View source for Biology:Australorp

{{short description|Australian breed of chicken}}
{{infobox poultry breed
| name          = Australorp
| image         = Australorp Rooster.jpg
| image_size    =
| alt           = 
| image_caption = Black Australorp rooster
| altname       = {{unbulleted list|Black Australorp|Australian Orpington}}
| country       = Australia
| distribution  =
| standard      = [http://www.australorps.com/4.html Australorp Club of Australia]
| use           = Dual-purpose breed: eggs, meat
| apa           = English{{r|apa}}
| aba           = 
| aps           = Heavy breed softfeather
| ee     = 
| pcgb     = soft feather: heavy{{r|pcgb}}
| maleweight    = {{nobreak|Large: 3.20–4.10 kg}}<br>{{nobreak|Bantam: 0.96–1.23 kg}}
| femaleweight  = {{nobreak|Large: 2.250–3.10 kg}}<br>{{nobreak|Bantam: 0.79–1.04 kg}}{{r|aca}}
| skincolor     = White
| eggcolor      = Brown
| comb          = Single
| note          = 
}}

The '''Australorp''' is a [[Biology:Chicken|chicken]] breed of {{wipe|Australia}}n origin, developed as a utility breed with a focus on egg laying and is famous for laying more than 300 eggs per year. It achieved world-wide popularity in the 1920s after the breed broke numerous world records for number of eggs laid and has been a popular breed in the western world since.<ref name=conservancy>{{cite web|title=AUSTRALORP CHICKEN|url=http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/australorp|website=livestockconservancy.com|publisher=The Livestock Conservancy|accessdate=15 November 2014}}</ref> It is one of eight poultry breeds created in Australia and recognised by the Australian Poultry Standards.{{cn|date=July 2018}} The most popular colour of the breed is black, which is the only colour recognised in the United States of America,<ref name=conservancy /> but blue and white are also recognised in Australia<ref name=auststandard>{{cite book|last1=Limited|first1=Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association|title=Australian poultry standards|date=2011|publisher=Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association Limited (trading as Poultry Stud Breeders and Exhibitors Victoria)|location=Ballarat, Vic.|isbn=9781921488238|pages=38–40|edition=2nd|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/154380956?selectedversion=NBD47475199|accessdate=15 November 2014}}</ref> and the Poultry Club South Africa recognises buff, splash, wheaten laced and golden in addition.<ref name=SA>{{cite web|title=Soft Feather Breeds - Poultry Club South Africa|url=http://www.poultryclubsa.co.za/category/soft-feather-breeds/|website=poultryclubsa.co.za|publisher=Poultry Club South Africa|accessdate=15 November 2014}}</ref>

==History==
The original stock used in the development of the Australorp was imported to {{wipe|Australia}} from {{wipe|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 [[Biology:Croad Langshan|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 origin of the name "Australorp" seems to be shrouded in as much controversy as the attempts to obtain agreement between the States over a suitable national Standard. The earliest claim to the name was made by one of poultry fancy's institutions, Wiliam Wallace Scott, before the First World War. From 1925 Wal Scott set to work to have Australorp recognised as a breed with the Poultry Society as he developed the breed. Equally as persuasive a claim came in 1919 from Arthur Harwood who suggested that the "Australian Laying Orpingtons" be named "Australs". The letters "orp" were suggested as a suffix to denote the major breed in the fowl's development. A further overseas claim to the name came from Britain's W. Powell-Owen who drafted the British Standard for the breed in 1921 following the importation of the "Australian Utility Black Orpingtons." It is certain that the name "Australorp" was being used in the early 1920s when the breed was launched internationally.  In 1929, the Australorp was admitted to the Standard of Perfection.

== Characteristics ==
There are both bantam and standard sized Australorps.

The Australorp has three recognised colours according to the Australian Poultry Standard: black, white and blue. White Australorps have been recorded since 1949<ref>{{cite news|title=White Australorps Breed True|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56910807|accessdate=15 November 2014|publisher=Morning Bulletin|date=July 15, 1949}}</ref> but they were only recognised in the second edition of the ''Australian Poultry Standards'' in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=AUSTRALIAN POULTRY STANDARDS|url=http://www.australorps.com/4.html|website=australorps.com|publisher=Australorp Club of Australia|accessdate=15 November 2014|archive-date=10 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910140239/http://www.australorps.com/4.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Poultry Club South Africa recognises four more colours: buff, splash, wheaten laced, and golden.<ref name=SA />

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Image:Australorps henne.jpg|Black hen
Image:Australops2.jpg|White rooster
Image:Astra3.JPG|Three-day-old chick
</gallery>

==Eggs==
It was the egg-laying performance of Australorps that attracted attention when in 1922–1923, a team of six hens set a world record by laying 1857 eggs for an average of 309.5 eggs per hen during a 365 consecutive day trial. These figures were achieved without the lighting regimens of the modern intensive shed. Such performances had importation orders flooding in from {{wipe|England}}, {{wipe|United States of America}}, {{wipe|South Africa}}, {{wipe|Canada}} and Mexico.  Well looked after Australorps lay approximately 250 light-brown eggs per year. A new record was set when a hen laid 364 eggs in 365 days.<ref>{{cite web|title=Australorp Chicken|url=http://www.zoossa.com.au/adelaide-zoo/animals-exhibits/animals/birds?species=Australorp%20Chicken|accessdate=18 July 2012}}</ref> They are also known to be good nest sitters and mothers, making them one of the most popular large heritage utility breeds of chicken.

==References==
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=aca>[http://www.australorps.com/4.html The Standards]. Australorp Club of Australia. Accessed August 2014.</ref>

<ref name=apa>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171104135004/http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/PDF%20Forms/APA%20Recognized%20Breeds%20and%20Varieties%20Sept2012.pdf APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012]. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.</ref>

<ref name=pcgb>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143235/http://www.poultryclub.org/img/Breed%20Classification.pdf Breed Classification]. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.</ref>


}}

== Further reading ==
* Alanna Moore (1998). ''Backyard Poultry—Naturally''. Bolwarrah, Victoria, Australia: Bolwarrah Press. {{ISBN|0-9585590-1-5}}


[[Category:Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist]]

{{Sourceattribution|Australorp}}