Barnevelder: The Dutch Dark-Egg, Double-Laced Breed

Egg-color genetics

A Barnevelder's dark shell color is not baked into the shell like blue is — it's a brown pigment (protoporphyrin) laid down as a coating on top of an off-white base shell late in the laying process. Because it's a surface coating, it can rub or wash partly off, and the depth of color fades over a hen's laying year and generally lightens with age. That surface-brown chemistry is exactly what makes the breed useful for olive eggers: cross a dark-brown Barnevelder over a true blue-egg layer (or vice versa) and the brown coating goes down over a blue base shell, producing green-to-olive eggs. The darker the Barnevelder parent lays, the more olive the F1 pullets tend to be.

Why Barnevelders lay dark eggs (and why it fades)

The dark shell is a brown pigment coating deposited on the surface of the shell near the end of the laying cycle, sitting on top of a paler base. That's why a fresh Barnevelder egg can look almost chocolate and why the color rubs, washes, and fades: it's a coating, not a through-color like the blue of an Ameraucana. Individual hens vary a lot, and shell color tends to be darkest at the start of a laying season and lighter later and with age.

Historically some strains laid a genuinely chocolate egg, but decades of breeding for production have lightened many modern lines to a medium-to-dark brown. If deep color is your goal, buy from a breeder who selects specifically for it, because hatchery stock is often lighter.

Barnevelder as an olive-egger parent

Because the dark brown is a surface coating over a base shell, it stacks with the blue-egg gene. Put a dark-laying Barnevelder over a blue-egg breed and the brown coating goes down on a blue shell, giving you green-to-olive eggs from the F1 pullets. Barnevelders are a go-to brown-side parent for olive-egger projects precisely because they can lay so dark — and the darker the parent, the deeper the olive.

Breeding notes

• Double lacing is the hard part: each feather should carry a clear red-brown ground with a single crisp black outer lace, and the pattern has to hold across the whole bird. It takes years of selection — pullets often show muddy or peppered ground color, and breeders keep only the cleanest, most evenly laced birds to move a line forward.
• You frequently have to trade off between perfect lacing and other traits, so many breeders keep separate cock and pullet lines: a bird bred to produce show-quality males is often not the same bird that produces show-quality females (double mating), because the ideal ground color and lace width differ by sex.
• Select hard for dark egg color as a separate trait from plumage. Shell color is heritable but fades over the laying year, so grade eggs early in the season and set hatching eggs only from your darkest, most consistent layers to keep the flock's color from drifting light over generations.
• For olive eggers, use a very dark Barnevelder as the brown-side parent over a blue-egg breed (Ameraucana, Cream Legbar, etc.); the F1 pullets lay olive, and backcrossing dark birds deepens the olive further.
• Cull to the breed's calm, upright dual-purpose type — single comb, clean yellow legs, deep body — rather than reproducing standard text.

Showing notes

• Barnevelders are exhibited in the APA's Continental class; enter by variety (e.g. 'Double Laced Barnevelder, large fowl').
• Judges reward the double lacing above all: a bright, even red-brown ground free of peppering, with a distinct but not overly heavy black lace so the bird doesn't read as black in the pen. Smutty or blurred lacing is the most common fault.
• Condition matters — keep the plumage clean and glossy so the lacing contrast pops, and present clean yellow shanks and a neat single comb.
• Bantam Barnevelders are also shown; the silver double-laced was recognized in the bantam first, so know which standard your entry falls under.

Hatching & incubation

• No special incubation requirements — treat Barnevelder eggs like any chicken egg: 99.5–100°F forced-air, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch.
• Don't wash the hatching eggs to 'clean up' the dark bloom before setting — scrubbing removes the protective cuticle and can let bacteria in. Set them as laid and let the color be.

Recognized varieties

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Barnevelders lay?

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Large dark brown eggs — historically as deep as chocolate, though many modern lines lay a medium-to-dark brown. The color is a surface coating that fades over the laying year, so it's darkest early in the season.

Are Barnevelders good for showing?

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Yes. They're shown in the APA's Continental class, entered by variety, and judged largely on their double lacing — an even red-brown ground with a clean black lace. The double-laced pattern is hard to perfect, which is part of the breed's appeal to exhibitors.

How hard are Barnevelders to hatch?

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No harder than any chicken — 99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch. There are no breed-specific incubation quirks. Just don't wash the dark bloom off the eggs before setting them, since that strips the protective cuticle.

Can Barnevelders be used to make olive eggers?

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Yes — a dark-laying Barnevelder is a classic brown-side parent for olive eggers. Crossed with a blue-egg breed, the brown coating goes over the blue base shell to give green-to-olive eggs, and darker parents produce deeper olive.

Are Barnevelders broody?

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Generally not — they're usually described as non-setters that rarely go broody, so plan on an incubator or a broody hen of another breed to hatch their eggs. Individual hens vary.

What is double lacing in a Barnevelder?

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It's the signature plumage pattern: each body feather has a red-brown ground with a defined black lace around it, ideally crisp and even across the whole bird. Achieving clean, non-peppered lacing on both sexes is the central challenge of breeding show Barnevelders.

Related

• How to incubate chicken eggsTemperature, humidity, and the day-by-day schedule
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• All breed guidesBrowse by APA class

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