A Bielefelder Thread !

[eyralis]

I'm pretty certain the Blues are all the same personality-wise. Our first Breda order from a different breeder from another State sent us a 4-mo-old Blue Breda cockerel in error. Right out of the crate he was outgoing, friendly, curious, pesty, and a real ham in front of mirrors or the reflective oven door! We thought he was an anomaly being so friendly. We re-homed him with a friend that turned him into an indoor-outdoor house pet because he was so unusually outgoing, unafraid, human- and dog-friendly. After receiving a cockerel in error and having to re-home him we frantically searched for a breeder that might have a Blue pullet available. When our 4-mo-old pullet arrived she was just as outgoing, unafraid, and pesty-friendly as the cockerel had been and these two Blue Bredas were from two different breeders from two different States. So, that experience of ours tells me these birds are fairly accurate to describe as having consistently friendly temperaments. I read that the Cuckoos are shy-est of the Breda varieties and lay tinted eggs so we'll see when she arrives to see what we get. I feel comfortable recommending the B/B/S varieties for ultimate friendliness, good white egg production, and easy on the feed bill. This breed seems to have a preference for dry feed over wet/fermented feed and it takes them a while to warm up to eating different wet produce/fruits/cooked grains like oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, etc. They seem to have no fear taking hand-fed food/treats almost immediately while other chick/juvenile breeds might take longer to trust a human hand. These guys are busy foragers and check everything out in the yard - they make other breeds look lazy. Just an example of how busy this breed is -- here she is on the far right head-first inside a plant container checking for bugs or new grass shoots! She takes the job of foraging very seriously and leaves no spot unchecked.

Ok, that's it. You have totally sold us on Bredas!!! We're going to go to Rare Feathers Ranch and meet her pullets in person. It sounds like she only has cuckoo and mottled though, fingers crossed they'll be as wonderful as yours!!

 

[Honora]

He's an English double barred chocolate cuckoo orpington. We always say that he's as dumb as a brick. Eventually we shortened it & named him "Brick." He sometimes gets stranded on the wrong side of the fence, then just stands there & cries out to be "rescued." - rather than walk back the way he came. As a chick he got stuck inside a feeder and used to have a hard time finding his way in & out of the chicken tractor. I'm usually an advocate of chicken intelligence & have fun demonstrating all the wonderful tricks my chickens can do. He's the 1st & only chicken I'd call dumb. In his case, beauty & brains didn't come together.

Wow, he is beautiful! I have hatched out Orpington chicks twice now & they are really pretty, but definitely not as smart as the Bielefelder chicks. The Orps were really friendly, though, especially the boys.

 

[Sylvester017]

Ok, that's it. You have totally sold us on Bredas!!! We're going to go to Rare Feathers Ranch and meet her pullets in person. It sounds like she only has cuckoo and mottled though, fingers crossed they'll be as wonderful as yours!!

I would've loved to have one of RFR's Mottleds but our SoCal heatwaves are too brutal for chickens with mostly black feathering and mostly white feathering gets really dingy in our dust-bath soil! Tell Christine "hello" for me -- Rare Feathers Ranch has a facebook page too.

Here's why our 105oF heatwaves are not kind to black feather or heavy breeds! We were cold LAST week:

 

[eyralis]

OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Faraday40]

That's way too close!
I hope those weren't taken near your house. How do they notify people to evacuate?

 

[DesertChic]

I would've loved to have one of RFR's Mottleds but our SoCal heatwaves are too brutal for chickens with mostly black feathering and mostly white feathering gets really dingy in our dust-bath soil! Tell Christine "hello" for me -- Rare Feathers Ranch has a facebook page too.

Here's why our 105oF heatwaves are not kind to black feather or heavy breeds! We were cold LAST week:

Stay safe.

So far we've been lucky and have only been battling smoke from the nearby fires...and a temperature of 117*F. Four people died of heat stroke on Sunday because they decided it would be a nice day to go hiking. Idiots.

 

[Sylvester017]

That's way too close!
I hope those weren't taken near your house. How do they notify people to evacuate?

The fires on the hills behind us are always capable of carrying flaming embers to our neighborhood but luckily today the wind was blowing northerly away from us. Still, it got way too close for comfort. Meanwhile the Inland Empire (next county E/NE of us) will have terrible air quality for the next couple days! For evacuations the police are enlisted to do the notifications - depending on the urgency of the evacuation it can be done either by police bullhorn up and down streets or actual door-to-door knocking to see if any disabled need assistance.

 

[Sylvester017]

Stay safe.

So far we've been lucky and have only been battling smoke from the nearby fires...and a temperature of 117*F. Four people died of heat stroke on Sunday because they decided it would be a nice day to go hiking. Idiots.

The "idiots" are part of the Darwinian natural selection process - it eliminates the real idiots!

 

[Cynthia12]

Oh, the smoke. :/ And, I had heard that there were four deaths because of heat. Hiking? 117 degrees? Oh dear.

 

[DesertChic]

Oh, the smoke. :/ And, I had heard that there were four deaths because of heat. Hiking? 117 degrees? Oh dear.

Sadly, I also learned last night that three men visiting the area from Germany set out on a 5-mile hike very early in the morning this past weekend with very little water and no understanding of our harsh climate. As I understand it, one turned around early on and got lost, and is yet to be found. A second turned about shortly after the first and made his way back to safety. The third was found dead on one of the trails. A very sad tragedy. I confess that if a local had done the same I would be far more judgmental, but these three really had no idea what they were getting themselves into.