A Bielefelder Thread !

[RFR of CA]

I do like my Bielefelders but they are food hogs! My Basque Hens are much smaller and eat about 1/2 the feed (or less!) and still produce the same XL eggs almost daily. We will see how I feel next year. My Bieles are still only about a year old, so the Basque have a jump on them.

PS: I will have Bielefelder chicks available soon for shipping. Boxes finally arrived, and NPIP certification is done.


Now RFR of CA


Christine

 

[Candy442]

Congratulations, the breed is expanding every day. You will be impressed by them.

Thanks RWD, I believe the parents are from Omega Hill? or the 2011 line of Greenfire Farms. I will be ordering chicks soon from Greenfire Farms since they imported new blood in 2013. I am already impressed with their calmer nature and they are beautiful colors.
How long have you had them?

 

[RWD]

Thanks RWD, I believe the parents are from Omega Hill? or the 2011 line of Greenfire Farms. I will be ordering chicks soon from Greenfire Farms since they imported new blood in 2013. I am already impressed with their calmer nature and they are beautiful colors.
How long have you had them?

One group of 5 hens - 2 roos are 2 years old, and I have a group of 5 pullets and 1 roo that is 6-7 months old. They are all from the 2011 import.

 

[DesertChic]

Thanks RWD, I believe the parents are from Omega Hill? or the 2011 line of Greenfire Farms. I will be ordering chicks soon from Greenfire Farms since they imported new blood in 2013. I am already impressed with their calmer nature and they are beautiful colors.
How long have you had them?

Mine are only 4 weeks old today and I'm already very impressed with the breed as well. I have a routine that I perform with all of my hatchlings no matter what their breed, and I'm finding that the Biels not only are wonderfully calm and personable, but adapt very well and very quickly to changes and are some of the smartest birds I have. At 4 weeks they're already learning their individual names and when I approach them after their first morning feeding to move them from their brooder to the outside mini-run I set up for them, most of them come to me individually when I call their name. There are only a couple that still seem nervous and evasive while all of the others are eager to hop to my arm when called so I can carry them to their "playground".

I've also read repeatedly that Biels are "food hogs" but so far that hasn't been my experience...or maybe it's just because my NN Turkens eat so much by comparison that the Biels seem like smaller eaters. I've tracked feed consumption for all of my birds and so far both my NNs and my Australorps have been heavier consumers of food by this age. I ferment my food for all of my birds, so maybe that has something to do with it?

I'm really glad you like your birds. This truly is a lovely breed.

 

[DMRippy]

Going to set eggs from the new cockerel I got from Chickenhill can't wait to see what I get!

 

[DesertChic]

I just did the final, Day 18 candling of the "replacement" eggs I received from the breeder who's eggs I had such poor results from last time around. Out of seven eggs she sent to me, one was cracked on arrival, three others definitely fizzled out along the way, leaving me with three in lockdown, only two of which showed movement. I really hoping that all three hatch, but I'm only expecting two of them to hatch.

It still amazes me that eggs I had shipped across the country gave me an 80% hatch rate, while the ones I purchased from just three hours north of where I live have given such poor results.

 

[stryker]

Might be cheaper to get chicks. I am worthless at incubating to be honest. I had a hen leave her nest for 2 days with her three very early chicks. These chicks hatched out on day 17... The lady I got these chicks from, must have given me some eggs that was under her hens that were sitting. She lives 1/2 mile away.. Wither way, I put these eggs that the hen left under the incubator and 10 out of 12 eggs hatched after 2 days of not being heated... I am not lying true story.

Every time I try to incubate eggs and they all start to peep and peck, if I lift the lid to the incubator for 1 second, BAM!!! One hatched and the rest dead... Go figure.. Good luck with your next batches.

 

[texasmomma]

I've had three chicks hatch out of 7. Here are pics of the first two. So far. Not sure about the male here. He is not walking as well as I would like. I forgot to take the turner out of the incubator.


The pullet.




Here she is again.



The two of them.



A top view.

 

[texasmomma]

I just did the final, Day 18 candling of the "replacement" eggs I received from the breeder who's eggs I had such poor results from last time around. Out of seven eggs she sent to me, one was cracked on arrival, three others definitely fizzled out along the way, leaving me with three in lockdown, only two of which showed movement. I really hoping that all three hatch, but I'm only expecting two of them to hatch.

It still amazes me that eggs I had shipped across the country gave me an 80% hatch rate, while the ones I purchased from just three hours north of where I live have given such poor results.

Were the eggs shipped? I have terrible luck with shipped eggs. After the last incubator fiasco, I went back to my brinsea mini advance, and I may end up with 6 out of 7 hatching. These were eggs from my backyard.

Where do you live? I can't remember.

 

[DesertChic]

Were the eggs shipped? I have terrible luck with shipped eggs. After the last incubator fiasco, I went back to my brinsea mini advance, and I may end up with 6 out of 7 hatching. These were eggs from my backyard.

Where do you live? I can't remember.

The first dozen I purchased directly from her. She lives in Scottsdale, AZ and I live south of there. My husband and I drove up to retrieve them. I had a 3% hatch rate. This "replacement" batch I just had her send me through the mail because I couldn't afford to sacrifice another whole day just for eggs.

The other eggs that I had shipped to me from OK had an 80% hatch rate by comparison.