the barbu de watermaal.

For information on this year's breeding plans, visit our Hatching Page.

Barbu de Watermaal! This lovely breed is closely related to the d'Anvers, with glorious beards, wide chests, and proud stances. The Watermaal has a more slender build with a closed tail, while the d'Anvers is quite upright with an open tail. A hundred years ago, the developer of the Watermaal breed began his journey, but did not document the making of the Watermaal. We do know that d'Anvers were involved, and a line of silkies with a trifid rose comb - a rose comb with three spikes on the back.

We were able to obtain two lovely cockerels from a breeder in Tennessee who has worked hard on developing Watermaal here in the states. Tolkien and Lewis have been helping us develop our own line of Watermaal, a charming breed sporting a backswept crest, along with the unique trifid comb. They worked hard to help us produce a flock of black Watermaal in 2021, all of whom carry the mottled gene. All carry one copy of the crest gene and one copy of the trifid comb gene. We will be working towards a flock that is mottled and carries 2 copies of both the crest and the trifid genes.

We are on our third year and can't wait to see the lovely babies in the spring! Our newest flocks include mottled, lavender mottled, lavender, and recessive white girls under a black and a mottled rooster. Hopefully over the next year or two we will achieve our goal of mottled and lavender mottled watermaal flocks! Meanwhile we are working diligently with other Watermaal breeders across the US as we establish the Watermaal Club of America.

What a priviledge to be part of the very first Watermaal Nationals in Columbus Ohio in 2022