New Barnevelder Chicks! Wow!

[tnchickenut]

I got extra roosters... you have to pick them up though... can you make it to East TN? LOL Sorry about that one.

I got mine from Gabbard and Farmer Johan and I got a trio comming this week from Peace of Thyme

I reccommend if you want just one rooster... go to Peace of Thyme Farm's site and email them about shipping a started male chick. They will do it. Pretty fair prices too!

 

[faykokoWV]

Quote:
I just hatched some of Nadine's chicks to improve my Barnevelders, I also hatched some from James A... both of these are from similar lines Cratty and Johan.

 

[Je9Jeanine]

I have two with V heads. One with a splotchy head. And three with dark heads. One of the V heads has gray shafts and the rest have black shafts... So are the two V heads the less desirable of the set?

Jeanine

 

[()relics]

I have a small barnevelder flock (standard) as well as a few, bantams....The bantams are kind of rare, I guess, and are still very random as far as size, color, and egg,shape,size,color...but we are working on that...I have found that some of the hatchery birds that I have seen have that V marking on their heads...I really don't know what that means as far as adult coloring, mine both standard and bantam have the solid dark heads....

 

[tls_ranch]

()relics :

I have a small barnevelder flock (standard) as well as a few, bantams....The bantams are kind of rare, I guess, and are still very random as far as size, color, and egg,shape,size,color...but we are working on that...I have found that some of the hatchery birds that I have seen have that V marking on their heads...I really don't know what that means as far as adult coloring, mine both standard and bantam have the solid dark heads....

The V marking means that they were probably crossed with Welsummers at one point. It can produce birds that are not double laced and have rosy breasts, light feather shafting, peppering and poor body type. The egg color can become too terracotta too.

In my opinion, Barnevelders should lay a different shade of dark egg than a Welsummer or even a Marans. Some Breeders have outcrossed with Welsummers, Marans or Penedesencas to darken egg color and that can throw off type as well as egg color. Barnevelders eggs should be a nice oxidized brown (some with speckles), shiney and more round than pointed.

Here is some information I've borrowed off of the: http://groups.google.com/group/american-barnevelder-club?hl=en

A picure of Barnevelder eggs from Tasmania: from Paul Healy, who claims to have found surviving original Barnevelders from early Dutch settlers in Tasmania.

A Quote from an article about heritage Barnevelders:

Paul Healy, Tasmania:
"The best eggs were highly glossed, and of a colour which
varied from ochre through to burnt umber, often blending
various shadings of rich red mahogany. It is important to
note that the true Barnevelder egg was not the
duller, dark brown, almost chocolate coloured
product of the French Marans fowl, which
many modern strains of Barnevelder in Europe
and Australia now produce.
The Marans egg is a lovely feature, in its own
right, but the Barnevelder egg must be a predominantly rich,
glowing, vibrant shade of red brown, in some eggs seeming
as though the pigment had been oxidized. Some eggs are
also speckled with darker spots which, by themselves, can
seem to be chocolate in colour."​

 

[Je9Jeanine]

Thank you. That egg coloring you are talking about sounds almost exactly like my wellsummer egg coloring. I am trying to imagine less terracotta and more red brown. I can see how the colors would be hard to tell apart. I think the two with V heads will just be laying hens and I wont breed them. Is the darker head more desirable then the splotchy heads?

Jeanine

 

[tls_ranch]

Yes, the Barnevelder chicks should have dark heads with only a few random light markings.

ignore the solid brown EE chick

 

[()relics]

I agree you definitely can tell a barnevelder egg when you see it...and as far as the bantams The egg color and conformity seems to be the last trait that needs fixing, in my flock as well as others that breed them...As far as I know anyway...

 

[tnchickenut]

()relics :

I agree you definitely can tell a barnevelder egg when you see it...and as far as the bantams The egg color and conformity seems to be the last trait that needs fixing, in my flock as well as others that breed them...As far as I know anyway...

I have a question for you: how big/small is a bantam barnevelder? I ask because I bought some hatching eggs (twice) hatched them... and now the oldest clutch is HUGE! Like standard size huge and I bought bantams. The younger clutch is growing right along with a standard I hatched out with them. Do I have standards? Do bantam barnevelders run big? HELP! (sorry to take the thread... you can PM me if needed)​

 

[()relics]

the problem with bantam barnevelders, bantam/standard anythings that are not yet accaepted into the Standard, is there is room for personal interpretation. As I said in an earlier post, this particular breed is still "being developed" so 1 breeder may have different sized chicks/chickens than another breeder and since there is no breed standard "anything goes"...Lets face it bantam barnevelders sell for $6-8 per egg while standards are $.50-2 per egg...It makes economic sense for a breeder to claim the birds are Bantam to get the extra money.
My bantams are substantially smaller than my standards, because the small size was more important to me than egg color, so I bred for small size...While the next breeder may have thought the egg color was more important and bred for that rather than size...Again because there is no standard; neither breeder is wrong...I just have a problem with breeders selling "experimental birds" and not advertising them as such...Reason I sell no eggs until I feel My stuff will fit the standard when eventually it is set...But I know for a fact there are breeders out there that will be more than happy to sell you a dozen "bantam" eggs...Just don't be surprised when you open the box and see 12 eggs, none of which look the same, color and size, or when they hatch lack the double lacing or, as in your case, are really just small standard sized birds...All good things to ask a potential seller...and be on your toes if they also breed welsummers or penedesencas...they could be pushing crossbred bantam barnevelders. I doubt you will like the adult look of them and there will certainly be no room in the standard for them....JMO