Amazing eye candy delivering tasty eggs. In addition to enhancing the beauty of your lawn, the hens earn their keep gifting a steady supply of large brown eggs. Even their eggs are gorgeous! The brown eggs often present heartwarming speckles and tint of copper adding that special touch of personality and uniqueness. Most sought for their amazing feather color and design.
You will recieve (1) surprise colored bird per quantity ordered.
A starter pullet provides an opportunity to get a jump-start on a new flock or additions to your current flock! Feather color is not an option. Only order if you do not have a color preference. If feather color is important, we recommend ordering a chick. If you are curious what feather options are possible, check out our Barnevelder page. Starter Pullets will be atleast 6 weeks old and acclimated for outside night time tempatures with an adequate coop for shelter.
Eggs they will gift
Gifts 3-4 Large Brown (Possible Speckles with a Copper Tint) Eggs a Week
Personality
They prefer to be able to have room to roam and forage. They should have a minimum of 10 square feet per bird but are much happier with 40+ square feet. The more room you provide, the less you have to clean the run. Their foraging skills means they will consume less feed providing they have adequate foraging space. Our ladies have an innate desire to forage. We do not like hens to be wired to depend solely on obtain their meal from a feeder, instead they crave and thrive in an environment where they can peck and scratch to roam pasture and help turn compost. Barnevelder chickens love to range, and most varieties are in colors and patterns that blend in well with their surroundings. Although they aren’t good fliers, they are alert to their surroundings and excel at predator detection.
History
The Barnevelder breed’s name is most commonly pronounced “Bar-na-vel-der,” although you will hear some Americans pronounce it “Barn-vel-der.”
The only variety recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA) is the Golden Double Laced variety. These chickens are gorgeous with greenish-black and dark gold feathers. The hens’ body feathers are dark gold with greenish black lacing. The silver and blue are newer bloodlines that are not yet recognized. The rarer colors are sought after for backyard fanciers and exhibit showings.
The creation began in 1865 in the surrounding areas of Barneveld, Gelderland, and The Netherlands when local fowl were crossed with Asiatic “Shanghai” breeds including the Brahma and Langshan. This was done to increased their size, brown shell coloring, and extended winter laying. In 1898 they were mated to an “American Utility Fowl”, (they resembled a single-combed golden-laced Wyandotte and laid red-brown eggs). In 1906, the Buff Orpington chicken was crossed in. By only keeping the darkest brown eggs and the double laced design, the Barnevelder chicken emerged.
Sexing Method
Several communities have laws in which roosters are not allowed. Vent sexing as a day old is most common sexing method, resulting in 90% accuracy. While this age group has a higher sexing accuracy, our female coverage applies to all Starter Pullets sold.
Starter Pullet: Barnevelder Surprise Color
Most families are attracted to obtaining their chickens from us because we are proud to be completely different than typical feed store/ hatchery industry standards. Industry standard is to sex as accurately as possible and sell as pullets (female chicks) and force customers to accept a >10% chance of an accidental rooster without the ability to accept returns nor refunds. In addition, industry standard is to sell bantams (such as silkies) as straight runs since they are too small for safe vent sexing. We offer multiple sexing options.
Male
If you are lucky enough to have a rooster, our male sexing option is a great way to save money on a wonderful breed.
Unsexed
This option means that the chicks have not yet been sexed and are sold as a straight run. While nature usually averages half girls and half boys in high volumes, families should only order if prepared for >50% possible roosters.
Female Coverage
This is our most economical choice for families seeking a female. We kept city ordinances that restrict rooster ownership in mind. This option is great for families that want to enjoy a backyard flock of ladies. We use traditional sexing methods on the breeds that capable of being vent sexed, home accidental roosters, and issue store credit of original purchased price. To learn more about how we sex baby chicks based on their breed view: How to Sex Chickens.
Depending on the breed, sexing accuracy can range as low as 50% for bantam breeds, 90% for standard breeds, and as high as 95% for auto sexing breeds. Our female coverage option is not a service fee for sexing the chick, it is the cost difference between purchasing a male or a female chicken. We do not believe in grinding males alive nor suffocating them as day olds to enable a profit when selling a stated female chick at ridiculously low prices. Thus, our female pricing takes into consideration the male left behind with each female purchased. Male chicks are typically half the price of a female.
To qualify for rehoming, the rooster must remain in perfect health. If the family decides to return the rooster, a store credit in the amount of original purchase price is provided. As a family, you are welcome to decide to keep any accidental rooster and forfeit the credit.
DNA Sexed Female Chicks
For families that get emotionally bonded quickly and do not want to risk a future discovery of a rooster, we offer DNA sexing. DNA sexing is the only true accurate method of sexing baby chicks. DNA testing is a significantly higher financial investment. In most cases, it is 3x the cost as (1) female sex covered chick.
Balance accuracy with financial investment
The sexing decision is one that needs to be made at time of purchased and the original order cannot be altered once the order is fulfilled. It is important as a family to determine the right balance between sexing accuracy and financial investment for your family’s situation.
We provide as much information on our website as possible to ensure families make an informed decision based on their situation and lifestyle. Some breeds are more accurate in sexing and most families find our female coverage adequate in providing a free home for their accidental rooster (up to $100 savings) and use the store credit towards a replacement or our organic feed. While harder to sex bantam breeds, or families that know they will develop a with strong emotional attachment prefer to invest in DNA sexing.