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A rare beautiful Barnevelder is a breed of meat and egg chickens. It is known for certain about these birds that they appeared in Holland. Then the information starts to diverge. On foreign sites, you can find three options for the breeding time of the breed. According to one version, chickens were bred 200 years ago. On the other – at the end of the XIX century. According to the third – at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. The last two versions are close enough to each other to be considered as one. After all, breeding takes more than one year.
There are also two versions about the origin of the name: from the town of Barneveld in Holland; Barnevelder is a synonym for the word “chicken”. But the breed really originated in a town with that name.
And even the very origin of Barnevelder chickens also has two versions. According to one, this is a “mixture” of Cochinchins with local chickens. According to another, instead of Cochinchins there were Langshans. Outwardly and genetically, these Asian breeds are very similar, so today it is unlikely that the truth will be established.
The English-language sources themselves even point to the origin of the Barnevelds from the American Wyandots. At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was possible to cross with the British Orpington. The Langshans, however, had the greatest influence on the Barnevelders. It was they who gave the Barnevelders brown eggshells and high winter egg production.
These chickens owe their appearance to the fashion for beautiful brown eggs that many Asian chickens carried. During the breeding process, the description of the Barnevelder chicken breed contained a requirement for shell coloring up to a coffee-brown shell. But this result was not achieved. The color of the eggs is quite dark, but not coffee.
In 1916, the first attempt was made to register a new breed, but it turned out that the birds were still too heterogeneous. In 1921, an association of breed lovers was created and the first standard was drawn up. The breed was officially recognized in 1923.
In the process of breeding, the chickens developed a very beautiful two-tone coloration, due to which they did not stay long in the ranks of a productive bird. Already in the middle of the XNUMXth century, these chickens began to be kept more as decorative ones. Up to the point that the dwarf form of the Barnevelders was bred.
Description
Chickens Barnevelder belong to the heavy type of the universal direction. For meat and egg breeds, they have a fairly large body weight and high egg production. An adult rooster weighs 3,5 kg, a chicken – 2,8 kg. Egg production in chickens of this breed is 180-200 pieces per year. The weight of one egg at the peak of egg production is 60-65 g. The breed is late-ripening. Pullets begin to rush at 7-8 months. They cover this shortcoming with good winter egg production.
Standard and differences in different countries
General impression: a squat large bird with a strong skeleton.
Large head with a short black and yellow beak. The comb is leaf-shaped, small in size. Earrings, lobes, face and comb are red. The eyes are red-orange.
The neck is short, set vertically on a compact, horizontal body. The back and loin are wide and straight. The tail is set high and bushy. Roosters have short black braids in their tails. The top line resembles the letter U.
Shoulders are wide. The wings are small, tightly pressed to the body. The chest is wide and full. Well developed belly in laying hens. Legs are short and powerful. The size of the ring in roosters is 2 cm in diameter. Hocks are yellow. The fingers are widely spaced, yellow, with light claws.
The main differences in the standards of different countries lie in the varieties of colors for this breed. The number of recognized colors varies from country to country.
Colors
In the homeland of the breed, in the Netherlands, the original “classic” color is recognized – red-black, lavender bicolor, white and black.
In Holland, a bantam is bred with several variants of a silver color. So far, these varieties have not been officially adopted, but work is underway on them.
The white color of Barnevelder chickens does not need a description, it is in the photo. He has no differences from the white color of any other breed of chicken. This is a solid white feather.
The black color also needs no introduction. One can only note the beautiful blue tint of the pen.
With “color” colors, everything is somewhat more complicated. These varieties are subject to strict rules: rings of two colors alternate on the feather. In the color with black pigment, each feather ends with a black stripe. In breeds with no pigment (white color) – a white stripe. Description and photos of “colored” colors of Barnevelder chickens are just below.
The “classic” black and red color was one of the first to appear in the breed. In the United States, only chickens of this color are officially recognized. With the presence of black pigment and the tendency of chickens to mutate to lavender, the appearance of lavender-red Barnevelders was natural. This color can be culled, but it will appear again and again until the breeders reconcile.
The description and photo of the color of the Barnevelder chicken breed differs only in color. It looks like a “classic” chicken.
Red color can be more saturated, and then the chicken looks very exotic.
In detail, the order of the stripes can be seen on the feathers of a silver-black chicken.
When the black pigment is mutated into lavender, a different palette of colors is obtained.
The chicken would have been classic black and red if not for the mutation.
The listed four color variants in the Netherlands are accepted for large varieties and bantams. An additional silver bantam color will look like this.
With a double color, chickens can be lighter or darker, but the principle remains the same.
In the absence of black pigment, Barnevelder chickens look like in the photo. This is a red and white color, not recognized in the Netherlands, but officially approved in the UK.
In addition, the partridge color is also recognized in England. For the remaining varieties, most countries have not yet come to a consensus. You can find Barnevelder chickens of partridge and dark brown color.
There is a variant of autosex coloration, but in most countries this coloration is prohibited in the breed standard. In the photo, autosex chickens Barnevelder.
Apparently, the same autosex chickens are on the video.
Barnevelder roosters are often much more modestly colored.
The description of Barnevelder dwarf chickens does not differ from the standard of the large version of this breed. The difference in the weight of the birds, which does not exceed 1,5 kg, and the weight of the egg, which is 37-40 g. In the photo, the eggs of the Bentham Barnevelders are placed on a one dollar bill for scale.
Inadmissible vices
The Barnevelder, like any breed, has flaws in the presence of which the bird is excluded from breeding:
- thin skeleton;
- narrow chest;
- short or narrow back;
- “skinny” tail;
- disturbances in the color of the plumage;
- feathered metatarsus;
- narrow tail;
- whitish coating on the lobes.
Laying hens may have grayish paws. This is an undesirable sign, but not a vice.
Features of the breed
The advantages of the breed include its frost resistance and friendly character. Their incubation instinct is developed at an average level. Not all Barnevelder laying hens will be good hens, but the rest are good hens.
The claim that they are good foragers is inconsistent with the adjacent claim that chickens are somewhat lazy. The video confirms the latter. Digging a garden to get worms, they offer their owners. Small wings do not allow Barnevelders to fly well, but a meter-high fence is also not enough. Some owners claim that these chickens are good at using their wings.
Reviews of the Barnevelder chicken breed generally confirm the description. Although there are allegations about the aggressiveness of these chickens in relation to their companions. With regard to the owners, all the owners are unanimous: the chickens are very friendly and tame.
Of the shortcomings, very high prices for these birds are also unanimously noted.
Reviews
Conclusion
Although even in the West, Barnevelders are considered a rare and expensive breed, they appeared in Our Country and began to gain popularity. Considering that Our Country is not yet bound by the breed standards in terms of color, we can expect not only autosex Barnevelders, but also the appearance of new colors in these chickens.