Barred Holland breed of chickens

[twoisforjoy]

Hi everyone! I'm looking to start breeding Barred Hollands. Does anyone know of any private breeders in the US that will ship eggs or are within an 8 hour drive of Massachusetts? I'd rather not go through a commercial hatchery. Also, I'm not looking to buy anything immediately, I'm more wanting to just get in contact with breeders so when the time comes, I've got someone I can contact, you know?

Thanks guys!

 

[dheltzel]

*EDITED 3/20/17*
I am seriously considering selling my flock. I have a rooster and 8 hens. The hens vary from Gracie Mae lines, a good Sandhill, some from a closed flock down south (I would have to check with MHollow) and two I hatched from a BH roo and Australorp hen. Eggs range from stark white to a very pale almond (Australorp crosses). I haven't found a BH rooster yet that wasn't a jerk and frankly, I am just tired of going it alone. I am in western PA and would be willing to sell them to someone with experience with chickens. I have had Hollands for several years and worked to assemble this flock from multiple sources for genetic diversity. I do not care to risk them on a beginner. I'm sorry.

Please email me at cheralees@gmail dot com if interested.

*EDITED* I am asking $225 for the entire group. I will ship at buyer's expense, or will meet within 75 miles of my home, again at buyer's expense.*

I'm sorry to hear you are also abandoning the BH effort. I sold off my flock over a year ago and bought California Greys for producing black sexlinks (my original reason for getting the BH). I remember that the Livestock conservancy recommended against outcrossing them to other breeds, but I think they would really benefit from an outcross to either heritage barred rocks (to increase size and dual-purpose qualities) or a white production layer like california greys or even commercial leghorns (to lighten the eggs). In my final assessment, there were just not enough people interested in keeping this breed going. I see a very similar pattern with Breda Fowl, one by one all the existing breeders are selling their flocks. In a few years both could be functionally extinct.

 

[caychris]

I'm sorry to hear you are also abandoning the BH effort. I sold off my flock over a year ago and bought California Greys for producing black sexlinks (my original reason for getting the BH). I remember that the Livestock conservancy recommended against outcrossing them to other breeds, but I think they would really benefit from an outcross to either heritage barred rocks (to increase size and dual-purpose qualities) or a white production layer like california greys or even commercial leghorns (to lighten the eggs). In my final assessment, there were just not enough people interested in keeping this breed going. I see a very similar pattern with Breda Fowl, one by one all the existing breeders are selling their flocks. In a few years both could be functionally extinct.

The other big knock on them is their slow maturation rate.

I love my one girl though and I found a person in CA who can get me a boy and some more chicks. I plan to keep them going as long as I can though I dont plan to have a large flock here. I can say they are excellent back yard birds though and probably even better on pasture. I do plan to hatch a lot once I have a flock so I can work toward standard. I do plan to move to property to be able to increase my attention to preservation of heritage breeds Delaware and BH (as well as a spanish breed Pita Pinta)

 

[Cheralee]

I'm sorry to hear you are also abandoning the BH effort. I sold off my flock over a year ago and bought California Greys for producing black sexlinks (my original reason for getting the BH). I remember that the Livestock conservancy recommended against outcrossing them to other breeds, but I think they would really benefit from an outcross to either heritage barred rocks (to increase size and dual-purpose qualities) or a white production layer like california greys or even commercial leghorns (to lighten the eggs). In my final assessment, there were just not enough people interested in keeping this breed going. I see a very similar pattern with Breda Fowl, one by one all the existing breeders are selling their flocks. In a few years both could be functionally extinct.

I happened to have 2 aged Australorps in the flock and they were more of an oops than intentional. I did see a marked improvement in body confirmation and egg laying frequency, though. I have considered the Grays for a long time, so it's great to hear of another person talking about them! I have been searching for a rooster for awhile as the attitude of this one ^^^ is awful. If I could find one, I wouldn't be so eager to get rid of them. It's been over a year, reaching out to people, though.

 

[Cecil H]

there is one lady willing to send egs out of LA and then there is a breeder that is not full commercial in NY. I will look for their info again. you would have to pick up as they do not mail chicks, at least not BH. Not sure if they will have them now but here is the link https://www.thepoultryhatchery.com/.

 

[twoisforjoy]

there is one lady willing to send egs out of LA and then there is a breeder that is not full commercial in NY. I will look for their info again. you would have to pick up as they do not mail chicks, at least not BH. Not sure if they will have them now but here is the link https://www.thepoultryhatchery.com/.

Oh cool! I'll definitely check out The Poultry Hatchery. It looks like it's within my "reasonable driving distance" radius. Thank you!

 

[moomoodiddy]

there is one lady willing to send egs out of LA and then there is a breeder that is not full commercial in NY. I will look for their info again. you would have to pick up as they do not mail chicks, at least not BH. Not sure if they will have them now but here is the link https://www.thepoultryhatchery.com/.

I am on Suzanne's BH Facebook page and she is selling to a lot of people, I believe I am next on her list for eggs. My only concern is that if everyone gets from the same breeder we will have to small of a genetic pool to pull from in the coming years. But it is awesome that there has been such a peak in interest for this breed.

 

[caychris]

I am on Suzanne's BH Facebook page and she is selling to a lot of people, I believe I am next on her list for eggs. My only concern is that if everyone gets from the same breeder we will have to small of a genetic pool to pull from in the coming years. But it is awesome that there has been such a peak in interest for this breed.

I dont think this is too much of a problem because you are actually spreading out and diversifying the genetics that breed forward from any given pair. I have it on good authority from a retired vet that the inbreeding isnt as big a problem as we make it out to be. The breeding of close relatives accentuates both good and bad traits. The idea is that you want the best birds mated to the best birds so there is less chance for deviation. As it stands the gene pool is already very limited for this breed so the idea is to quickly weed out the weak traits and do not breed them forward. This is one reason that breeders say build the barn then paint it. Vigor and type are the primary concerns then as you breed birds forward you will be working from the strong end of the gene pool no matter how shallow it is. Once you have established a uniformity of sorts then it can be possible to bring in new blood so to speak because you know how your birds breed. And the new blood can be evaluated better. If you havent achieved this state with your own lines it will be very difficult to isolate what the new blood brings to the table. Inbreeding does not by definition result in weaker birds but can actually help you weed out bad traits. I think the biggest problem we have is that keeping extra males for diversity in a bloodline is costly and most people rarely keep enough males to recover from breeding mistakes and therefore have to go out for new blood. By having many breeders continuing on from a single original line will mean that there is more diversity among the male genetics. So even though they may be related initially the breeding choices and which genes are spread among the separate flocks will be more diverse than if a single breeder tried to maintain the line. We have to consider that when a line is initially developed it is started with a relatively small number of sires. And the initial spread of those initial birds to other breeders is what makes the diversity happen.

 

[moomoodiddy]

Yea but if we pull from more than one initial flock, there will be even more genetics. And we are not able to monitor each breeder to ensure they are breeding in the right direction.

 

[moomoodiddy]

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