Barnevelder breeders lets work together and improve the breed

[Jomini]

Do you have any pictures of the chicks?  It's possible you have a little cockerel as they do get a comb faster than the female.  Also the female will feather up faster on the shoulders than the male and will tend to have a longer tail at that age. 

Pictures might help us be able to help you out...



DD

Both born 3-11 thru 3-13

 

[Jomini]

They are supposed to be the same age. In the sitting photos the one on the left has more beetle green sheen,is darker with larger feet and pinker comb. The standing pics the larger one on the right feathering looks really different from the other one... Any thoughts if it is gonna be a roo?

 

[DiamondDust]

Yep, I would say you have one girl and one boy there. The one with the pinker comb is a male and the one with more lacing is a female. Nice because now you have a pair!

DD

 

[Jomini]

Yep, I would say you have one girl and one boy there.  The one with the pinker comb is a male and the one with more lacing is a female.  Nice because now you have a pair! 

DD

Well so far out of my nine supposed to be "pullet" :/ mixed flock I think I have two Roos , the Barnevelder and a columbian Wyandotte. You are right at least I will have a pair of the Barnevelders. Maybe I can breed him with my Ameraucanas and have a olive eggers and hatch some barnevelder babies in the future. I think I will only keep one roo if they both are truly Roos. So I'll need to find a home for the Wyandotte. Thanks so much for the info... I'll be listening for a crow in the next couple months

 

[DiamondDust]

Barnevelder roosters mature slowly...you may not hear him crow before the fall!

DD

 

[tls_ranch]

I haven't been on here much lately. But, I wanted to share a spring picture of a broody hen and chicks

It's been a busy breeding season for me already. 100+ chicks hatched so far, 46 eggs in the bator and one more hatch planned for May. Then I will probably put my bator away until fall.

Trisha

 

[Jomini]

I haven't been on here much lately. But, I wanted to share a spring picture of a broody hen and chicks

It's been a busy breeding season for me already. 100+ chicks hatched so far, 46 eggs in the bator and one more hatch planned for May. Then I will probably put my bator away until fall.

Trisha

Beautiful picture I hope mine will be as pretty as yours

 

[tls_ranch]

I haven't been on here much lately. But, I wanted to share a spring picture of a broody hen and chicks

It's been a busy breeding season for me already. 100+ chicks hatched so far, 46 eggs in the bator and one more hatch planned for May. Then I will probably put my bator away until fall.

Trisha

Beautiful picture I hope mine will be as pretty as yours

Thanks I hope you enjoy your barnies

 

[DiamondDust]

I've been thinking of another topic to talk about!

I've been thinking about how to decide who stays and who goes. I have a lot of young males and would like to start thinning the flock. At what age should we start to make this kind of decision and what do we look for?

I have some ideas. For instance, I'd like to pick my next cockerel to have a deeper keel, or chest. I feel my current cock is a little flat chested. Will I be able to tell already at seven weeks old or should I wait...and how long, to decide?

I am hatching chicks almost every week but the hens have really slacked off in laying the last couple of weeks so I will have very few hatching next month. I hate to sell one of the boys I should keep and I know this is a dilemma for many breeders. How and when do you decide?

This would be good information for helping new breeders like myself make good decisions.

Thanks,

DD

 

[bonnylass79]

I've been thinking of another topic to talk about!

I've been thinking about how to decide who stays and who goes. I have a lot of young males and would like to start thinning the flock. At what age should we start to make this kind of decision and what do we look for?

I have some ideas.  For instance, I'd like to pick my next cockerel to have a deeper keel, or chest. I feel my current cock is a little flat chested. Will I be able to tell already at seven weeks old or should I wait...and how long, to decide?

I am hatching chicks almost every week but the hens have really slacked off in laying the last couple of weeks so I will have very few hatching next month.  I hate to sell one of the boys I should keep and I know this is a dilemma for many breeders.  How and when do you decide?

This would be good information for helping new breeders like myself make good decisions.

Thanks,

DD 

What I've been doing is selecting a couple hatches and saying "I'm going to grow out this hatch." I don't start to make any decisions until at least 6 months old because they change so much. Then I select for size/rate of growth, color, shape and comb. On hens, i also look at lacing and egg color. I still don't make my final breeding decisions until they're 1 year old. By that point, most of my breeders will have also gone to a show so I can further determine who are my best birds for breeding.