Barnevelder - Gold, Silver and Blue Double Laced

Just some of our stunning young Speckled Sussex above.

Eggs are pale brown coloured and they can be expected to lay upwards of 200 + eggs during their first years.

The Barnevelder varieties of chicken are new comers to Harrisville Heritage however they have proven themselves with fantastic egg laying and a wonderful robust constitution.  They are a Dutch breed of hen and were developed in the early 20th Century.  These ladies are great foragers, and will explore their surrounds well - but being a reasonably heavy breed they can be contained behind a 1.5m fence once mature (young 'teen' hens however may need a wing clipped). We have 2 breeding flocks - Silver double laced and a gold/blue breeding flock which produces gold, blue and the odd splash coloured progeny. All of the girls produce a brown egg - with the golds having the darkest brown.  In fact I believe Barnevelders probably produce some of the darkest brown eggs from Heritage Breed hens available in New Zealand.  

The Speckled Sussex variety was rarely seen until recently. Light, Buff & Coronation Sussex are the 3 most commonly found varieties in New Zealand.

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