A Bielefelder Thread !

[texasmomma]

I feel for you. My friend went incubator shy after getting only 1 hatchling from a dozen eggs plus it was a roo and she's not zoned for roos. When I gave her 6 Marans eggs to hatch she used a broody Buff Orp and 5 hatched. Nothing like a broody. My Silkies are dying to hatch anything - a plastic egg, a golf ball, a rock, a cucumber slice - ANYTHING - lol.

I don't as yet have a broody. We had to downsize our flock last summer when we put the house on the market. Then, we decided not to sell, so I'm back to increasing the flock size. We've never had a broody and I have talked about getting a silkie just get a broody. I think my youngest two would love the broody.

I've had good success with the incubator in the past. Just want to see it again. And I'm just so excited about these darned bielefelders. They seem to be everything we have wanted - autosexing, gentle, can eat the extra cockerels, etc. I do love our current cream legbars. Their disposition is wonderful and they do give those blue eggs, but they don't grow to be very sizable.

 

[texas75563]

I will have at least 5 of these chicks coming in May. I heard they are pigs and fast growers. Should I seperate them from my order and feed a 22% grower feed or is a regular 19% starter/grower ok?

I would feed them whatever you are planning to feed your other chicks. I wouldn't worry about seperating them from the other breeds. With them in with other breeds, you can really tell how much quicker they grow.

Yes, they are pigs until they start to mature.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have a SS and she flies.... don't think I ever saw my NH or Marans fly after they were over a year. They are big birds. My SS is hatchery and not a big girl. Just depends on your definition of flying too. I have seen them fly for 10-15 feet ...... losing altitude all the way though.

My 2 year old fat Marans flew over my 7-foot barrier because she was determined to get to her old coop nestbox to lay her egg. She never flew before or since but she was determined and did it with ease. Guess if they're motivated anything is possible.

I guess most SS descriptions say they don't fly. The U.K. birds are heavier than the commercial hatchery birds here so maybe hatchery stock doesn't get heavy enough to impede flying. U.K.-ers say their heavy Sussex are easy-going and non-flyers.

My NH was a terrific flyer but preferred running through the vegetable garden and jumping for her bugs and worms on the plants. I don't know about RIRs as they are about 1/2 to a pound heavier than NHs so can't speak about their flight.

Leghorns and Ameraucanas (don't know about EEs but assume them also) are fantastic flyers and will fly over our 4-foot garden fence if spooked. But they have NEVER gone out of the yard. Are you kidding? They know where the food and treats are LOL I saw a flight video on a Brown Leghorn roo that flew over 300 feet from a house porch to the top of his coop - it was low level flying but airborne still for quite a distance. Not all fowl can manage that but lighter weight Mediterranean breeds can do it.

And I don't clip wings. Never needed to. A fenced yard gives them a parameter and if well cared for won't leave your lovely yard. I never tried flighty bantams and settled on non-flyer bantams like Silkies. Too many stories by people who own bantams that they are pretty flighty and will leave the yard. My neighbors wouldn't appreciate my chickens in their yards so we make sure the birds have plenty of incentive to stay home.

 

[Sylvester017]

I would feed them whatever you are planning to feed your other chicks. I wouldn't worry about seperating them from the other breeds. With them in with other breeds, you can really tell how much quicker they grow.

Yes, they are pigs until they start to mature.

If you want to give them more protein then supplement with boiled chopped eggs, canned kitten food low-sodium no-soy, mealworms, fish, etc. I'm never satisfied with processed products for all our chickens' diets. All our chicks got extra protein no matter what starter feed we fed them.

 

[Sylvester017]

I don't as yet have a broody. We had to downsize our flock last summer when we put the house on the market. Then, we decided not to sell, so I'm back to increasing the flock size. We've never had a broody and I have talked about getting a silkie just get a broody. I think my youngest two would love the broody.

I've had good success with the incubator in the past. Just want to see it again. And I'm just so excited about these darned bielefelders. They seem to be everything we have wanted - autosexing, gentle, can eat the extra cockerels, etc. I do love our current cream legbars. Their disposition is wonderful and they do give those blue eggs, but they don't grow to be very sizable.

If you do decide Silkies for broodies then get 2 or 3 pullets and don't flock them together with LF unless you have a huge free-range area for the individual breeds to break off into smaller flocks. When one Silkie goes broody usually the other Silkies will and even share one clutch of eggs together - silly girls were born to brood LOL. One Silkie alone will get picked on by the LF so definitely need more than one Silkie. Silkies need to be hens to brood - pullets are not dedicated broodies. Also the Silkies will get pushed out of their nests or sat on top by LF who want to lay an egg so it's best to separate the broody Silkies from LF. But once Silkies hatch eggs they will be fierce defenders of their brood - even if they are ducklings LOL. I understand Dominique bantams are also excellent shared-duty broodies but are harder to find and probably cost more than easily-obtained Silkies.

If bantam Silkies are not your thing, then Buff Orps are a broody LF. Again they aren't good broodies as pullets and need to be hens to do a good job and will raise other breeds eggs. Orps will just be nastier tempered than Silkies when they go broody.

I almost got a Cr Leg but the breeder I got my Buff Leg from also had APA Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas so that's how we got our kooky blue egg layer. She is not interested in flock politics and submits to the older 2 Silkies. I like it that way.

I would love Bielefelders for their beauty but afraid they'd eat me out of house and home. We can only have 5 hens and no roos in our zone so we chose 2 Silkies, 1 Buff Leg, and 1 Ameraucana. We had a couple more LF but they were too aggressive toward the Silkies and other flockmates and were re-homed. With a small flock we had to take drastic action and reduce LF to under 5 lbs each. Now the 2 LF submit to the little Silkies and we like it that way. When the alpha Silkies chase the LF the LF just run away or jump over the Silkies to get out of the way. It took a lot of hit-and-miss to get the right flock temperament combination but everything is peaceful now with the Silkies in charge.

 

[cutipatooti]

...

If you want to give them more protein then supplement with boiled chopped eggs, canned kitten food low-sodium no-soy, mealworms, fish, etc. I'm never satisfied with processed products for all our chickens' diets. All our chicks got extra protein no matter what starter feed we fed them.
[/quote


I will definatly be supplimenting their feed with other stuff. Since my chicks will be coming in May it wont be to long before they can venture out in the yard with supervision to start grazing on the grass. I will offer them kitchen scrapped that I mince up for them. I'm also going to try some sprouts this year. as they get older they will free range during the day. I also want to try to raise my own mealworms for them. I want to leave feed out for them if they want it. I will feed organic feed that I can get from 2 different local farms that make livestock feed. Thanks for the tips on the extra protien for the chicks. I will definatley be adding to their diet.

 

[plumcreek]

I just posted some hatching eggs in the 24 hour auction thread btw! Now is the time to hatch!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/754060/the-new-crazy-24hr-auction-thread/6740#post_13166346

 

[texasmomma]

Of the 9 eggs we received, we put 7 in lockdown. 5 have pipped. Of the 5, so far one is out.

These chicks are HUGE.

So much fun!

 

[Shellz]

Awesome texasmomma!

I set 41 eggs today, 18 of which are my first Bielefelders.

 

[texasmomma]

Awesome texasmomma!

I set 41 eggs today, 18 of which are my first Bielefelders.

How exciting!

These are our first bielefelders. I have a tiny incubator, so have to hatch only a few at a time. It's probably good, though, since we don't have a ton of room for chickens anyway.