AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi all,
Part boast, part question tonight. These are my barnies that hatched overnight.
Awww, aren't they cute!

That was the boast now the question. I was expecting the brown, stripey chicks but the two paler ones, is that a common colouration for barnie chicks?

Congratulations!

Congratulations! I am very for you! They are very cute indeed!

Mr. purefeather is the Barnevelder eggspert!


Petite Poulet

Mr. purefeather, excellent I look forward to hearing from him.

G'day Wickedwings, Ever since I started breeding Barnies I've always had two colourings in the chickens. If you have a look at my white barnie thread, go to page 5, the first pic shows a white barnie in the forground and directly behind you will see a dark chick (left) and a lighter chick (right).They all turn out as double laced. It doesn't seem to be a sex linkage indicator
Rhode Red or Andrewschooks may be able to shed more light on this.

I get a few light coloured chicks each year. Some don't look to dis-simialr to those in the photo. I never have the trait until a introduced a male back in 1997. The trait did not show up the first two years but has since. I have 6 this year from 1 pullet.

Talking colour / feather quality not type.
The same mating will produce dark and light coloured chickens. In my first few matings getting this result, the darker chickens were some of my best with colour (black) in all the right places. However the lighter colour chicks developed into birds with way too much black. So instead of being red with black markings, they carried almost black smut in under colour, too much black in wing markings, black lacing in shoulders and breast, but gee did they have great feather with green sheen to die for.

Now consider the colour of chickens in some of the game breeds - Indian Game (Dark) - White or light stripped, OEG bantam BlackRed / Wheaten Light Leg - White or light stripped. Now the Indian game develop into dark coloured birds, the females have lacing, the OEG and Indian males are dark.

If the Barnies follow the same trend, as my reds I suggest that the lighter chicks will be the darkest adult birds when finished developing - noting they may carry too much black. The lacing will not be as defined. But they will have a good green sheen.

My oldest chickens this years are about 8 weeks old. The 2 light coloured chicks (1 boy - 1 girl) both are very different to the others. In their chick wing feathers they have peppery marking and some black in the shoulder feathers. Not old enough to see smut in the back feathers yet. I think they will be colour culls once they develop. Basically at about 16 weeks I will know if they will be too dark.

Compared to the wing feathers of the "darker" red chicks, these some have some little black markings in flight feathers while most have almost the correct markings in both primary and secondary feathers. This is a trait I like and generally means these will have "standard" marking once they develop their adult feathers.

I hope this helps, keep an eye on how they develop. I would be interested to know if they follow a similar way my Reds do.

If any one has a line that is lacking "black" lacing or markings, one of these birds may be the answer. Basically they carry too much black in their genes.

Rhode Red

G'day Rhode Red , do your dark chicks have the dark face patch ?
Wickedwings , get some green pick into your chicks. See if you can get a bit of yellow into their legs.

Purefeather, some of my chicks do. Often the darker chicks tend to be pullets.

To help with the yellow legs, I use a mix of pine shavings and lucern chaf in the brooder. I add a handful of chaff each day once they are about 2-3 weeks, they look for the chaff and eat the leaves. At about 4 weeks I add a bit of cracked grain, this includes corn.

I look for chickens that carry the yellow leg gene. In the reds there is a link between the pullets having good horn colouring and their male offspring having good yellow legs. Obviously diet is also a key factor. I do know that the geology of area you live in has an impact on leg colour. I have a friend who lives in the NSW southern highlands and struggles with good leg colour, yet chickens from his birds have good leg colour here in Brisbane.

The key is to understanding your birds and their traits. Spend as much time as possible observing and handling your chickens.

Rhode Red

Thanks for the discussion purefeather & rhode red, I'm learning a hell of a lot about my backyard chooks and I'm starting to get interested in breeding, I never realised there was so much involved.

Hi All,

Interesting thread. I also get lighter chicks, very similar to those in the pics, but I also get some which have almost no stripe on their backs - I am keeping some of these next time they appear, but as yet havent done so.

I wil post a pic for you to see when I get soem.

Cheers