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.