A Bielefelder Thread !

[Bine]

I would first try to work on the points that would a) disqualify the bird in show and b) on things that are health connected.
I scrolled a little bit through this post now, and some have hens with laying problems. So monitor your hens and hold on to the breeding hens a little bit longer to make sure they are not prone to the fast aging we see in hybirds. As I said, here in germany they are known to be a healthy breed.
The Bielefelder is a fluffy bird and sometimes the feathers mask some body flaws or even nutrition lacks and under all the feathers a bony insted of a bonny hen hides. ... even if the opposit is more often the case and hens, especially in mixed flocks are a little to fat to live long. ... as TNBielefelder said, the standards should talk more about health and how a good shape supports the health.
And like with all heavy birds you should also have an eye on the heart, bones and joins. Calm birds are good, but if they want to run and jump they should be able to do that.

 

[DesertChic]

This is the cockerel I've kept for breeding. His name is Hansel. These aren't the best pics of him, but like most of my chickens he seems to hate being photographed.




Here he is with his three girls. You can see my Naked Neck Turken pen in the background.

And this is my beloved "pet" cockerel, Bosch:

 

[crawford-3546]

Beautiful!

 

[TNBielefelder]

Love everyone's Bielefelder pictures! It makes me want more!!

 

[melamb13]

Great looking birds DesertChic. Can't wait until my pullets come of age... 4 months and growing.

 

[TNBielefelder]

Has anyone owned their Bielefelders long enough to to go through a molt? Just wondering what to expect as far as egg production and feather loss compared to other breeds.

 

[Bine]

Bielefeld does exsist. The Bielefelder Kennhuhn does exsist. They will be shown in Metz, so there has to be an english standard somewhere. I've asked at the german national breeders club and they don`t have a english version and in the UK they are classified as rare breed non-standard.
I can try to make contact with one of the breeder/judges maybe s/he can do a what we call an audition via skype. In a audition you bring your birds and jugdes tell you where the flaws are and help to create a breeding pair/stock. This is often a much nicer event than shows where jugdes often quite rude if you present a not-that-good bird.

 

[TNBielefelder]

Bielefeld does exsist. The Bielefelder Kennhuhn does exsist. They will be shown in Metz, so there has to be an english standard somewhere. I've asked at the german national breeders club and they don`t have a english version and in the UK they are classified as rare breed non-standard[COLOR=333333].

I can try to make contact with one of the breeder/judges maybe s/he can do a what we call an audition via skype. In a audition you bring your birds and jugdes tell you where the flaws are and help to create a breeding pair/stock. This is often a much nicer event than shows where jugdes often quite rude if you present a not-that-good bird. [/COLOR]

sounds great thank you for all your help!!

 

[TNBielefelder]

I also contacted the Rare Breed Association in the UK and they do have a proposed standard.. I was told they would send me a copy but have not received it yet.

 

[Bine]

This is off topic, but if you like old/rare breed vids this youtube channel has some beautiful vids featuring livestock mainly from the alpin region. Most of the vids are in german, but I think the beauty of the breeds (and the panoramas) speek for themselfs. Caution, the vids can have unwanted side effects like wanting to quitt your job and moving to Tyrol to be a Herdswo/man or planing your next vaccation only under the aspect that blacknose sheep live at the resort.