A Bielefelder Thread !

[texasmomma]

The first dozen I purchased directly from her. She lives in Scottsdale, AZ and I live south of there. My husband and I drove up to retrieve them. I had a 3% hatch rate. This "replacement" batch I just had her send me through the mail because I couldn't afford to sacrifice another whole day just for eggs.

The other eggs that I had shipped to me from OK had an 80% hatch rate by comparison.

Wow. Maybe not a great place to get eggs from, huh? That's too bad.

I'm doing test hatches to see how my eggs fare. I know they are fertilized because everything I crack is fertilized.

3% hatch rate is really poor.

 

[jbkirk]

Wow. Maybe not a great place to get eggs from, huh? That's too bad.

I'm doing test hatches to see how my eggs fare. I know they are fertilized because everything I crack is fertilized.

3% hatch rate is really poor.

Um I think she mean't 30%, but either way that is really poor!!!!

 

[LowerBamaMama]

I have a question. The man I'm buying my (first) chicks from talked me into Bielefelders after I explained I wanted duel purpose birds. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me their experience with Biels as meat birds? Grow out age? Meat quality? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[texasmomma]

I have a question. The man I'm buying my (first) chicks from talked me into Bielefelders after I explained I wanted duel purpose birds. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me their experience with Biels as meat birds? Grow out age? Meat quality? Any insight would be appreciated.

We butchered a couple of roos. One was a good size and the other not so much. I'd have to go back and look through the thread to see when it was. LOL

The one I thought would be good sized was not and vice versa. He just had a lot of feathers.

We'll be butchering another one soon, and then I have a batch of chicks we'll butcher late summer.

 

[estamets]

I have a question. The man I'm buying my (first) chicks from talked me into Bielefelders after I explained I wanted duel purpose birds. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me their experience with Biels as meat birds? Grow out age? Meat quality? Any insight would be appreciated.

I was pretty sold by this description:
http://greenfirefarms.com/chicken/bielefelder/

Now I've got a pullet and a few roos in the brooder, and looking forward to the eggs AND the meat!

 

[DesertChic]

Um I think she mean't 30%, but either way that is really poor!!!!

Oops! Yes, 30%. Sorry about that. (Actually, it was 21% if you count the two extras she included, but....either way the hatch rate really stunk.)

 

[LowerBamaMama]

I was pretty sold by this description:
http://greenfirefarms.com/chicken/bielefelder/

Now I've got a pullet and a few roos in the brooder, and looking forward to the eggs AND the meat!

Ya, I've read just about everything I could find in English on them lol just wondering about people experience as far as the weight theirr getting on dressed birds, taste/texture and how long they're letting their birds grow out to get those results

 

[LowerBamaMama]

We butchered a couple of roos. One was a good size and the other not so much. I'd have to go back and look through the thread to see when it was. LOL

The one I thought would be good sized was not and vice versa. He just had a lot of feathers.

We'll be butchering another one soon, and then I have a batch of chicks we'll butcher late summer.

How long will you let them grow out before they'll be big enough to process?

 

[texasmomma]

How long will you let them grow out before they'll be big enough to process?

I think we did 18-20 weeks last time. I don't feed them like cornish cross, just regular chickens.

I ended up freezing them right away and then letting them sit in the frig for a couple of days before cooking. Then, they were put in the crockpot and I made soup out of one and pot pie out of the other. They tasted better than store chicken and the texture was the best we have had yet.

 

[texasmomma]

I had 3 of 7 eggs set hatch this week. 2 hatched right on day 21 and the 3rd hatched on day 22. I had another one pip, but it didn't get out of the shell and I didn't help it. I've helped in the past, and I just can't do that anymore. 2 of the eggs had fully formed chicks in them. I'm not sure why they didn't hatch. The third looks like it might not have been fertilized or was an early quitter. My rooster quite likes the bielefelders; all of them are missing feathers on their heads where he holds on to them. I'm not sure if that is a sign of a good roo or not. I plan on replacing him with a 2013 import.

Here are pics of the three newbies. 2 girls and 1 boy.