A Bielefelder Thread !

[ElimAcres]

Does anyone know of a Bielefelder breeder in Ohio or the surrounding states???

 

[Mtn Homestead]

Does anyone know of a Bielefelder breeder in Ohio or the surrounding states???

There's another bielefelder thread here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bielefelder-thread.1467668/page-29
Someone over there might know.

 

[jordynm]

Hey everyone, so I am relatively new to Bielefedler’s and wanted to know if anyone had ever dealt with an aggressive cock/rooster from this breed. I know that they are supposed to be a docile breed and so far I haven’t had any issues, but wanted to give some background as to why I’m asking.

I had a German Liege Fighter rooster that turned extremely aggressive after moving out of the city. My suspicion is that he has never been around other roosters and my neighbor has a bunch of them. Well after putting up with his aggression for several months, always having to carry a stick around, attacking my husband and children, and not being able to interact/handle any of my other chickens I was finally ready to rehome him and he went to his new home yesterday. He was my first ever rooster and now I am very un-trustworthy of other males (my children are 1 and 2, so very young).

I have hatched all of my Bielefelder’s from various breeders to establish my own flock. The first hatch I had 11 chicks (7 males/4 females), they are now almost 20 weeks old. I still have my younger hatched separated because they were getting horribly picked on (now we have them set up to see each other through a fence before putting them back together). They are in a yard with the 4 Bielefelder pullets and 7 mature hens. In addition to the aggressive rooster we also butchered two of the males from this group and have 5 left. I know that it is Spring and hormones are raging and the cocks are fighting, but less and we plan to reduce it down to two males from this group in 1-2 weeks (and eventually free range on a 1.6 acre property after it’s fenced).

So, now I’m trying to make myself more present in the chicken yard and I just feel like the males are eyeballing me at every corner. I’m trying to give them the benefit that I’ve never had problems with them before, but I think I have some PTSD and I will NEVER put up with an aggressive rooster again. I haven’t really handled these chickens since they were 10-11 weeks old, but I was in the pen daily just briefly to feed/water/collect eggs and always with a large broom handle.

Sorry for the long post! But I could definitely use some reassurance as I work through this.

 

[Mtn Homestead]

Hey everyone, so I am relatively new to Bielefedler’s and wanted to know if anyone had ever dealt with an aggressive cock/rooster from this breed. I know that they are supposed to be a docile breed and so far I haven’t had any issues, but wanted to give some background as to why I’m asking.

I had a German Liege Fighter rooster that turned extremely aggressive after moving out of the city. My suspicion is that he has never been around other roosters and my neighbor has a bunch of them. Well after putting up with his aggression for several months, always having to carry a stick around, attacking my husband and children, and not being able to interact/handle any of my other chickens I was finally ready to rehome him and he went to his new home yesterday. He was my first ever rooster and now I am very un-trustworthy of other males (my children are 1 and 2, so very young).

I have hatched all of my Bielefelder’s from various breeders to establish my own flock. The first hatch I had 11 chicks (7 males/4 females), they are now almost 20 weeks old. I still have my younger hatched separated because they were getting horribly picked on (now we have them set up to see each other through a fence before putting them back together). They are in a yard with the 4 Bielefelder pullets and 7 mature hens. In addition to the aggressive rooster we also butchered two of the males from this group and have 5 left. I know that it is Spring and hormones are raging and the cocks are fighting, but less and we plan to reduce it down to two males from this group in 1-2 weeks (and eventually free range on a 1.6 acre property after it’s fenced).

So, now I’m trying to make myself more present in the chicken yard and I just feel like the males are eyeballing me at every corner. I’m trying to give them the benefit that I’ve never had problems with them before, but I think I have some PTSD and I will NEVER put up with an aggressive rooster again. I haven’t really handled these chickens since they were 10-11 weeks old, but I was in the pen daily just briefly to feed/water/collect eggs and always with a large broom handle.

Sorry for the long post! But I could definitely use some reassurance as I work through this.

I definitely understand your fears! We have young children & have butchered a few roosters who became aggressive toward humans in the past.

We currently have 7 roosters (2 or 3 we plan to cull at some point), and 34 hens. 5 of our roosters are 29-week-old Bielefelders, our 2.5-year-old rooster is an ausralorp/americauna, and we also have a 29-week-old barnyard mix. The oldest rooster was my son's favorite & was handled daily for most of his adolescent months. My daughter claims he acted aggressively at one point, but I never observed it, and it could have been PTSD- or sibling rivalry- induced. The Bielefelder roosters were handled extensively in the brooder, and have each been handled at least once every 4 weeks since. So far, they have been complete gentleman. Some of that could be having a good example in the current king of the flock, and some of it is likely having been handled regularly.

I have some bookmarked posts on this topic. I'll try to find them and post links here.

 

[Mtn Homestead]

This thread had several ideas:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-bielefelder.1069851/post-17292794

I especially appreciated this post:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-bielefelder.1069851/post-17379370

And this article may also be helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-tame-chickens-from-the-start.67246/

 

[crazy4bassin]

I‘m sure buried in the 559 pages of this thread might be my answer. I’ve searched it but am still not coming up with a conclusive answer. Could someone clarify the breeds used to create the Bielefelder please? From what I’ve read on the subject, the Cukoo Malines, Amrocks, and New Hampshires all seem to be consistent everywhere, but some list Wyandottes or Welsumers or RIRs. I have an almost 1 year old Biel roo an 3 hens of the same age and I am curious what the real answer is. Also, if anyone has crossed a Bielefelder roo with Cream Legbar hens and has pictures to share it would be greatly appreciated. I have 13 eggs of this cross in the incubator as I post this. Thanks for the help.

 

[jordynm]

Hey everyone, so this is an incredibly long thread and I don’t have time to look through a lot of it. I am relatively new to Bielefedler’s

This thread had several ideas:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-bielefelder.1069851/post-17292794

I especially appreciated this post:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-bielefelder.1069851/post-17379370

And this article may also be helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-tame-chickens-from-the-start.67246/

Tha k you so much! I’m going to check these out!
My two cocks that we picked to keep for breeding are the one I’m most weary about. One will eat cautiously out of my hand and the other doesn’t, but I’m trying to gain their trust.

 

[crazy4bassin]

I‘m sure buried in the 559 pages of this thread might be my answer. I’ve searched it but am still not coming up with a conclusive answer. Could someone clarify the breeds used to create the Bielefelder please? From what I’ve read on the subject, the Cukoo Malines, Amrocks, and New Hampshires all seem to be consistent everywhere, but some list Wyandottes or Welsumers or RIRs. I have an almost 1 year old Biel roo an 3 hens of the same age and I am curious what the real answer is. Also, if anyone has crossed a Bielefelder roo with Cream Legbar hens and has pictures to share it would be greatly appreciated. I have 13 eggs of this cross in the incubator as I post this. Thanks for the help.

Anybody ?

 

[Mtn Homestead]

Anybody ?

This article has some info on that:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/bielefelder.11673/

This post shows a Biel/Legbar cross:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-bielefelder.1069851/post-16283295

 

[AKA]

You could buy from Greenfire for less as they recently lowered their prices. Greenfire charges $59 for girls and $29 for boys. Here in MD, the price is even lower. girls sell for $25-30. Boys are usually free.

Where can one purchase Bielefelders in Maryland?