1 Bielfelders pullet has a crest?

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

I got 4 Bielfelders pullets from the bargain bin at a TSC in mid-August (3 wks ago). I was told they were “older” but I don’t think they were much- a week maybe, if even that. This is my first time with this breed. Anyway, 3 of them are beginning to develop the beautiful white speckles on the tips of the feathers, almost rosy coloration on their breast feathers. One is larger and has more grey and less white on the tops of the feathers. It also has a crest.

So, can Bielfelders have crests? Or do I have an Oliver Egger, or a Bielfelder cross?

Here is my crested one without any speckled on her chest. They are approx. 4 weeks old.

Here is a side-by-side aerial view of the crested chick (left) beside one that looks more like what I expect a Bielfelder to look like. Notice the lack of patterning on the crested chick. Also her hackle feathers are a different color.

Here is a pic of all 4 of them. (They’re the larger chicks- the others are 3-week old BYMs). The chick at the top of the photo is the crested one.

 

[NatJ]

So, can Bielfelders have crests?

Bielefelders are not supposed to have crests.
A mating of two non-crested birds should never produce a crested chick, so a crested chick should never happen from a pure Bielefelder flock.

I think your chick cannot be a pure Bielefelder.

I think it could be an Olive Egger, or possibly a Cream Legbar (I don't know them well enough to tell if that chick's coloring is acceptable for a Cream Legbar, or if it is somehow wrong.)

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Bielefelders are not supposed to have crests.
A mating of two non-crested birds should never produce a crested chick, so a crested chick should never happen from a pure Bielefelder flock.

I think your chick cannot be a pure Bielefelder.

I think it could be an Olive Egger, or possibly a Cream Legbar (I don't know them well enough to tell if that chick's coloring is acceptable for a Cream Legbar, or if it is somehow wrong.)

I hadn’t considered Legbar, but the color is similar to the pics I’ve seen online. I had one a few years back and she was tiny compared to the other pullets, but she also was never healthy, plagued with health problems, and only lived a few months- so I can’t really make a fair comparison.

Guess it’ll be a wait and see game.

 

[NatJ]

I hadn’t considered Legbar, but the color is similar to the pics I’ve seen online. I had one a few years back and she was tiny compared to the other pullets, but she also was never healthy, plagued with health problems, and only lived a few months- so I can’t really make a fair comparison.

Guess it’ll be a wait and see game.

Adult Legbars are definitely smaller than adult Bielefelders.

Chicks of this age can grow at different speeds, so the current biggest may not be the biggest when they are grown up. But if the crested chick stays biggest all the way to maturity, that will be a fairly good sign it is not a Legbar.

By the time it reaches maturity, the body shape should also give clues about breed, and of course egg color can help sort things out too (if it lays blue eggs, or olive, or brown, or white.)

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Your birds are definitely Cream Legbars, Bielefelders are not supposed to have crests.

and she was tiny compared to the other pullets, but she also was never healthy, plagued with health problems, and only lived a few months-

My Cream Legbars from Tractor Supply were bantam-sized as well. I purchased four, but three died and the last one－Hazel－was the sweetest thing ever. She did not seem to have any sense of fear. You can see her in profile picture. I will never know how big she would have grown to be; she passed away from respiratory issues.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

By the time it reaches maturity, the body shape should also give clues about breed, and of course egg color can help sort things out too (if it lays blue eggs, or olive, or brown, or white.)

I only have brown egg layers currently. So I’m intrigued about what she could be. If she lays blue, she’s likely a Legbar I guess. If she lays green she’s an OE. Brown would be… an unplanned Bielfelder cross. What might a white egg indicate?

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Your birds are definitely Cream Legbars, Bielefelders are not supposed to have crests.

Do you think all 4 are legbars? Only 1 has a crest. Two do them definitely have the rosy brown colors with white tips that I expected them to have. The crested one is more grey and more Legbar colored. One of them is half and half between the two but no crest.

My Cream Legbars from Tractor Supply were bantam-sized as well. I purchased four, but three died and the last one－Hazel－was the sweetest thing ever. She did not seem to have any sense of fear. You can see her in profile picture. I will never know how big she would have grown to be; she passed away from respiratory issues.

Mine was not quite as small as bantam, but she never thrived, and I think that’s why she was small. I know they’re on the smaller side, but I think she was smaller than average. She only lived 10 months. She was sweet, but I have been leery of the fragility of the breed ever since. Mine had been super sweet, too. Why do we always lose the sweethearts?

 

[NatJ]

I only have brown egg layers currently. So I’m intrigued about what she could be. If she lays blue, she’s likely a Legbar I guess. If she lays green she’s an OE. Brown would be… an unplanned Bielfelder cross. What might a white egg indicate?

Some hatcheries are producing Legbar-mix Easter Eggers, so that is also a possibility if she lays blue or green. Olive Egger would be dark green, not just any green.

Many breeding programs for Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers are done in a way that produces some percent brown layers (dark or light brown), or sometimes white layers. So if you get brown or white eggs, my guess would probably be "Olive Egger" or "Easter Egger" that did not get the blue egg gene.

Or white eggs could come from a "Cream Legbar" that didn't get the blue egg gene. That is not supposed to happen, but sometimes does anyway. For example, if they crossed Legbars with Brown Leghorns to try to increase egg production, they might not have been careful enough about breeding out the not-blue egg gene before they started producing chicks for sale.

I think those would be the most likely options, but of course I can't completely rule out something else either.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Do you think all 4 are legbars? Only 1 has a crest. Two do them definitely have the rosy brown colors with white tips that I expected them to have. The crested one is more grey and more Legbar colored. One of them is half and half between the two but no crest.

They are from Tractor Supply, so don't expect them to grow full crests. So far, they look like Cream Legbars even though some do not have a crest, and like @NatJ said, they may have other genes. Which is very possible with where they came from.

Mine was not quite as small as bantam, but she never thrived, and I think that’s why she was small. I know they’re on the smaller side, but I think she was smaller than average. She only lived 10 months. She was sweet, but I have been leery of the fragility of the breed ever since. Mine had been super sweet, too. Why do we always lose the sweethearts?

Hazel only lived five months, so I'm unsure of how much she would have grown. I know, it doesn't make sense why the sweet ones get taken first!

 

[NatJ]

They are from Tractor Supply, so don't expect them to grow full crests. So far, they look like Cream Legbars even though some do not have a crest, and like @NatJ said, they may have other genes. Which is very possible with where they came from.

I think it is more likely that there are two kinds of chicks that got mixed, rather than having three out of four Cream Legbars missing crests. Bielefelders have an autosexing color pattern that is VERY similar to Cream Legbars, and they also have single combs and yellow feet, so sorting them out when young is almost impossible.

But I could easily believe all 4 of them to be Legbar-based Easter Eggers or Olive Eggers, especially if they are 2nd generation or later crosses. That would be an obvious way to get chicks that look much like Cream Legbars but have a variety of details wrong. (Maybe Welsummer/Legbar Olive Eggers, bred together to produce the next generation.)