Barnevelder breeders lets work together and improve the breed

[RachaelS]

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Where will I get my eye candy picture fix now!!!! I guess your Standards and Blues will just have do to

 

[islandgal99]

Hi All. I have been lurking here for a little while learning about Barnevelders. Great breed as Inam looking for big dual purpose heritage birds and I am hopeful to get some stock in the spring. Will likely have to make a trip to get them so am wondering if there is anyone else from Canada or northern Washington state in this thread raising Barnies?

Chris

Hello Chris, I'm on Gabriola Island, not to far from you. I have barnevelders, and I would have to call them at project status. I wouldn't call them SOP birds yet, but I'm pleased with what I see and they definitely look like Barnevelders. They have good utility traits, nice size, good layers, need some work on feathering and some of the finer points, though already the babies are looking to be better than the adults.

You're best best would be to get SOP adult breeding birds to start, but that's hard to find and hard to find people willing to sell to newbies. I started with what I could get and that was eggs, I kept the best and I see improvement already in the offspring so am very happy with my birds. My hens all ended up being from one line, the roo from another. Fortunately the blend seemed to be a good one. They are pure barnies, just need improving and tweeking. They are definitely the birds that get the attention from visitors in my yard, they are friendly and everybody loves them.

There are some really good birds in Canada, and I've seen some spectacular birds in Western Washington. It's hard though to get eggs/birds from Washington, you need to do lots of research on the borders - and don't bother trying to import eggs from the US via customs, by the time they clear customs they are not viable - know of many people who have tried.

If you are interested in my birds, I'd be happy to send you photos or you can come and look, I can pick you up at the ferry, I think I'm 2 hours away. I was just in Campbell River two days ago! I may have some POL pullets and less-related boy that would help you get started. Just remembering though, there is much work to do on my lines, if you are looking to get to SOP, you would have to hatch many and cull hard. I hatched 100 eggs this year, and have quite a number I am very pleased with, I would consider letting some go to another home where someone else is willing to work with the lines. I see atleast 10 pullets I really like with more babies growing up and my last hatch just hatched 2 days ago. I don't believe in hoarding, I think spreading out birds to different places if valuable, especially where we live as we are constantly threatened by devastating predators, with mink, coons and dogs at the top of the list. And you will also have cougars and bears to deal with.

Cheers,
Theresa

 

[DiamondDust]

These are not great pictures of my cockerel but he doesn't like to be photographed so for now it's the best I could do. I should put him in a littler space like Trisha did so I can get decent pictures of him! He never just stands naturally when I have the camera out!







And a close up picture of his head...

 

[tls_ranch]

Ok, Just for Rachael....some pics of my splash cockerel.

He's a total goof ball going through an awkward stage. I hate his crow, but he must love the way he sounds because he crows twice as much as the rest of my roosters. I can't tell you how many times I have changed my mind about keeping him around. But, my daughter loves him and wants to keep him.

Negatives: wattles way too big, but probably means good fertility. His feather condition is kind of poor (very soft, fluffy), but that could be in part to a double dose of blue. Wings are a bit low. His legs have faded quite a bit since he was younger, but I'll see if they brighten up once the green grass comes back this winter.

Positives: he's big and might be a tank when finished filling out. Has a good comb. Good color for splash. He doesn't have a lot of brassy orange. If you get your hands on him and look close you can find clearly patterned hackle, saddle, wing and shoulder feathers.

 

[tls_ranch]

These are not great pictures of my cockerel but he doesn't like to be photographed so for now it's the best I could do. I should put him in a littler space like Trisha did so I can get decent pictures of him! He never just stands naturally when I have the camera out!







And a close up picture of his head...

He has a nice head

 

[RachaelS]

I love his colors!!!!

 

[Dr Bjorn Netland]

I like that splash cockerel even if there are some obvious issues (loose feathering, overly large wattles, wing carriage a bit low) that you already pointed out, and perhaps also the fact that he seems a bit long in the back with a tail set that is a bit low. I would nonetheless keep him for a breeder, especially since I always place a lot of value on vitality and robustness. His size is another positive factor, along with good lacing on his back. Then again, I never did mess with the blue-laced variety...(only in Wyandottes, years ago, when Lowell and I got them in from The Netherlands).

 

[islandgal99]

I love his colors!!!!

What I wouldn't do to get my hands on a boy like this to start a blue line....do they have an emicon for DROOL?

 

[RachaelS]

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[tls_ranch]

oops double post