Barnevelder breeders lets work together and improve the breed

[tls_ranch]

Quote:
Royce, I'm still no expert that's just the basics as far as I understand. I bet there is a lot more to the Barnevelder pattern like modifiers and enhancers that influence the whole picture. Just look at the difference between all the lines, both here and overseas.

I got this from wikipedia about the Barnevelder's double-laced pattern:

In 1930, C. S. Th. Van Gink, Vice-President of the World’s Poultry Science Association, Voorburg, The Netherlands, wrote the following:

"...where the breeders were looking for a suitable colour-type of which both standard-marked males and females could be bred from the same breeding pen, - that this type of marking be given a fair chance, as it had proved in another breed to fulfil these requirements. Since then this colour-type has been adopted in Holland and it will in the future safeguard the breed against otherwise perhaps unnoticed crosses, as no cross can possibly be found that will not upset the adopted colour-markings in some respect."

 

[Omniskies]

I never kill chicks because I'm a big softy about them. But I don't have a problem with moving them to the fryer pen.

As far as egg color goes, how many people really make egg color a priority? It looks like more emphasis is being placed on making sure Barnevelders actually look like Barnevelders - which is understandable. Does anyone strictly focus on incubating dark eggs, then pick out the best chicks from there, or is the emphasis purely on type and color right now?

 

[tls_ranch]

I'm trying to breed for both darker eggs and the breed standard. I consider egg color to be just as important as everything else. Would you want eggs from a marans breeder who had dark eggs but the parent birds were a mix of clean shanked, mossy breasted, squirrel tailed, sidesprigs, crooked keel, and worse faults? Not to pick on Marans

It's the WHOLE PACKAGE that you should breed for including breed standard, egg color, egg production, health, and more. It's the same with the any of the "egg color" breeds such as the Marans, Ameraucanas, Welsummers... egg color is just another trait to work on.

I do want to add that in my opinion the really dark eggs are beautiful, but I don't think Barnevelders should lay #9's on the Marans egg color chart. I also don't believe that Barnevelders were ever bred to lay THAT dark.

 

[enggass]

Hi Trisha,
Speaking of which, how are your egg colors these days? Got any pics? Still hoping you can supply me with some eggs from your beauties next month... How are they laying?
Steve

 

[tls_ranch]

Hi Steve,
The girls are starting to lay pretty well.

My only problem is that I still have 4 "project" hens in my flock (3 "blues" and 1 "cornevelder"). I need to figure out how to seperate them because I only have one coop/pen. We've just been too busy with home improvement projects like putting in a woodburning stove and planting 25+ fruit trees to get a seperate breeding pen built. Plus I'm just getting over pneumonia.

I don't want to accidentally send "mix" eggs in with the pure barnies. I was hoping to give the project hens to my sister as layers, but it looks like I only hatched 2 or 3 correctly marked blue pullet chicks from them with my last hatch of 28 chicks in January. So, I need to hold on to them a bit longer until I'm sure I have enough good pullets to continue the project. Some of their eggs can look very similar to my pure Barnie eggs. If you hatched a "black laced" chick out of the "Blues" by accident it could be hard to tell that they weren't pure.

I might just "kick" the project hens out of the coop to free range everyday and keep the pure Barnies penned up. But, I'm risking my neighbor's dogs killing the free ranging hens that way.

I never know when those dogs are going to get loose....

Trisha

 

[enggass]

Well, I really hope you can get it sorted out. I'm counting on you Trish... you have some of the nicest Barnies I've seen.
I have a master plan of 2 hatches - the first being set around the 3-4th of March and the second being set the week of March 28th.
I planning on the Barnies for the 28th set date.
That way I can move them all out of my basement together around the end of May. I don't want to stagger them too much.

Sorry to hear about the pneumonia. I hope you're feeling better - I know it's tough being a parent when you're sick.
What kind of fruit trees did you plant?

Steve

PS: I'm OK with mix eggs

 

[Tailfeathers]

I don't think the two have to be mutually exclusive. Granted judges don't care about egg color as that's not what they're looking for. But, being one who raises both Ameraucanas and Welsummers too, who would want either if they laid a white egg? In my breeding programs, I rarely focus on just one trait unless I'm forced to. For example, yellow legs. Since the yellow is a recessive gene and needed by both parents, there is an example of where having good genes from both parents may trump egg color and even type.

I have my remaining Barnies - all four of them - pretty close to what I'd like to see in type and plumage. So now I'm focusing more on setting only the darkest eggs. I will also be doing some experimenting on the side to see if I can bring back a dark egg in about 3-4 years.

God Bless,

 

[tammyd57]

Quote:
X2

I'm hoping for some of Trisha's Barnevelder eggs to set 1st week of April & May 1st.
I'm going to be incubating & brooding right in their coop, so they never have to be moved

Glad you're feeling better Trisha!

 

[Daidohead]

Nice to see this thread is still going. Here's a couple pics of my darlings.

\\

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

OK, next question, I have hatched chicks with V and no V , all from the darkest eggs I had and raised them all to maturity but the V chicks were unmarked from the dark headed chicks. I culled from the adult birds and what remained are some nice mahogany brown, nicely double laced hens with good to excellent type. The roos do not have too much red in the hackles and the hens do not have red in the breasts. I checked today and no one has light feather shafting. So, it's possible that the birds that were culled were the V heads as chicks, or can a V head chick still feather out a nice bird in type, lacing and color also but carry the e+. I am however going to mark the V chicks from now on so I know which ones they are as they grow out so I can see for myself.