A Bielefelder Thread !

[texasmomma]

In these following 3 photos you can see the step-ups we made under the Brite Tap so different size chickens can reach the nipple valves.

I like these steps. We do chicken nipples on a bucket, too, but I like the horizontal ones best. They drip less and my chicks are able to use them almost immediately.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-Pack-Hor...695879?hash=item4af9278207:g:6LUAAOSwuAVWu34p

 

[Sylvester017]

As requested...






As a gift, my father made me a treadle feeder, my mom picked out a pic, & my sister burned it into the wood.

I love all these nifty and precious chicken feeder ideas! Dad and Sis did a magnificent love gesture! I was going to get a pre-made compact wooden treadle feeder but because I would have to leave it outdoors to warp and because I worried about the lid coming down on a chicken's neck (I worry about everything!) I decided to go with two galvanized feeders when we ordered our ChickenCondos Barn Coop. Instead of the opening raising up over a chicken's head, the opening pushes inward when the chicken steps on the treadle. The only negative about it is that it has to stand taller than a wood treadle feeder to accommodate the inward mechanism but it works for us.

Sometimes chickens stand at the side to eat when another chicken is on the wooden treadles and I've seen the wooden lids come down on the chickens necks standing at the side when the other chicken steps off the treadle. I figured to eliminate that possibility by getting a treadle feeder that opened inward so the lid can't come down on top of a chicken's head suddenly. The models we got almost eliminates the possibility of chickens eating from the sides and they have to step on the treadle foot to actually reach inside the feeder. I can't say this feeder is better or worse than others but it definitely keeps the wild birds from eating our organic chicken feed.

Our littlest Silkie standing on the treadle that opens the door inward so she can eat the feed.


This feeder was the smallest size we could find that we didn't have to assemble ourselves (20-lb top load feeder). We never fill it up since we have only 4 hens.

 

[Sylvester017]

I like these steps. We do chicken nipples on a bucket, too, but I like the horizontal ones best. They drip less and my chicks are able to use them almost immediately.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-Pack-Hor...695879?hash=item4af9278207:g:6LUAAOSwuAVWu34p

Oh, how I do love learning/seeing new ideas. These are nifty waterers. I have a real problem with wild birds in the yard and am doing everything possible to keep the moochers away. That's the reason I chose the Brite Tap vertical nipple waterer because the little wild birds can't find a way to reach under the Brite Tap to drink. Wild birds are such acrobats when they want to reach something! Now, if I could just figure out a way to keep them out of the coop -- they fly through the pop-door to gather chicken feathers and straw/shavings -- the little varmints! We tried a sand floor but the chickens kick it all off the tray floor to the ground through the ladder opening in the tray floor. Seems like the more we try to fix something with the chickens another problem pops up. I used to think House Sparrows were so cute to feed and watch and now that I have chickens I can't stand any of the mooching wild life any more!

 

[cutipatooti]

As requested... I first cut off the ends of a 90' PVC elbow. (About 2" diameter for chicks or 3-4" for adults) This kind with one side female & the other male work well. This particular elbow had 2 male ends, so I had to glue on a scrap piece from another feeder. But, this is about what it should look like. Then find something from your recycle bin with a flat face & disinfect it well. Trace & carve a circle & slide the elbow through. If you make your opening tight enough you will not need glue. Here's an adult one. The chickens must put their heads inside to eat. Because it can hold a lot, it does not need to be refilled daily. I used to put it up on bricks, but then learned that hanging it works better. (Prevents pooping on the lids.) Like the nipple waterers, they are so inexpensive to make that I have several hanging from trees. (I bring them in at night to avoid wildlife from sneaking food.) As a gift, my father made me a treadle feeder, my mom picked out a pic, & my sister burned it into the wood.

Very nice!

 

[Faraday40]

Love the steps! I'll be trying that idea out! (I just have a brick nearby, so my bantam must drink from that side)

 

[Sylvester017]

Love the steps! I'll be trying that idea out! (I just have a brick nearby, so my bantam must drink from that side)

My brick steps are not the prettiest in the yard but at least they're portable if I have to move the Brite Tap around - which I have to as the summer sun settles differently than the winter sun in our yard and I have to move the jug to another shady location. In the cool winter while our yard was getting remodeled we just rest the jugs on chairs/stools with paver stone squares below. To shade the jugs from the little bit of sun we had, we stood the jugs inside a wood crate. We put several doghouses around the empty yard for the girls to have hiding places since the whole front and back yards got razed to bare dirt.

 

[DesertChic]

I am just so enamored with this little hybrid NN/Bielefelder! She's one week old today and really knows how to work the camera.

 

[Bridebeliever]

She's got some serious eye liner going on! Like WOW! Keep us posted as she grows.

 

[Bridebeliever]

I think I'd name her Cleopatra! She looks like she can handle the name.

 

[Saris]

I have Biele roo x Black sex link hens.  All resulting chicks have head spots, but I think BSL use Barred Rocks, right.  So wouldn't all of the offspring have barring regardless of gender?

Would the irreg shaped headspots = males?

Now they are 1 week old & getting wings - mostly black with very faint barring.  Shouldn't some be lighter / have more white = the males ???

Has anyone tried this combo or another barred breed with a Biele?  What were the results?

Sex linked barring only works if the female is barred and the male isn't.

A biele roo will give his barring to his sons and daughters. All his chicks will have one copy. The lighter feathers you were looking for only happen when a chick has 2 copies of barring (only males can have 2 copies) You'll need to look for other differences to determine gender.