Barnevelder breeders lets work together and improve the breed

[sherpagirl]

Just curious, how do you sex them this early? I have 5 eggs due to hatch tomorrow and I would love to be able to sex them right away. Thanks so much for any input and Happy Easter!

In my flock (heavy Johan influence), I am always very happy to see a chick with a solid gray chest, girl Bright white chest usually means - boy. Anything in between, even yellow can go either way. And, the grays can be boys and the whites can be girls occasionally, so, be careful not to cull too young ;-) These are my personal observations over 5 years of hatching.

As the chicks get older watch for:
Bald spots on the wing shoulders, pink wattles, points on combs, long legs, big feet - usually boys.
Lots of wing feathers and less (or even no) wattle and comb development - usually girls

And I've started to think that the boys' bodies, if you are looking down on them, look more oval shaped, more slender whereas the girls are more round? Has anyone else noticed that?

 

[DylansMom]

In my flock (heavy Johan influence), I am always very happy to see a chick with a solid gray chest, girl Bright white chest usually means - boy. Anything in between, even yellow can go either way. And, the grays can be boys and the whites can be girls occasionally, so, be careful not to cull too young ;-) These are my personal observations over 5 years of hatching.

As the chicks get older watch for:
Bald spots on the wing shoulders, pink wattles, points on combs, long legs, big feet - usually boys.
Lots of wing feathers and less (or even no) wattle and comb development - usually girls

And I've started to think that the boys' bodies, if you are looking down on them, look more oval shaped, more slender whereas the girls are more round? Has anyone else noticed that?

I ended up with 4 chicks and from what everyone is telling me it looks like 2 boys 1 girl and 1 undecided. Would you all agree?
Number 4 isn't as white/yellow as #'s 1 & 2 but also not as gray/brown as #3. I'm trying to find out where the seller got the parents from. Thanks everyone!

 

[nicalandia]

In my flock (heavy Johan influence), I am always very happy to see a chick with a solid gray chest, girl Bright white chest usually means - boy. Anything in between, even yellow can go either way. And, the grays can be boys and the whites can be girls occasionally, so, be careful not to cull too young ;-) These are my personal observations over 5 years of hatching.

As the chicks get older watch for:
Bald spots on the wing shoulders, pink wattles, points on combs, long legs, big feet - usually boys.
Lots of wing feathers and less (or even no) wattle and comb development - usually girls

And I've started to think that the boys' bodies, if you are looking down on them, look more oval shaped, more slender whereas the girls are more round? Has anyone else noticed that?

Barnevelders come in two different e allele background, e+(wildtpe) and eb(brown) and e+/eb heterozygotes so sexing them by just down color its going to be difficult and dependant on the line the breeder is working with..


Edit. some Barnevelder lines are even based on wheaten, so you have eb/eb e+/e+ eWh/eWh lines and the possible mixes of them, which will not affect the final look of the birds, just the looks of the chicks at hatch

 

[DylansMom]

Barnevelders come in two different e allele background, e+(wildtpe) and eb(brown) and e+/eb heterozygotes so sexing them by just down color its going to be difficult and dependant on the line the breeder is working with..


Edit. some Barnevelder lines are even based on wheaten, so you have eb/eb e+/e+ eWh/eWh lines and the possible mixes of them, which will not affect the final look of the birds, just the looks of the chicks at hatch

The lady I purchased my eggs from said they were from the ledford line, anyone heard of these? Good? Bad?

 

[nicalandia]

The lady I purchased my eggs from said they were from the ledford line, anyone heard of these? Good? Bad?

They are a good line, good luck and post pics of the chicks as they mature please..

 

[poultch]

Barnevelders come in two different e allele background, e+(wildtpe) and eb(brown) and e+/eb heterozygotes so sexing them by just down color its going to be difficult and dependant on the line the breeder is working with..


Edit. some Barnevelder lines are even based on wheaten, so you have eb/eb e+/e+ eWh/eWh lines and the possible mixes of them, which will not affect the final look of the birds, just the looks of the chicks at hatch

cant say I agree with you there Marvin.
e+ based barnies are pretty easy to spot even in adult feather, as are wheatons, (wheaton based are more subtle)
wildtype based females have very much the calling card salmon chest of duckwing, and the lacing just doesn't stick to it very well

 

[poultch]

Another picture of the wing pattern of a 12 week old blue cockerel.

interesting pics Trisha. thanks for sharing them
question,
do you see the green sheen often in your blues? I have ever seen it at all (often I use the absence of it as a good indicator that a juv is blue - in those hard to tell ones at that 12-14week old age bracket)
also do you have any close up pics of your adult, proven males wings, outstretched as above, and from underneath the wing??

 

[nicalandia]

cant say I agree with you there Marvin.
e+ based barnies are pretty easy to spot even in adult feather, as are wheatons, (wheaton based are more subtle)
wildtype based females have very much the calling card salmon chest of duckwing, and the lacing just doesn't stick to it very well

I agree, I have seen them and their tale tale salmon breasts, but eb/eWh or eb/e+ or e+/eWh barnies will be tricky to spot as adults..


and I was referring to chick Sexing..

 

[nicalandia]

now check the difference in Chick down on this chicks, one looks like a Wheaten or wheaten heterozygote and the others like eb/e+ heterozygotes, but when they start feathering out their feather pattern look identical

source> http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7994407

 

[DiamondDust]

I think there is a problem with the down color on all three of those chicks. The Wheaten is obvious to see, of course, when very young. The other two mask show a slight V pattern on the top of the head and again the line through the eye shows a definite e+ on the Yellow banded chick and the black banded chick. For the proper lacing as adults they should not show any of these patterns as chicks. That being said, I understand that in some countries (Australia for example) it is nearly impossible to get Barnevelder chicks that do not have Ewh or e+ patterning. In those places (where import restrictions make getting pure bloodlines nearly impossible) one should cull for those color traits in chicks to get closer to the Eb chick down pattern. I have hatched dozens and dozens of Barnevelder chicks and not once seen either of those patterns in my day olds. When I mentioned being able to sex them at day old from the down I meant lines like what I have, not those influenced by Ewh or e+ genetics.

Hope that helps,

DD