A Bielefelder Thread !

[TNBielefelder]

That was my very first question too

 

[Red Banks]

Yep....like Bielefeld only with er at the end, like the city in Eastern Westphalier, when the German breeders club had to decide what name the new breed should have, they first wanted to name it German Kennhuhn or Westphalian Kennhuhn, but we had already a German Reichshuhn and the Westphalian Totleger so to avoid confusion they choose Bielefelder Kennhuhn. And some people say that creation of this chicken breed is part of the Bielefeld Conspirancy.

So does the city really exist?

 

[jbkirk]

So does the city really exist?

Yep.

 

[Bine]

Yes, that's it.

 

[Bine]

LOL, the city does exist, but I think it is fair to say that it is not exactly a boom town, but I think you can find something made in Bielefeld in every German household. Dr. Oetker is like Kellog's in the U.S.

 

[Red Banks]

LOL, the city does exist, but I think it is fair to say that it is not exactly a boom town, but I think you can find something made in Bielefeld in every German household. Dr. Oetker is like Kellog's in the U.S.

In November 2012, German Chancellor Angela Merkel referred to the Bielefeld Conspiracy in public when talking about a town hall meeting she had attended in Bielefeld, adding: "…if it exists at all." and "I had the impression that I was there."

It is a great story!

 

[DesertChic]

We are currently using a GQF 1500 professional incubator and a GQF 1550 hatcher. We had to add an automatic humidity pump to it to try and maintain humidity between 35 and 40 percent for incubation. Our bielefelders seemed to have no trouble hatching prior to the added humidity pump but our smaller Swedish Black Hen and Ayam Cemani eggs did very poorly. I think it had something to do with the moisture loss being too rapid with the lower humidity. Many of our eggs would develop fully and then be unable to hatch or even pip, the airsacs were always so large, it was very disappointing.

In terms of incubators, we have used several. Although we try to support things made in the USA whenever possible, I do feel that the smaller Brinsea and RCOM incubators work a bit better in terms of regulating humidity. We had an RCOM max 20 (I think that is the one, I can't recall as it's been a while ago) and it was incredible. Our hatch rates were amazing. It has been touch and go with the GQF, however, it is a much larger (cabinet) incubator as we are hoping to hatch and sell more as we build up our flock. If you are just looking to hatch for yourself I wouldn't recommend them as they don't seem to be the most reliable and don't have the built in humidity controls.

I use the RCom Max20 and LOVE it.

Your photos are great! Kudos to your son for holding that big boy long enough to get the photo.

 

[DesertChic]

I just have to reiterate how incredibly impressed I am with the cockerels/roosters of this breed. Today I opened the coop door belonging to my smooth and frizzled Easter Eggers (18 weeks old) so they could free range with the rest of my flocks for the first time. It was stressful! I have some Dorking mixed hens that have proven surprisingly mean, and they immediately descended on my EEs and began to terrorize them all.

Then came my breeder Bielefelder cockerel, Hansel. I watched in amazement as he rounded up all of the EEs, walked them calmly back into their coop, got all of them to quietly feed, and then began escorting them in groups to his favorite parts of the yard. He was more assertive with my EE cockerels than with the pullets, but incredibly gentle with all of them overall. And when those Dorking girls started moving in for another attack he firmly let them know he'd have none of it. He called over some of the other older girls in the yard, Australorps and Barred Rocks, and had them form a secondary barrier of protection around the EEs as they gradually began to explore. It was really impressive!

LOVE this breed!

 

[mrosspitt]

Great Biel rooster story.... I need to move so that I'm allowed to have one.
Maybe I can talk one into not making too much noise! My girls really couldn't be any quieter.

 

[otakalhasas]

Whoa, that really is impressive! Go for it Biel roo!!!!!