Barnevelder breeders lets work together and improve the breed

[Happy Chooks]

I have had both breeds for five years and run them together and they get along fine. They lay about the same for me. The Barnie roos feather out slower but not the pullets. They are all chickens and act like chickens. The Barnevelders are not faint creatures and are as hardy as my other birds.

I agree. While they have a great disposition, they are not passive birds. I have my barnevelders with many other breeds, from Barred Rocks, Icelandics, mutts, etc. I have 2 Marans pullets that are in with my Barnevelder pullets (and some welsummers pullets as well) and they all get along fine.

 

[pysankigirl]

my Barnevelders are "survivors" They seem to be my most savy birds with regards to predators (I had a fox problem last year) and I do have mareks in my flock but haven't lost a single barnevelder to it.

I did lose both my barnevelder boys to my stupid dog, however. so they are savy to wild predators but my own dog lulled them into a state of false security.

ticked me off.

sigh.

 

[corancher]

I have not posted on the thread in awhile. I have had Barnevelders for several years. I decided to add Blue Barnevelders to my flock a couple of years ago and culled my blacks down to the best of type and feather color. It seems I also culled the birds that were laying the darker brown eggs. My Barnevelders from several years ago laid a nice dark brown egg and now I get light tan to almost white. Very disappointing to me since that was one of the traits I liked.

Does anyone have Barnevelders that still lay a nice dark brown egg? If anyone does have some that lay dark eggs please PM me if you sell eggs or chicks. I would prefer chicks since they are more of a sure thing but will consider eggs. I would like to see pictures of egg color and the parent birds. Thanks.

 

[ChellFeesh]

My advice to you is to not let the worrier in you take over. The chickens are strong and survive many mistakes of their keepers. They don't need to be babied. Do your best and have fun with them. Take others advice with a grain of salt.

Good advice, Andy. A lot of which I should probably apply to other areas of my life. I will heed your words of wisdom.

 

[Sophie1959]

I have barnie hens that are sixteen wks old. I have them on a starter/grower feed and they free range a couple of hours a day. When do you think I should worm them, if at all? And when do I change the feed over to layer? Thank you for any/all replies.

 

[mountainvieworchards]

I start giving my layers oyster shell once they start to lay. If you use layer feed then switch them over when they start to lay.

I never worm my chickens. If they seem healthy and lay well I don't see a need to worm them.

Maybe your and others situations are different than mine.

You should have eggs pretty soon. Look for the red faces and trips to the nest box and next thing you know-- EGG

Andy.

I have barnie hens that are sixteen wks old. I have them on a starter/grower feed and they free range a couple of hours a day. When do you think I should worm them, if at all? And when do I change the feed over to layer? Thank you for any/all replies.

 

[bumpershoot]

X2 what Andy said. If you are really worried about worms you can put down diatomaceous earth that is food grade. It will say Codex Grade on the bag. It won't take but just a little bit in the dirt.

 

[bonnylass79]

I have barnie hens that are sixteen wks old. I have them on a starter/grower feed and they free range a couple of hours a day. When do you think I should worm them, if at all? And when do I change the feed over to layer? Thank you for any/all replies.

I live in Florida where the bugs never die, so worms tend to be a bigger problem for us, especially in the summer. I'm getting ready to worm mine this week because they're moulting and I'm not getting very many eggs anyway. Then I'll worm again in the winter when they aren't laying. Any eggs that are laid for 2 weeks after I worm get thrown to the pig. I would say, if you're going to worm, do it before they start laying. Worms can stunt growth, so I personally think it's a good idea to worm young birds. I use injectable ivermectin cattle wormer and squirt it onto the backs of their necks. If you only have a few birds, a pea-sized amount of ivermectin horse paste in their beaks also works well.

 

[blackbirds13]

Are these Barnevelders? Maybe Silver Barnevelders? They are packing peanuts from Greenfire.

 

[DiamondDust]

Hi DD

I saw your post about your Barnevelder winning best Continental at the Washington show.  Congratulations and I think she is nice looking.  What is her background? 

We (my boys and I) have shown our Barnies and other birds in Washington and Oregon shows in the past.  Mainly the PNPA shows in Stevenson and Salem, as well as at the County Fair in Corvallis.  Our experience has been the same as yours where we are the only Barnies in the show.  The shows are fun but a large commitment of time for the whole family and with the boys being more interested in soccer and karate and at their age we have not been to the shows in the last year.  They have shown interest in showing some birds at our county fair in August so we are preparing for that.   

Honestly the risk of disease at the shows is getting to be more than I want to deal with and because of that I hesitate to bring birds to shows unless I want to sell them.  It is a calculated risk and they threat of my flock picking up some nasty at a poultry show has dampened my enthusiasm for showing.

Andy

Hi Andy,

I'm not sure what you mean by "her background" but if you are asking where I got her from the answer is that she hatched from an egg from TLS in CA. I'm very pleased with the birds hatched from those eggs last year. I am glad that I have been able to get my start with Barnevelders from quality birds. I plan to keep on showing as I feel like it may be good for the breed to get the exposure to the public. They are so rarely seen at shows. I have a great system for quarantine after the shows so that helps me not stress too much over that part. I know not everyone has the facilities to do that and that can be a big concern. Maybe we will run in to each other at a show one of these days!

DD