The Barnevelder Chicken

Barnevelder Chicken

Barnevelder double-laced hens (large fowl)

The Barnevelder is a medium heavy breed of chicken named after the Dutch town of Barneveld. It is a cross of 19th century Dutch landrace chickens with Asian breeds imported to Europe in the mid-late 19th century such as the Brahma, Cochin, Croad Langshan and Malay.

History

Hans Schippers, the Dutch authority on the breed, reports the following on the development of the Barnevelders: Between c. 1850 and 1875 Cochin, Malay, Brahma and Croad Langshan arrived from Asia and were crossed with local fowl. One particular strain of brown egg laying fowl were like Black Cochins in appearance and were kept as a meat bird (these were not, however, purebred Cochins). Around 1885 these birds were crossed with Brahmas and the offspring of this cross was crossed with Langshan. In 1898 American utility birds ("Amerikaanse Nuthoenders"), a rough version of the Golden Wyandotte (apparently not dissimilar to the American Winnebago, a ‘precursor’ to the Golden-laced Wyandotte) were crossed into the developing breed followed in 1906 by Buff Orpingtons. Overall in the development to follow the Croad Langshan continued to have the biggest influence and contributed hardiness, brown eggs and good winter production.
A similar account, bar the influence of the "Amerikaanse Nuthoenders", was given in 1930 by P. L. Wijk, District State Poultry Expert, Apeldoorn and P. Ubbels, State Poultry Consultant, Beekbergen, The Netherlands in his contribution on The Origin of the Barnevelder and Welsummer Breeds. The authors add that

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