You definitely have your work cut out for you with barred Hollands. I looked through my APA yearbook and couldn't find any listings for them, and I don't remember ever seeing any at the Poultry Congress either. You could ask over in the exhibition forum to see if anyone knows of breeders. Even if you had to ship chicks or started birds you'd be better off than starting off with hatchery stock. At least you aren't trying to find white Hollands!@Merrymouse: oh maaaan. I'm looking into getting Barred Hollands and setting up a breeding program to help get the breed from where it is now closer to the standard. I'm looking at like, ten years of work ahead of me, but it should be fun work! It's looking like I'm going to have to get them from a hatchery, though. I'd much prefer a private breeder, but so far I can't find any that are within what I consider a reasonable driving distance (which, um, is like, 8 hours one-way, so it's a wide definition of "reasonable").
If you can't find a breeder I would recommend contacting Duane Urch first. Sandhill second. Either will have a more sporadic supply of chicks, but the chicks will be a considerable improvement over the major hatcheries. You may have to wait for stock from either of those until next year. If you really want to start this year you can play around with what birds you can find.
Definitely build at least 2 coops/runs, preferably 3. One for breeders, one to grow out chicks and a 3rd for a bachelor pad for chicken dinners. You will be culling a lot!
I always thought Hollands were an older breed. I didn't realize they weren't developed until 1934 and accepted into the APA until 1949. I suppose with the prevalence of barred Rocks and Dominiques the Hollands have fallen by the wayside. Not to mention the apparent preference for brown eggs over white around here - I can still hear the commercial "brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh!".
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