Trishia,
The Barnevelder males in the British, Dutch, and OUR (APA) standard should NOT have lacing in the breast. This was a hotly debated topic in the Dutch club, but one of their top breeders (I cannot recall his name -- maybe it was Mr. Osram) proved that males with totally black breasts could be mated to nicely laced females to produce sound offspring, both male and female. Again, the double laced variety we have in the APA standard does not call for a male with breast lacing. (Some of the European standards, such as Germany, Denmark, France, and others may accept or require males with breast lacing, but I hope we don't go down that route.) Birds hatched out of eggs from the Netherlands we received around 20 years ago never produced a single male with breast lacing, whereas some of the (German origin) bantam Barnevelder males I imported from Canada showed breast lacing in the males. In my opinion, it is of pivotal importance that breeders here in the US agree on this issue NOW because the breed is still a relative novelty in the APA and confusion at this point would not help the breed (let alone the judges). Another thing to look out for is the body shape (I have seen some birds that leave a great deal to be desired in this respect -- pictures of US breeders' birds I have seen), which I think is just as important as the lacing issue. Accepting the breed as "partridge" in the APA was idiotic, but it may be due to Mr. Grezcmiehl's limited language skills (a German immigrant to Canada, he was very instrumental in having the breed accepted by the APA; passed away a few years ago) and could be easily remedied by petitioning for a change in the standard description.
I think there may be some misunderstanding about what the SOP states. So, while hoping I ain't breaking any rules or getting myself into any trouble, let me quote here from the 2010 APA SOP that just came out last year:
From Page 142 of the SOP
BARNEVELDERS
The breed was originated in the district of Barneveld, Holland, with the brown eggs as one of the chief attractions. At first the birds were of mixed markings, some being double laced, others single laced, while the majority follwed the stippled partridge pattern. Two varieties were standardized, the double laced partridge and the stippled partridge, but the former gradually came to the top and is the popular variety in Holland today.
Now, from pages 35 & 36 of the SOP describing the color "Partridge" in the male and then female respectively:
Male
HEAD: Web of feather, lustrous rich red
NECK: Hackle -- web of feather, lustrous greenish black with a narrow lacing of medium shade of rich, brilliant red, shaft black
BACK: Back, including Saddle -- web of feathers, lustrous, greenish black with narrow facing of a medium shade of rich brilliant red, a slight shafting of rich red permissible. Rich brilliant red predominating on surface of upper back; saddle matching with hackle color.
BREAST: Lustrous greenish black
(Other parts of body omitted here to save time and space)
Female
HEAD: Deep reddish bay
NECK: Hackle -- black, slightly penciled with deep reddish bay and laced with reddish bay
BACK: Deep reddish bay, with distinct black pencilings.
BREAST: Deep reddish bay with distinct black pencilings.
(Again, other parts of body omitted here to save time and space)
Now back to Page 142 of SOP for comparison to the above:
COLOR - MALE
HEAD: Each feather black with slight reddish brown edging and reddish brown shafts, tips of feather black
NECK: Each feather black with slight reddish brown edging and reddish brown shafts, tips of feather black
BACK: Each feather reddish brown with very wide lacing of lustrous, greenish black
Saddle - Each feather black with slight reddish brown edging and reddish brown shafts, tips of feathers black
BREAST: Each feather reddish brown with a sharply defined lacing of lustrous, greenish black
(Other body parts omitted)
So, one can see that the APA SOP does require lacing in the breast of the Barnie male.
COLOR - FEMALE
HEAD: Plumage, lustrous, greenish black
NECK: Lustrous, greenish black. Front of neck - same as breast.
BACK: Each fether reddish brown, free of black peppering, with a well defined outer lacing of lustrous, greenish black and a well definted inner lacking of lustrous, greenish black. The outer lacing to be distinct yet not so heavy as to give a black appearance to the bird in the show pen.
BREAST: Each feather reddish brown, free of black peppering, with a well defined outer lacing of lustrous, greenish black and a well defined inner lacing of lustrous, greenish black. The outer lacing to be distinct yet not so heavy as to give a black appearance to the bird in the show pen.
So hopefully this will help clarify why the Barnie is considered a "Partridge" colored bird and how that applies to the specific coloration of the breed. And it should also correct any misunderstandings about whether our SOP requires lacing in the breasts of the male.
God Bless,
Royce
