A Bielefelder Thread !

[texas75563]

Mine started laying right at 6 months old. The 1st hen laying was about 10 days older than the rest of mine. That puts mine at about 2 months earlier laying than Elite's. His started laying right at 8 months. From my reading of thread, I believe that is age he got 1st egg.

Here is posting from auction for 1 pair of birds that I bought from Omega Hills.
Back In February we purchased a Pair of Bielefelders from Green Fire Farms. Instead of getting a Pair we ended up with a batch of day old chicks. Needless to say we have more chickens than we planned on raising from our intended pair. So we are auctioning off a pair of chicks straight from Greenfire.

They were hatched about March 4th Give or take a day. So they are about 3 weeks old right now and will be 5 weeks at auction end. We can ship them as soon as the auction ends or wait until they are older (you decide how old up to 8 weeks). These chicks have been healthy vibrant and very hungry.

This is your chance to get a pair of these great German Engineered birds."

They were purchased on April 8th.

Like Omega Hills I paid on February 27 what was supposed to be juvenile birds. I ended up with day old chicks. 1st shipment arrived dead and in state of decomposition that I think they were dead well before they shipped them. They did send more chicks. I wasn't out $1050 dollars and nothing. I didn't get what I paid for.

Yes, I posted all this information before. If I had been told I was getting chicks upfront, I would have no problems. I can't stand being lied to.

Here is part of the auction information.

"The winning bidder will receive a juvenile pair of Bielefelders about 6-8 weeks old. They will be shipped within four weeks after the close of this auction. We guarantee live delivery and the health of the birds for 72 hours after you receive them. The auction winner pays an additional $80 in shipping costs. They have been vaccinated for Marek's. hanks for your interest, and good luck bidding!"


FOR INFORMATION YOU WANTED TO KNOW, 6 MONTHS OLD! Why mine are laying 2 months earlier than Elite's I don't have a clue. Other than Elite and myself, I have no idea what age other Bielefelders are laying at. I don't think other than Elite and me now have said what age their birds started laying at.

 

[DCchicken]

I received 7 Bielefelders from GFF about 4 weeks ago. There are 3 males and 4 females. Any advice on picking the lucky male that gets to stay with the 4 females? Or should I sell off breeding pairs instead? I know with the Cream Legbars there is a preferred color pattern, but is there one for the Bielefelders?

 

[texas75563]

All my females look a like and so do my males. I would keep 2 roosters. Always good to have a backup, just in case anything happened to 1. I've got 6 or 7 females and 4 or 5 roosters.

 

[Omegahillsfarm]

I agree I would keep at least 2 of the roosters. Personally I would keep all 3 but hey that's just me. Every bielefelder I have is nearly identical to the next. The color/patterns are the exact same.

For everyone that has asked about age of laying, I have 2 different groups of bielefelders one is roughly 2 months older than the other.

Both groups started laying within a week of each other. The older group was first and the next week the younger ones started. So for me it was 8 months and 6 months.

You can see the difference in the size of bilefelder eggs vs isbar

 

[DCchicken]

I appreciate the replies. I breed CLs as well. And with CLs, people are extremely picky about color, tail angle, etc. Is this not the same with Bielefelders or are people more forgiving because they are rare? They are all beautiful to me. I may keep all 3 of the males, but worry that the hens might get a little too much attention. I guess I can buy another coop or two to separate them. The Amish guy that I buy the coops from is going to make a fortune off of me.

 

[texas75563]

I think there are a few reasons why people aren't as picky about color and tail angles right now. The 1st being that they are rare. People in the US have only recently, within a couple months, getting their birds to the age of maturity. It's going to be hard to be too picky with a limited amount of adult birds.

Now that people are getting adult birds, clubs could be started. Just like what happened with the Cream Legbars. Once you get clubs than standards can be determined. If Germany has any standards for them, good chance of those being applied.

My hens look like each other. The same goes for the roosters. Everything in this post is strictly guessing.

 

[elizmartin]

Hello, just a message to fix this link in my BYC Profile.....These are beautiful birds that i hope to own someday.....

 

[texas75563]

They are a lot cheaper now than they were 6 to 9 months ago. Hopefully you will get some 1 day. They are big, beautiful, and gentle birds.

I see there are 12 chicks up for auction at RBA. 6 more days till it ends.

 

[elizmartin]

I received 7 Bielefelders from GFF about 4 weeks ago. There are 3 males and 4 females. Any advice on picking the lucky male that gets to stay with the 4 females? Or should I sell off breeding pairs instead? I know with the Cream Legbars there is a preferred color pattern, but is there one for the Bielefelders?

Just a thought, You could pair up each a male with 2 females begining 2 lines and rotate the offspring of one set to the other and the second set to the male without a hen begining a third line...? I was trying to remember a formula about where the keeper sons and daughters would go that i thing may have been on another thread to help broaden gene pool ????

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

I agree with making 2 lines. You could easily do that with what u have.