A Bielefelder Thread !

[Bine]

Today I wrote to the club chairman of the German Bielefelder Breeders Club and asked for a contact person that can help us here with some questions. Hopefuly I can find someone who can help us and maybe even help choosing breeding groups.

 

[TNBielefelder]

Today I wrote to the club chairman of the German Bielefelder Breeders Club and asked for a contact person that can help us here with some questions. Hopefuly I can find someone who can help us and maybe even help choosing breeding groups.

That is great news!!

 

[mrosspitt]

Anyone have a Biel that's slow to laying age, or issues that might cause a delay in laying? I have one that is 8 months+ and not laying. Her comb and wattles are very small, but red. My other two started laying at 6 months.


Well, I did have three! One 8 month old broke it's neck in the coop a few days ago. It was happy, healthy and laying. I found it an hour after laying, flat on the bottom of the coop barely able to move. Someone much earlier in the thread had a similar issue(broken neck) with multiple Biel's. No chance anything but it's two roommates touched it, and I've hardly noticed any squabbling between them. In fact, you could watch them for days and not be able to tell if there was a pecking order. They were raised together from birth. Very strange since they also weren't scared of much of anything.

 

[DesertChic]

Anyone have a Biel that's slow to laying age, or issues that might cause a delay in laying? I have one that is 8 months+ and not laying. Her comb and wattles are very small, but red. My other two started laying at 6 months.


Well, I did have three! One 8 month old broke it's neck in the coop a few days ago. It was happy, healthy and laying. I found it an hour after laying, flat on the bottom of the coop barely able to move. Someone much earlier in the thread had a similar issue(broken neck) with multiple Biel's. No chance anything but it's two roommates touched it, and I've hardly noticed any squabbling between them. In fact, you could watch them for days and not be able to tell if there was a pecking order. They were raised together from birth. Very strange since they also weren't scared of much of anything.

Oh, that's terrible! I'm so sorry you lost her.

My Biels are past 32 weeks now and still not laying, so....yeah. I'm starting to think they're "anti-egg laying" gals.

 

[Bine]

Today I talked to Mr. Engelmann who is the chairman of the Bielefelder Cub in Germany. He is a very nice guy and happy to hear about the growing interessed in Bielefelder Chickens. He told me that he is shipping eggs of his birds around the world, but has problems to meet all requests for hatching eggs.

He was very concernd about a breeder near Aleppo in Syria. The contact with him broke down during the war. Chances are vanishingly small, but this is an international forum and if you are that guy, please let him know that you are still among the living.

He told me also that he has contact with a breeder in the U.S. who works on establishing a breeders club. He promised me to send the breeder's address and the full German Standard. He also told me that he can help with choosing birds via photo/skype/vid but he is at the moment quite buisy, b/c it is show season here and after that he has to care for the next generation of show birds... so patiens, please. But with a little luck we will find a date where you can show your birds online.

 

[otakalhasas]

I am so sorry as well. How high was the perch/roost? I've read that with the large bodied birds the roost should be pretty close to the ground. Could that have caused a problem? Just a thought...

 

[TNBielefelder]

Today I talked to Mr. Engelmann who is the chairman of the Bielefelder Cub in Germany. He is a very nice guy and happy to hear about the growing interessed in Bielefelder Chickens. He told me that he is shipping eggs of his birds around the world, but has problems to meet all requests for hatching eggs.

He was very concernd about a breeder near Aleppo in Syria. The contact with him broke down during the war. Chances are vanishingly small, but this is an international forum and if you are that guy, please let him know that you are still among the living.

He told me also that he has contact with a breeder in the U.S. who works on establishing a breeders club. He promised me to send the breeder's address and the full German Standard. He also told me that he can help with choosing birds via photo/skype/vid but he is at the moment quite buisy, b/c it is show season here and after that he has to care for the next generation of show birds... so patiens, please. But with a little luck we will find a date where you can show your birds online.

This is great news thanks so much!!! I can't wait to get the German standard in English and being able to get his opinion on breeding stock would be very valuable. Can he ship hatching eggs to the states? And how likely would it be that they would arrive fresh enough and intact to hatch?

 

[kittydoc]

Oh, that's terrible! I'm so sorry you lost her.

My Biels are past 32 weeks now and still not laying, so....yeah. I'm starting to think they're "anti-egg laying" gals.

You guys are making me nervous. Mine hit 8 months next month! They better be laying by January or I will be bummed (that's when they hit 10 months, which is the range for the lines I got my eggs from).

There is a highly contagious virus that can cause non-laying hens called infectious bronchitis virus. Actually, the respiratory signs are fairly mild and transient, but if it hits them before 4 weeks of age, it prevents the female reproductive tract from developing properly, and they can't and won't ever lay. I know a couple of people who have had IBV (and admit to it). It's also more likely to kill young chicks in that age group. It causes a dip in egg production in mature laying birds, but then they come back almost to normal. Vaccination is not recommended even if a person has had it in their flock, except for possibly commercial flocks. There are many strains. The vaccines only work against a few, and if you vaccinate using a strain that did NOT affect your birds, you can bring in more trouble than you save. The good news is that survivors (as most are) have very strong immunity and are unlikely to get it again.

 

[Exotica]

Hi everyone! So I won an auction from Greenfire Farms for 12 random chicks and ended up getting: 7 Swedish Flower Hens, 5 Cream Legbars, 2 Svart Hona's, and 2 Bielefelders.

The problem is, I have no idea which one's are the Bielefelders! Google didn't show many pictures, so if you don't mind, would you guys mind posting some female Bielefelder pictures?!

Thank you!

 

[Sweet Coastal]

Hi everyone! So I won an auction from Greenfire Farms for 12 random chicks and ended up getting: 7 Swedish Flower Hens, 5 Cream Legbars, 2 Svart Hona's, and 2 Bielefelders.

The problem is, I have no idea which one's are the Bielefelders! Google didn't show many pictures, so if you don't mind, would you guys mind posting some female Bielefelder pictures?!

Thank you!

Her are my 1 week old girls. They are much larger than my other chics.

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