A Bielefelder Thread !

[PeepersMama]

To all my flock friends:
Happy Valentine's Day!

DS & I made many, many of these for all his classmates & teachers.

Awww!!

 

[ChickenGoesRuff]

@Faraday40 I'm gonna have to steal that idea for my preschool class next year!

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40 I'm gonna have to steal that idea for my preschool class next year!

Go for it!
There are all kinds of fun bird&/or chicken puns and when you own chickens, there always seems to be an endless supply of feathers.

Before using feathers for crafts: I swish the feathers in some boiling water with a little Dawn, then rinse. If I want to color them, then I put some more boiling water, 1-2 Tbsp vinegar, & food coloring. The feathers absorb the dye easily. Another rinse & then I spread them on paper towels to dry over night. Biele feathers look fantastic when dyed.

I use them for little kid crafts when I teach an embryology unit. However my daughter made some impressive feather hair pieces.

 

[PeepersMama]

Go for it!
There are all kinds of fun bird&/or chicken puns and when you own chickens, there always seems to be an endless supply of feathers.

Before using feathers for crafts: I swish the feathers in some boiling water with a little Dawn, then rinse. If I want to color them, then I put some more boiling water, 1-2 Tbsp vinegar, & food coloring. The feathers absorb the dye easily. Another rinse & then I spread them on paper towels to dry over night. Biele feathers look fantastic when dyed.

I use them for little kid crafts when I teach an embryology unit. However my daughter made some impressive feather hair pieces.
View attachment 1267056View attachment 1267062 View attachment 1267064 View attachment 1267058

That's so cool! :0

 

[GlennLee]

I can't speak to the white earlobes because I was fortunate enough to hatch mine out before that trait began appearing around the country. I can say that these birds do NOT do well in the heat, and I too have been quite disappointed with their laying. None of my hens were ever impressive layers, though two of the three laid very large eggs when they did lay.

I had nine cockerels in my hatch and only three hens, so I culled most of my boys between 20 and 24 weeks. They all processed out between 3.5 and 3.9 lbs, but again, these were my culls and mostly on the smaller side with slower growth rates. Of the two roosters I kept, the largest one grew to weigh nearly 13 lbs before 2 years of age and was very tall before I had to cull him after he broke his beak while trying to fight another bird on the other side the hardware cloth. My lone rooster is an absolute love and has achieved "pet" status in my flocks. His weight vacillates between 9 and 11 lbs and he'll be three years old in March. He will be one of the few birds allowed to die of old age unless I have to perform a mercy killing as I did for his brother.

As far as the mating is concerned, my boys were very active in the early mornings most of the year and never failed to get the job done. Have you ever seen a 13 lbs rooster try to mate with a 26 ounce Buff Silkie? It was downright tragic, but he got it done.

I actually processed out one of my two remaining hens just a couple weeks ago. I have never processed a bird so full of fat. She was an 8 lb. hen live weight and I literally removed a full 2 cups of fat from her carcass before roasting, and got another 2.5 cups of rendered fat from her after roasting. Seriously, when all was said and done I only had enough meat from her to make soup. I have one hen left to cull, but she's definitely leaner than her sisters, one of which died of heat stroke two summers past.

Personally, in spite of the fact that I adore these birds for their sweet, docile and friendly personalities and gorgeous appearance, I do not think they are a very good dual purpose bird. I've worked with a variety of breeds now and unfortunately the Bielefelders fall pretty low on my list as production birds. For people who want pets, they're fantastic. For people who breed and raise bird for both meat and egg production, not so much.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for this information. I am due to receive 12 Bielefelder hatching eggs in a few days and will be interested to see how closely my experience with the breed matches yours. We are in Central New York and the temperature differences might make a bit of a difference with the breed. Definitely wanted a dual purpose breed and I loved the size, temperment and feather coloring of the Bielefelder.

 

[DesertChic]

Thank you for this information. I am due to receive 12 Bielefelder hatching eggs in a few days and will be interested to see how closely my experience with the breed matches yours. We are in Central New York and the temperature differences might make a bit of a difference with the breed. Definitely wanted a dual purpose breed and I loved the size, temperment and feather coloring of the Bielefelder.

I suspect you'll have much better luck than I've had, and yes....they are truly beautiful to see. Good luck! I hope you post photos and info on your own experiences as your birds hatch and mature.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I am interested in everyone's plans too. My little chicks hatched out. Unfortunately, I got 4 Roosters out of 8 eggs that made it to lockdown. 7 chicks hatched, but sadly one girl had a yolk sac infection and passed away the next morning. So I only have two girls. It will have o do for now.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Here are some little babies. The black ones are Ayam Cemani mixes. The cuddle puddle is a picture of them in their heating pad tunnel. They love it!

Biele Roo chick

Biele chick, just a few days later.

 

[GlennLee]

@AnneInTheBurbs love that heating pad tunnel. What a neat idea! The chicks are just adorable. Sorry to hear about your hen to roo ratio. Maybe you will be able to sell the roos to someone in your area or trade out for some hens.

@DesertChic will definitely post pics when I have them. Very excited about this project and a chance to add some new chicken breeds to the flock. Currently have 5 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Red English Orpingtons (one is a rooster) and 20 guineas. Love my birds!

 

[Faraday40]

"cuddle puddle"



They look so cozy!
I started using this method 2 years ago & love it!