A Bielefelder Thread !

[RumAndCoconuts]

Higher incubator temperature. I see hatched two sets of eggs now. My first, I had no idea about the temperature thing and read that worth a still air incubator the temperature needed to be 101.5

Out of 15 chicks, only 3 were female. Then I read up on the temperature thing how more males tend to develop in higher temperatures and more females tend to develop at lower temperatures.

So with my second batch, I did 99 degrees on the nose, still in my still air incubator, and out of 13, only 2 are males

It was my understanding that the sex chromosone unlike in humans comes from the Mum. soooo, that would be determined in the egg before it was set, ergo no heating change should make a difference? Correct me if I'm wrong but it just seems like science. Once it's in the egg its in the egg. No?

 

[SireniaSolaris]

It was my understanding that the sex chromosone unlike in humans comes from the Mum. soooo, that would be determined in the egg before it was set, ergo no heating change should make a difference? Correct me if I'm wrong but it just seems like science. Once it's in the egg its in the egg. No?

It is not the sex that develops, but rather the eggs that contain male or female. It is very near impossible to have a 100% hatch rate so the temperature simply allows for more of the female eggs to develop, or more of the male eggs to develop. Again, my own personal experiences proved that statement to be true, and I will continue incubating at a slightly lower than recommended temperature to get more of the female eggs to develop and hatch.

 

[RumAndCoconuts]

It is not the sex that develops, but rather the eggs that contain male or female. It is very near impossible to have a 100% hatch rate so the temperature simply allows for more of the female eggs to develop, or more of the male eggs to develop. Again, my own personal experiences proved that statement to be true, and I will continue incubating at a slightly lower than recommended temperature to get more of the female eggs to develop and hatch.

Gotcha,
So it's more a matter of thwarting development of male embryos. So a higher percentage of females rather than a higher hatch rate.
so there's no risk devolpmental issues with the females that do hatch?

 

[texasmomma]

Has anyone processed any Bielefelder roos? Curious as to the meat qualities of the Bielefelders.

We processed two of them. They were the best roos we have eaten so far, but we haven't eaten very many. I put them in the freezer right away. When we ate them, I let them sit in the frig for a couple of days and then put them in the crockpot.

 

[RWD]

We processed two of them. They were the best roos we have eaten so far, but we haven't eaten very many. I put them in the freezer right away. When we ate them, I let them sit in the frig for a couple of days and then put them in the crockpot.

Thanks for your input, I have never seen a breed that grows out like the Bielefelder's. Two of my roos are 12 months old and they are huge, so I may just keep my hatching roos and grow them out to about 6 months and process them. My hens are good size for a large breed hen, and are laying very well, but the roo's are exceptional.

 

[ChickCrazed]

I had heard that Bielefelders were great winter layers but I am only getting 1 egg a day from my four Bielefelder hens. Is that typical? I guess I was expecting a bit better for the reputation I thought they had!

 

[texasmomma]

Thanks for your input, I have never seen a breed that grows out like the Bielefelder's. Two of my roos are 12 months old and they are huge, so I may just keep my hatching roos and grow them out to about 6 months and process them. My hens are good size for a large breed hen, and are laying very well, but the roo's are exceptional.

We processed ours kind of early - 4 - 5 months. One was small, though he looked large. The other was over 4 lbs of processed bird.

The roo that we kept is awesome.

 

[texasmomma]

I had heard that Bielefelders were great winter layers but I am only getting 1 egg a day from my four Bielefelder hens. Is that typical? I guess I was expecting a bit better for the reputation I thought they had!

Mine are new layers. I have 4 hens. They lay 3-4 eggs per day.

 

[RWD]

I had heard that Bielefelders were great winter layers but I am only getting 1 egg a day from my four Bielefelder hens. Is that typical? I guess I was expecting a bit better for the reputation I thought they had!

Mine are under lights, timer comes on at 4:00 am and goes off at 6:30 pm. and with 5 hens they have laid 3-4 eggs per day and they are Xlarge eggs.

 

[kittydoc]

I agree that if incubation temperature had that much to do with sex ratios, we'd have figured it out by now. Gender is determined in birds when the yolk is fertilized. Temperature could differentially affect survival of one gender over the other, however. There is a report of hatching differences in the brush turkey, which is a mound builder, not a setting bird, so it's more like an alligator in that regard. Here's a scientific article if anyone wants to read it, but it's written at the doctoral level. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1629050/ This article states that lower temperatures favored the survival of males in brush turkeys, the opposite of what some claim for chickens. The difference in temperature from the average was 2 degrees Celsius, which is 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Changing incubator temperature within the normal range affects the length of incubation, but that is all. I've had chicks from smaller eggs/younger pullets hatch on day 19, while bigger eggs hatched on day 20-21.

Two hatches with different M:F ratios only proves that in the end, things tend to balance out. I have used my circulated air incubator twice, at 99.5 degrees, and had 2:4 (2 cockerels and 4 pullets) one time, and 5 (5 cockerels, 2 pullets) the second time. Added together, that's 6:7, or as close to 50/50 as you can get with an odd number. In the case of SereniaSolaris, the total number of chicks is 28, at a perfect 14:14 (50/50) ratio when the two hatches are added together.