Barnevelder breeders lets work together and improve the breed

[tls_ranch]

Hi Everyone, It's been quite some time since I've posted anything but I've been keeping us with the thread as much as I can. Been super busy with work and home stuff. I finally got a few standard Barnies hatched out but not near what I had planned. Been having terrible fertility problems this year with all my breeds. I don't know if it's the weather going from cool and rainy to warm and sunny and then back (Like today. And it rained so hard last night that it blew out my satellite TV signal.) or something else. Anyways, I found myself with a little extra time last night wondering what I should do before dark. So I went in and got the camera and took a few pics of my Barnie F2 RC cockerel and a F3 pullet. I'm trying something for the first time so I hope it works. Gonna see if I can load the pics as a movie. The main thing I wanted to point out is the Type for both and especially the lacing in the cockerel. I bred him back to some F2 and F1 females that I know are not homozygous for the RC and am hoping I'll get a decent SC male with nice lacing from him. I am really quite happy with him even though his RC isn't quite what it should be. Am hoping his progeny will be much better. Speaking of which, you'll notice the little RC pullet is looking pretty nice too. Good Type and nice lacing. (If I do say so myself! Sorry, hope I'm not sounding too prideful here.) But the one thing I wanted to get a shot of, I forgot all about. Hopefully, you'll be able to make out her RC well enough. It's much better than her Mom's. Well, neither of those worked so let me see if I can do this YouTube thing... God Bless, Royce

Looking nice Royce So you are going for the laced breast in the males (German/UK style) rather than the solid black breast of the Dutch standard? Trisha

Thanks Trisha. Yes, I am going for the laced breast in the males. That's what our SOP calls for and I'm gonna breed him back to some of his sisters that are RC/SC splits. I'm hoping I'll get a SC cockerel out of that with some nice lacing in the breast. God Bless,

It will be very exciting to see how the RC barnies progress I have talked to a few people who would love to have barnies with rosé combs (rosecomb marans or welsummers darkeggers too) so that they can handle the extreme cold without frost bit combs. I will be breeding for the Dutch standard to go with the country of origin's standard. Rather than double mating to produce both male and female lacing to meet the APA's description, I will focus on pullet breeder lines. That way I can at least produce exceptionally laced females that meet the APA standard. According to the Dutch the solid black breasts in males leads towards better laced females. I just don't have the room and $ to keep multiple pens of cockerel/ pullet breeder lines. If i started double mating for laced breasted males, i would have to double the current number of birds I already raise and 1/2 of them would be deemed unshowable right off the bat. I already hatch well over 200 chicks per year in order to select the best for breeders. No way I can double that with the cost of feed skyrocketing like it has been. I paid well over $20 for a bag of chick starter yesterday! It wasn't a fancy organic brand either.. Double mating will also be out of reach of most other hobby breeders. Unless they wiil be happy to focus on either JUST pullets OR cockerels for showing if we keep the current standard the way it is....The Dutch have already gone through this and didn't accept the wasteful need to double mate barnevelders. Trisha

 

[islandgal99]

Does anybody have experience with weasel or mink proofing their coops? Mink are getting all the chickens in my neighborhood and throughout our island and I'm a bit terrified they will soon discover me.

My night houses I'm pretty sure are mink proof so long as there are no wood chips in the doors...all the vent holes are covered with fine mesh. What is the smallest hole a mink (or weasel...I think they are the same size but not sure) can get into? Could they squeeze between the gaps of metal roofing and wood, and would they climb to do so or do they enter from ground level? Do mink usually come at night, or are they daytime killers? I remember weasels on the farm were usually night time killers and would get about 3-4 a night until we captured them. I know my daypens are not mink proof for sure, so am I just putting a whole lot of worry into something I have no control over?

To keep the aerial predators from snacking on my chickens (and we have many) I made a series of chicken tractors that I move daily to fresh grass. I am thinking that I might beef up the pens with my barnies so that it is completely surrounded with the fine mesh to keep the mink away, and develop a better connecting system between the tractor house and run. And I'm going out today to make an outdoor chick brooder and have mink in mind while building that. I would be devastated though to come home one day to a yard full of dead chickens, and that's apparently what's happening around the island.

I have an live animal trap, however I don't want to bait it and attract a mink that otherwise might not have visited. That happened with a neighbor, she fed her chickens some shrimp heads and the next day the mink came and got every single chicken. And I do have resident raccoons that have learned to leave my pens alone...I was told that when you have a group of coons that reach that point of leaving your pens alone to let them be as they will continue to leave your pens alone, and the resident group will drive away new racoons that may be a little more persistent. That theory seems to be working...all I see the the little animal paths around the pens as they to a walk through every night looking for an opportunity, which I don't leave them. All my night houses are definitely racoon proof.

I found a (real) farm, we're looking at a year though until it's ours. Until then, I don't want to build anything permanent. But after we move, I already have plans for a permanent mink proof coop...until then I have to figure out what to do with what I have.

 

[tls_ranch]

Ok, here's my last rant about the lacing issue.

I was attracted to barnevelders because the hens were so beautiful with their intricate double lacing. I thought amazing....I can have a whole flock of stunning hens and a pretty rooster too. Most other breeds have gorgeous fancy roosters, but rather plain hens. The Barnevelder hen is the STAR of this breed....she is amazingly beautiful with intricate lacing, lays well and produces a beautiful rich brown egg. Most people keep chickens for the hens...not the pretty roosters that are illegal in many areas due to noise issues.

Now a lot of research has proven that breeding for laced breasted males will result in poor female lacing. I do not want to keep a flock of 12 -20 poorly laced hens that I can't show in order to keep 2-3 laced breasted roosters for show. I would rather breed for stunningly, laced hens that amaze everyone that sees them. Hens with intricate lacing that can be enjoyed, admired and kept as pets by people who can't even keep roosters.

Trisha

PS,

Notice that the Barnevelder club logo has a picture of a hen...not a rooster. They have decided that the hen is more important...after all hens lay the eggs right?

 

[tls_ranch]

Does anybody have experience with weasel or mink proofing their coops? Mink are getting all the chickens in my neighborhood and throughout our island and I'm a bit terrified they will soon discover me. My night houses I'm pretty sure are mink proof so long as there are no wood chips in the doors...all the vent holes are covered with fine mesh. What is the smallest hole a mink (or weasel...I think they are the same size but not sure) can get into? Could they squeeze between the gaps of metal roofing and wood, and would they climb to do so or do they enter from ground level? Do mink usually come at night, or are they daytime killers? I remember weasels on the farm were usually night time killers and would get about 3-4 a night until we captured them. I know my daypens are not mink proof for sure, so am I just putting a whole lot of worry into something I have no control over? To keep the aerial predators from snacking on my chickens (and we have many) I made a series of chicken tractors that I move daily to fresh grass. I am thinking that I might beef up the pens with my barnies so that it is completely surrounded with the fine mesh to keep the mink away, and develop a better connecting system between the tractor house and run. And I'm going out today to make an outdoor chick brooder and have mink in mind while building that. I would be devastated though to come home one day to a yard full of dead chickens, and that's apparently what's happening around the island. I have an live animal trap, however I don't want to bait it and attract a mink that otherwise might not have visited. That happened with a neighbor, she fed her chickens some shrimp heads and the next day the mink came and got every single chicken. And I do have resident raccoons that have learned to leave my pens alone...I was told that when you have a group of coons that reach that point of leaving your pens alone to let them be as they will continue to leave your pens alone, and the resident group will drive away new racoons that may be a little more persistent. That theory seems to be working...all I see the the little animal paths around the pens as they to a walk through every night looking for an opportunity, which I don't leave them. All my night houses are definitely racoon proof. I found a (real) farm, we're looking at a year though until it's ours. Until then, I don't want to build anything permanent. But after we move, I already have plans for a permanent mink proof coop...until then I have to figure out what to do with what I have.

I don't have any experience with mink or weasels, but they probably could squeeze through any opening a small rat could. Night time or dusk/ dawn is usually the most dangerous time to be a chicken, so can you predator proof their sleeping area? My runs are no where near predator proof. The chickens roosting in the coop are pretty well locked up at night against bigger predators But, would be in big trouble if there were minks and weasels in the area. Trisha

 

[SandyAcres]

I have bantam Barnevelders, they are the best birds ever. The hens will hatch out anything including turkeys and are sensational moms. I am going to try to sell eggs and was wondering if there is a market for them? I've never tried to ship eggs before and am nervous. I do have a couple young trios for sale, I won't ship them. I live in Florida and you can see my birds here: https://www.facebook.com/SandyAcresFarms

Their eggs are small/medium in size and a lighter brown color, they are not dark. My birds all come out looking exactly alike, I have never crossed with anything. The roosters are as amazing as the hens - I use them for "crowd control" when I have youngsters in the grow out pen that get to full of themselves. The roosters are firm but gentle with all the young birds and are great fathers. They do not help set on eggs like our Dutch bantams, but they do help raise the chicks once they are hatched. We have six grown hens currently and they all hatch out eggs and are wonderful mothers. Never met a bantam Barnevelder that won't go broody...

 

[tls_ranch]

I have bantam Barnevelders, they are the best birds ever. The hens will hatch out anything including turkeys and are sensational moms. I am going to try to sell eggs and was wondering if there is a market for them? I've never tried to ship eggs before and am nervous. I do have a couple young trios for sale, I won't ship them. I live in Florida and you can see my birds here: https://www.facebook.com/SandyAcresFarms Their eggs are small/medium in size and a lighter brown color, they are not dark. My birds all come out looking exactly alike, I have never crossed with anything. The roosters are as amazing as the hens - I use them for "crowd control" when I have youngsters in the grow out pen that get to full of themselves. The roosters are firm but gentle with all the young birds and are great fathers. They do not help set on eggs like our Dutch bantams, but they do help raise the chicks once they are hatched. We have six grown hens currently and they all hatch out eggs and are wonderful mothers. Never met a bantam Barnevelder that won't go broody...

Nice! I keep thinking I should get some bantam barnies just for my kids Trisha

 

[islandgal99]

I don't have any experience with mink or weasels, but they probably could squeeze through any opening a small rat could. Night time or dusk/ dawn is usually the most dangerous time to be a chicken, so can you predator proof their sleeping area? My runs are no where near predator proof. The chickens roosting in the coop are pretty well locked up at night against bigger predators But, would be in big trouble if there were minks and weasels in the area.

Trisha

Thanks Trisha,

I think my night houses are safe. I spent a whole day making sure there were no holes or gaps anywhere. I do have ventilation and that's mesh covered. The only holes are at the metal roofing. I think I might lift all the metal and put a thin sheet of plywood under and that takes care of the gaps. It's just so sad, so many birds have been killed by mink and that has discouraged so many potential small flock owners. And I don't want them to get my Barnies. And I just found out we have cougars on the island this year. I don't think we have to worry too much about the cougars though, our deer population is over the top so a cougar should have lots to eat and easy pickings as there are many diseased and broken deer here. Go figure, we usually don't have bears or cougar, no coyotes, wolves, skunks. But our most deadly predators are small #1 mink, #2 aerial (red tails, ravens, eagles, Cooper's hawks) # 3 raccoons. Until this year I would have said aerial predators were number 1.

 

[sherpagirl]

I got the phone call Sunday that they hatched. Picked them up Monday afternoon.
Here's my Fossil Rock barnies. Thanks so much to Donna. She has some really nice looking birds there.

Thanks Chris! Nice pics!

 

[sherpagirl]

It will be very exciting to see how the RC barnies progress I have talked to a few people who would love to have barnies with rosé combs (rosecomb marans or welsummers darkeggers too) so that they can handle the extreme cold without frost bit combs.

I will be breeding for the Dutch standard to go with the country of origin's standard. Rather than double mating to produce both male and female lacing to meet the APA's description, I will focus on pullet breeder lines. That way I can at least produce exceptionally laced females that meet the APA standard. According to the Dutch the solid black breasts in males leads towards better laced females.

I just don't have the room and $ to keep multiple pens of cockerel/ pullet breeder lines. If i started double mating for laced breasted males, i would have to double the current number of birds I already raise and 1/2 of them would be deemed unshowable right off the bat. I already hatch well over 200 chicks per year in order to select the best for breeders. No way I can double that with the cost of feed skyrocketing like it has been. I paid well over $20 for a bag of chick starter yesterday! It wasn't a fancy organic brand either.. Double mating will also be out of reach of most other hobby breeders. Unless they wiil be happy to focus on either JUST pullets OR cockerels for showing if we keep the current standard the way it is....The Dutch have already gone through this and didn't accept the wasteful need to double mate barnevelders.

Trisha

Maybe I missed something but what is double mating?

And on the leg color, what about the gray frosting that shows up on the yellow legs? How bad is that to have? I don't know what it's called but it looks like someone just sprayed a little gray or black paint lightly across their toes.

 

[sherpagirl]

I like the last boy here.

Your splash boy has a nice back sweep. So does the blue boy.

Hi Trisha, I love all the pictures you've been posting, beautiful!