not violent but are very delightful. They are hardy and can tolerate harsh weather easily but up to a certain limit. They lay eggs throughout the winter season. They mostly love shady places and are soft target to heatstroke. The average life span of the Australorp chicken is about 8 to 10 years.
Despite laying a large number of eggs per year they also produce a good amount of meat. Poultry breeders show great interest in the breeding of the Australorp chicken because it not only lays a large number of eggs and produce a good amount of meat but is also easy to breed and requires less care.
