Reviews by VistaSRJ

Out of the breeds I've tried (nearly 20), these guys have it all. While another breed might beat them in a certain area, when it comes to considering all factors, these claim the prize.

I love the laced colors! And this is the only breed that offers laced birds without leg feathers and special top knots. I also love their round, chunky shape and smaller tail. I don't care for the rose comb- I prefer a small single comb- but I can put up with that because of all their great features. It's wonderful that the hens beat the roosters for good looks!

Temperament has been excellent in all my birds. They are not flighty, but they are watchful, which is good when you have predators like I do. They are quick to recognize the hand that feeds them, LOL, and can become friendly if that is what you want. Smart- for a chicken- they can figure out situations quickly.

They excel at egg-laying, though for sheer numbers they are outclassed by a few other breeds. The eggs are good sized, and laid consistently. I have a Silver Laced hen who lays two days, then takes a day off; her only exception was a short period for molting. She's over two years old now and still just as consistent as ever. Some hens will go broody, and others won't. That seems more dependent on individual hens, though my Gold Laced tend toward being broody more than my Silver Laced.

Wyandottes are good at foraging. My chickens love taking off in the mornings for any succulent grasses they can find; but they are also dependable, staying close to the barnyard, and leading the flock back to the coop at night.

Meat quality is excellent, tender and lots of it. I can butcher my cockerels at 5 mths and still have a good amount of meat. Hens are also heavy birds, providing a good meat portion.

So this is my bird of choice. Everyone should have some of these all-purpose sweethearts in their flock for multiple reasons. However, I do want to say that there are slight differences between the types (colors) of Wyandottes and their qualities. I've worked with the Gold and Silver laced so far, and those are what I base this review on. I also think it is important that people understand that hatchery stock and breeder quality stock are vastly different. Hatchery stock tend to vary a great deal in looks and temperament, so always remember that when getting your birds.

I've had 18-20 chicken breeds, and feel I can give a fair judgment on a few of them. The Bielefelder is definitely one of them. I started out with a group of 16, of which 9 were pullets and 7 were cockerels. I had heard so much about these birds that they made the top of my list when I was getting into chickens. I will admit that I raised them for a couple years and sold them to others, but all the time I was simply trying to make myself thrilled with them.

Temperament was definitely a pro for this breed. It was their best quality by far, and there is nothing bad I would say about them in this regard- if all you care about is a sweet disposition, this may be your breed. They were truly gentle giants, easy to handle, and preferred to be friendly rather than flighty. They got along with each other, even the roosters could be kept together with ease.

Color is a personal preference. I truly did not care for their color. The roosters were quite pretty, but the hens were so drab. And since you have one rooster to several hens, I have a preference for breeds where the hens are pretty. I did like the shape of the hens, they were very round and chunky looking.

Egg laying was decent when they did it, but I found them poor layers through both the cold winter and hot summer months. The eggs were good sized, but not as large as I expected from a giant breed.

Free ranging was poor. I allow my chickens to range at will sometimes, as well as keeping them in a very extensive fenced area. Usually I free feed, but once or twice I actually pulled their feed for a day in an attempt to force them to go out and forage. It didn't work; they just hung out till I gave them their feed and devoured it like they'd never had food in their life. And they eat a lot to begin with. For weight to feed, I rate this breed very poor. And that brings me to the last thing I will rate them for....

Meat quality was very poor. I have found in most cases that those of us who raise the larger breeds like this are not only looking for eggs, but also a decent table bird. I found Bielefelders terrible in every respect. I butchered a cockerel at 6 mths, which is my normal time for a heritage breed, and found him to have so little meat for his weight that I waited another couple months for the other cockerels. The meat to weight ratio was still very inferior to other dual purpose birds I've had. As to meat quality, I have never had such tough meat! Nothing we did could soften these birds. I'd think it was the way I raised them, except it was the same way I've raised my other cockerels who have made excellent table fare. Oddly enough, my breeds that ranged more than these were often far more tender. I really think it was just the breed itself.

So overall, I have to give them a low rating. They simply did not have enough good qualities to make me want them so I finally sold off my group and have moved on to birds that meet more of my criteria.