Barnevelder

The Barnevelder is a medium-sized dual-purpose fowl from the Netherlands, kept as much for the pot as for the egg basket. Two things mark it out: a striking double-laced brown feather pattern, each feather rimmed in near-black, and eggs that run from mid to dark chocolate brown. It's a settled bird for the back garden or haggard, even-tempered enough to manage alongside children, dogs and other breeds without much bother.

The commonest colour is a warm reddish-brown, every feather edged with a band of greenish-black, so the bird looks almost scaled or latticed across its back. Hens run to about 2.7 to 3.2 kg and cocks 3.2 to 3.6 kg, putting them squarely in the middle of the weight range for laying breeds. A Barnevelder hen lays somewhere between 150 and 200 eggs a year, with the best of it coming in her first two or three seasons.

Given Ireland's cool, wet climate isn't far off the one this breed was shaped in, Barnevelders take to it without much fuss. They forage happily when let out on grass, but settle just as well in a covered run on the days the rain keeps them in, which suits keepers who can't offer open ground every day of the week.

Who it suits

The Barnevelder suits first-time keepers and families down to the ground. It's calm enough to handle, hardy through a wet Irish winter, and productive without the flighty edge some commercial layers have. Anyone after dark brown eggs and a good-looking flock bird, while still wanting a fair number of eggs off her, will get on well with this breed. It's not the one to reach for if the aim is the absolute top egg count, since a dedicated production hybrid will always outlay her.

The breed takes its name from Barneveld, a town in Gelderland in the central Netherlands. The area had been a hub for poultry keeping and the egg trade for generations, and local farmers were after a hardy hen that would keep laying through the cold months and turn out the dark brown eggs buyers wanted.

Work on the breed began in the second half of the 19th century. Dutch landrace hens were crossed with heavier Asian breeds newly arrived in Europe, Cochin, Brahma and Langshan types among them, with Indian fowl added to the mix later on. Breeders picked for winter laying, dark shell colour, and a sturdy, useful body.

By the early 1900s the type had settled into something recognisable, and the name Barnevelder came into use for birds out of the Barneveld district. A breed club was set up in the Netherlands in the early 1920s, and the standard for the double-laced pattern the breed is known for today was fixed not long after.

The breed reached Britain and Ireland through the 1920s and 1930s, where the dark eggs caught the eye of showgoers and the egg trade alike. Bantam versions followed later. These days the Barnevelder is kept the world over as a back-garden and exhibition bird, though commercial laying flocks have mostly moved on to specialised hybrids.

The Barnevelder is a broad, deep-bodied bird, carried upright but relaxed rather than stiff. The back runs moderately long, the breast is full, and the tail sits at a middling angle. It gives the impression of a solid farmyard hen rather than a slight layer. The comb is single, the wattles and earlobes red, and the legs clean (unfeathered) and yellow.

Coat and colours

The double-laced brown is the variety everyone pictures. Each body feather runs reddish-brown, edged with two rings of greenish-black, which builds up into a layered, scaled look across the bird. In good light the black often throws a beetle-green sheen. Cocks carry more solid black across the breast and tail, so the full lacing shows up clearest on the hen.

Other colours are recognised depending on the registry, black, white, blue (a blue-laced form) and partridge among them. Legs and skin both run yellow. Chicks of the laced variety hatch out in dull browns and grow into the adult pattern as they feather up over their first few months.

The Barnevelder has a name as one of the steadier back-garden breeds going. Birds tend to be quiet, easy-going and slow to spook, which keeps daily handling and coop checks straightforward. They put up with being picked up better than a lot of laying breeds, so they're often recommended where there are children about the place.

Around people the breed is friendly without being clingy. Hand-reared birds will follow a keeper about and take food from the hand, while ones raised with the flock stay pleasant enough but keep more to themselves. With strangers they're watchful rather than standoffish or aggressive.

In a mixed flock Barnevelders usually settle somewhere in the middle of the pecking order. They're not pushy and rarely go after smaller birds, though their easy nature means a bossier breed can walk over them given the chance. They're not strong flyers and modest fencing will hold them. The breed talks a fair bit without being constant about it: hens will announce an egg or kick up over a disturbance, but they're no worse than most for noise.

Barnevelders are hardy and undemanding next to a lot of other breeds. Most of their care comes down to steady feeding, clean water, dry housing, and a regular check for parasites and injury. Clean legs and tight feathering mean they take less looking after than a feather-footed or crested breed would.

Grooming

• Check feet and legs for scaly leg mite, which shows as raised, crusty scales
• Go over feathers and skin around the vent for lice and red mite, especially in the warmer months
• Trim overgrown nails or beak only if needed; most birds with room to range wear them down on their own
• Give birds a dry patch for dust-bathing so they can see to their own skin and feathers
• Expect a heavier moult once a year in autumn, when laying slows and old feathers drop

Exercise

• Let birds into a run or fenced area daily to forage and scratch about
• Allow supervised free-ranging where the fencing and local predators permit
• Scatter feed or greens about to get birds moving and foraging naturally
• Aim for a few square metres of outdoor space per bird where you can manage it

Environment

The breed's Dutch background means it copes well with cold, wet weather, no small thing given the Irish climate, but housing still needs to stay dry and draught-free with good airflow overhead. The single comb can suffer frostbite in a hard freeze, so keep humidity down inside the coop. In a warm spell, shade and fresh water matter just as much, since the heavy body sheds heat less easily than it holds off cold.

A complete commercial poultry feed should make up the bulk of the diet at every stage, since it's balanced for protein, energy, vitamins and minerals. Chicks start on a high-protein starter, move onto a grower, and switch to layer feed as they come up to point of lay. Fresh, clean water needs to be available at all times, since hens drink heavily, particularly while they're laying.

Treats and supplements

Offer insoluble grit free-choice so birds can grind their feed in the gizzard, especially if they're eating whole grain or foraging widely. Laying hens need extra calcium, usually as crushed oyster shell offered on the side, to keep shells strong. Greens, garden weeds and a bit of grain or mealworm make grand extras, but should stay under roughly 10 percent of the diet so the complete feed stays the backbone of the ration.

The Barnevelder is a hardy, long-settled breed with no major inherited health problems, and a well-kept bird will commonly see out 7 to 10 years. Most trouble that does crop up is the everyday sort shared by all back-garden poultry: parasites, respiratory infection, and reproductive trouble in older hens. Cold tolerance is good, but the single comb can take frostbite in a severe freeze, and heat stress is a bigger risk to this heavy-bodied breed than the cold ever is.

Preventive care

• Keep housing dry, ventilated and clean to hold respiratory disease at bay
• Check for external parasites regularly and treat the coop and the birds together
• Keep fresh water on hand at all times, with free-choice calcium for layers
• Run periodic faecal checks and worm off the back of the results, not on a guess
• Quarantine any new birds before they join the flock
• Keep older, retired hens on a maintenance ration to stop them running to fat

Barnevelders settle into ordinary back-garden housing without any bother. The priority is a dry, predator-proof coop with steady airflow, paired with an outdoor run or supervised range. Being a heavier breed they're not great flyers, so modest fencing will hold them, and lower perches suit them well. Their cold-hardiness means the real housing risks are damp, poor airflow and summer heat, rather than an Irish winter.

Setup checklist

• Dry, well-ventilated coop raised clear of damp ground
• Wide, low perches and clean bedding, straw or wood shavings work well
• Enough nest boxes tucked into a quiet, shaded part of the coop
• A secure run with buried or skirted fencing to keep diggers out
• Fresh water always available and a sheltered spot to feed
• A dry patch somewhere for dust-bathing
• Shade and extra water on hand for warm spells

Barnevelder eggs follow the standard chicken incubation span of about 21 days. They can go under a broody hen or into an incubator. Modern strains aren't great sitters, so an incubator is often the surer bet for a planned hatch. Set clean, properly stored eggs no more than about 7 to 10 days old, kept pointed end down and at a cool room temperature before they go in.

Hatching steps

1. Store and pick out clean, well-shaped eggs and let them come up to room temperature
2. Get the incubator steady at the right temperature and humidity before setting eggs
3. Set the eggs and turn them several times a day right through to day 18
4. Candle around days 7 to 10 to clear out any that are unfertilised or not developing
5. On day 18 stop turning, raise the humidity, and go into lockdown
6. Leave the incubator closed while chicks pip and hatch over days 19 to 21
7. Move dry, fluffed-up chicks to a warm brooder with starter feed and water