Help with Barnevelders!

[Stephoney]

At the moment, they are 8 weeks old. I heard some practicing crowing just yesterday actually. But it was hard to say if it was them because there is 1 other roo in group (a silverudd blue). No full throated crowing yet with any of them.

That’s great- I’ve read so much about how difficult it is to tell roos from pullets so I thought I’d ask about the obvious giveaway- the crowing

 

[PNW keeper]

Gotcha. Even though I don't have any pullets to compare them to, I think by 6 weeks I felt pretty confident they were roos. Their adult feathers were mostly black, especially the breast. Also, their growing combs and signs of wattles had the pinkish hue to them. The way their legs were angled back and their bodies looked like they were leaning forward were similar to my other roo that I didn't see with the pullets.

 

[margiejoe]

Hi- I have a random question about your roo. Did he start crowing? I was wondering at what age double laced silvers start. I’ve got 3 that are only a week old. I know there’s plenty of time before they’ll start, but trying to think ahead. My husband is definitely not keen on the idea.

Hi! Still have all 3 and They are about 2.5 months old now and no crowing yet!

 

[Stephoney]

Gotcha. Even though I don't have any pullets to compare them to, I think by 6 weeks I felt pretty confident they were roos. Their adult feathers were mostly black, especially the breast. Also, their growing combs and signs of wattles had the pinkish hue to them. The way their legs were angled back and their bodies looked like they were leaning forward were similar to my other roo that I didn't see with the pullets.

When you got them as chicks, do you remember if they were more of a brown color or a dark brown/black color? I have both colors. I wondered if there was anything to it as far as sexing them goes.

 

[margiejoe]

When you got them as chicks, do you remember if they were more of a brown color or a dark brown/black color? I have both colors. I wondered if there was anything to it as far as sexing them goes.View attachment 3442050View attachment 3442051

Mine look very similar to your picture here. I have four, and one had a slightly lighter/yellower head as a baby, but eventually as he got older he darkened and is the same color now as the others. The other 3 were identical and we couldn't tell them apart. of those 3, 1 is female. We really were not able to tell much about the gender until they were much older. The yellow headed one developed a comb first and that's how we pretty much knew. Pay attention to leg color as they get older as well. A yellower leg means boy.

 

[Stephoney]

Wow- thanks for the wealth of information. I really appreciate it. I have noticed that a few of the six have developed more of a tail than others. I’m not sure if that’s because they’re just larger and growing faster or whether that’s in indication that they are males. I have read that males grow tail feathers sooner than females.

 

[margiejoe]

Wow- thanks for the wealth of information. I really appreciate it. I have noticed that a few of the six have developed more of a tail than others. I’m not sure if that’s because they’re just larger and growing faster or whether that’s in indication that they are males. I have read that males grow tail feathers sooner than females.

You're welcome! I had read that too about the tail feathers, but then I also read the opposite somewhere else The behavior is a good indicator as well. If they are instigating play fights and seem a little more aggressive, they are likely male. The females tend to shy away and run from the play fights.

 

[Stephoney]

That’s a good idea! I haven’t seen any of them challenging one another. I have two 4 week old legbar chicks (1 opal and 1 split) living with the 2 week old Barnevelders. Several of the babies love running around with them. I call it indoor recess when I open up their brooder and let them run around the living room a bit. The ones with the longer tails are the ones that run along with the older hens. They might just be adventurous girls though. I’ll keep any eye out for them challenging one another this next week. Maybe they’ll start showing their true colors.

 

[Stephoney]

Update:

I ended up keeping 2 silver double laced barnevelder chicks. They are 8 weeks old now. I believe that both are females Their lacing is coming in slowly. One of them had a very deep wound on her neck about 2 weeks ago. I posted about It somewhere. I was able to take her to a vet who prescribed some strong antibiotic ointment. She healed up very quickly, within 4-5 days. I call her Scarlett (3rd pic over). She’s a tad bit smaller than her sister, but just as active. Together with my 10 week old Opal Legbar (Violet) and Split Legbar (Daisy), they have taken the backyard by storm

A few things I noticed about the breed:

- both girls had darker colored heads as chicks compared some of the others that were in the order I got. I can’t confirm that the lighter colors resulted in boys, but I had read somewhere that the darker colors were more likely to be girls.

- Both chicks developed lacing in their tail feathers around 4 weeks. I noticed that males do not have lacing in tail feathers so it gave me hope when I saw it.

- Both chicks were the least aggressive out of the nine in my order. I let them run around my living room as a group and watched them interact. The two I kept were not exactly shy, but had no interest in challenging any of the others. That was trued from week 3 when the others started vying for top chick.

I don’t know if these observations might help anyone looking at this breed, but I thought I’d mention it. I know I scoured websites trying to find information when the chicks were small. I probably would have kept one if it had been a rooster, but like a lot of people I was really hoping for the beautifully laced ladies.