Barnevelder faults
![good examples of Barnevelder hens](https://cluckin.net/media/posts/161/barnevelder-history-header-xl.jpg)
What are the faults in Barnevelders?
In no particular order these are some of the faults I regularly see in Barnevelders:
1. Red Leakage:-
![](https://cluckin.net/media/posts/161/red-leakage-into-the-lacing.jpg)
Red leakage shows itself in a couple of ways - like you see in the example above where the Chestnut ground colour bleeds through into the silver lacing. Also I have seen a yellowish colour show in the back of the males.
2. Poor lacing:-
![](https://cluckin.net/media/posts/161/poor-lacing.jpg)
Lacing should be clean, crisp and well defined.
Too large or floppy comb. There should be 5 or 7 points.
3. More than 4 toes
4. Feathered shanks or feet.
5. Shafting or peppering in the feathers. This is when the shaft of the feather is clearly a different colour from the rest of the feather. Peppering is when the lacing, particularly in the tail feathers gives way to spots rather clean lacing.
6. Leg colour:-
Barnevelder legs should be bright yellow and quite sturdy. Thin legs or dull gold legs seem common.
![](https://cluckin.net/media/posts/161/barnevelder-yellow-legs.jpg)
7. Size and weight:-
At 3.3kg this hen is the upper end of the ideal weight for a large fowl. The Barnevelder is a medium large fowl. Make sure you weigh your birds with a full crop.
![](https://cluckin.net/media/posts/161/chickens-size-and-weight.jpg)
8. Poor comb size:-
Barnevelders have a fine comb, which should be small in size and never large.
![](https://cluckin.net/media/posts/161/importance-of-the-comb-eyes-beak-and-head.jpg)
9. Poor egg colour:-
Last but not least the modern Barnevelder seems to have developed a cream egg and not the beautiful chocolate brown egg it should have.