A Bielefelder Thread !

[Coop de Grass]

Chickens have 2 base colors, Silver and Gold, other colors are produced by black or red pigment genes and modifiers to those genes. Roos can be Silver, Gold, or be split and have both Silver and Gold, Hens can't be split, they are either on or the other. I think Bieles are gold (which is why there was talk here a bit ago about creating a silver Biele)

That makes sense. I remember the posts about creating a silver. Thanks for the info!

 

[DesertChic]

I gave them crushed ice this afternoon and they went after them like crazy. I figured that it might be ok since I gave them frozen berries yesterday. I didn't check it until this evening, and I've read that you should just put the ice cubes in their water.

Do you think that there is a difference between the frozen treats and the ice chips?

I don't see a problem with giving them ice chips. If they like them, great! It should help them cool off quickly. They won't get any nutritional value from ice chips over frozen veggies or fruit, but they'll get hydration and some relief from the heat which is the ultimate goal. If your birds will eat them, well...I'm jealous. I just have frustratingly finicky chickens. (I think they have ME trained, LOL!)

 

[Faraday40]

I just have frustratingly finicky chickens. (I think they have ME trained, LOL!)

I can't relate to finicky animals..... unless it's a scary-shaped watermelon. But I learned to be careful what I feed them. For years I had no problem with chickens in my garden. Over the winter I hung cabbages & broccoli as boredom buster treats when the snow & below zero temps prevented them from leaving the coop. Now they have a taste for it! They ate all 16 broccoli plants that were started in April. I only have broccoli stumps & no time to replant.

 

[UGLYFOOT]

I can't relate to finicky animals..... unless it's a scary-shaped watermelon. But I learned to be careful what I feed them. For years I had no problem with chickens in my garden. Over the winter I hung cabbages & broccoli as boredom buster treats when the snow & below zero temps prevented them from leaving the coop. Now they have a taste for it! They ate all 16 broccoli plants that were started in April. I only have broccoli stumps & no timae to replant.

I hear ya on that one, I put a huge 7ft fence around my garden this year to keep from sharing with the chickens and deer. Mine love any greens that I throw to them, except asparagus unless I cut it up into little pieces.

 

[AlexCary]

I love the breed too! But I am one of those people who's experienced, shall we say, egg laying challenges with my Biels. I applaud you and everyone else who loves this breed enough to breed for quality, not just volume, but I suspect that I got at least some of my birds from a "quantity over quality" sort of breeder. At least I managed to get the two best roosters on the planet...not that I'm biased or anything.

Yeah, mine don't lay very well either. They did great in the winter, but not very well in summer. I get about 1 to 2 eggs per week per hen. I suspect they eat some eggs as well.

I bought some white leghorn hens to supplement the egg laying. The good part is they lay white eggs, so to keep the Bielefelders pure I only need to hatch the brown eggs. I am going to keep a line of Bielefelders because the cockerels get so big. I was thinking of using the extra males for meat birds. Or maybe even just hatching the white eggs and raise those chicks for meat. (BielXleghorn cross... won't keep them) Either way I am going to keep two lines of Bielefelders pure in separate coops . One Bielefelder rooster in each coop with 3 Bielefelder hens. To make up the difference in hens so they don't get overbred I will put 6 leghorns in each coop with them (3Biel hens and 6 leghorn hens). Plenty of eggs and I keep Bielefelders pure. When I lose a rooster in one coop, I will hatch out a new rooster from the other coop to replace him. Just don't hatch the white eggs... except for meat. Oh and to replace hens I will hatch some brown eggs and return them to the coop of their mothers.

 

[Coop de Grass]

My Bielefelder hen, Jessica, who has been having the hardest time with the heat, was sneezing this morning. She has not been laying for at least 2 weeks, but is not broody. I just need confirmation that I should start antibiotics immediately.

Except for her mouth breathing/panting, she has been behaving normally.

Any advice would be great. Our flock went through the respiratory infection thing two months ago, and we have just started eating the eggs again! It would be easy to treat Jessica and simply avoid her eggs when she decides to lay them.

Thanks!

 

[Red Banks]

Today I am rehoming 15 roosters. It was a tough decision but I am going to rehome my Bielefelder Roo. He is a very good boy. Kind, calm and fair but I have decided I don't want any Biel chicks in the future. I have Cream Legbars too and I am rehoming that roo too. The rest that will go are excess Black Copper Marans and Ameraucanas. Something (Bobcat or Fox) has been having lunch here every day this week. He particulary likes my small laying hens, Ameraucanas and Cream Legbars. He eats one a day. That is the reason for this big rooster rehome project. I have to lock everybody up until I can trap the predator. I needed to place them anyway, this just pushed me to get it done. All the birds hate being locked up and I hate the panic stricken look on the roosters faces when I put them in the transport cage. They have had a pretty easy life up until now.

 

[Coop de Grass]

Today I am rehoming 15 roosters. It was a tough decision but I am going to rehome my Bielefelder Roo. He is a very good boy. Kind, calm and fair but I have decided I don't want any Biel chicks in the future. I have Cream Legbars too and I am rehoming that roo too. The rest that will go are excess Black Copper Marans and Ameraucanas. Something (Bobcat or Fox) has been having lunch here every day this week. He particulary likes my small laying hens, Ameraucanas and Cream Legbars. He eats one a day. That is the reason for this big rooster rehome project. I have to lock everybody up until I can trap the predator. I needed to place them anyway, this just pushed me to get it done. All the birds hate being locked up and I hate the panic stricken look on the roosters faces when I put them in the transport cage. They have had a pretty easy life up until now.

Ii am so sorry that you are going through this. It is too horrible.

 

[DesertChic]

My Bielefelder hen, Jessica, who has been having the hardest time with the heat, was sneezing this morning. She has not been laying for at least 2 weeks, but is not broody. I just need confirmation that I should start antibiotics immediately.

Except for her mouth breathing/panting, she has been behaving normally.

Any advice would be great. Our flock went through the respiratory infection thing two months ago, and we have just started eating the eggs again! It would be easy to treat Jessica and simply avoid her eggs when she decides to lay them.

Thanks!

This is a matter of personal preference. I personally never use antibiotics or any other pharmaceuticals with the exception of a baby aspirin when trying to break a particularly persistent broody. That said, I too have seen sneezing among some of my hens as a result of the heat, and so far all of them have been recovering normally. I give them electrolytes, vitamins and probiotics in several of the communal water containers, and if one of them seems particularly distressed I will put her in an isolation pen where I can be sure she's ingesting the supplied extra nutrients. I'm a firm believer in natural hardiness. The furthest I will go is to bring a bird that's struggling too hard into the house in a cage where I can keep a closer eye on it and have more control over the environment. No matter how much I love my birds, they have to be able to adapt as naturally as possible to this harsh environment with minimal intervention on my part....not that providing cool air, misters, a stream of constantly running cool water, fermented feed, organically grown produce, etc. feels "minimal".

 

[DesertChic]

Today I am rehoming 15 roosters. It was a tough decision but I am going to rehome my Bielefelder Roo. He is a very good boy. Kind, calm and fair but I have decided I don't want any Biel chicks in the future. I have Cream Legbars too and I am rehoming that roo too. The rest that will go are excess Black Copper Marans and Ameraucanas. Something (Bobcat or Fox) has been having lunch here every day this week. He particulary likes my small laying hens, Ameraucanas and Cream Legbars. He eats one a day. That is the reason for this big rooster rehome project. I have to lock everybody up until I can trap the predator. I needed to place them anyway, this just pushed me to get it done. All the birds hate being locked up and I hate the panic stricken look on the roosters faces when I put them in the transport cage. They have had a pretty easy life up until now.

Yikes! Sounds like a rough time. I'm sorry to hear you have to deal with all of this.