A Bielefelder Thread !

[otakalhasas]

THANKS for sharing! The photos are terrific and I love the text that goes with them!

 

[mamidei]

"BTW- I noticed that Bielefelders make all kinds of unique noises. Does anyone else have this? I swear one of the hens is growling at me. At least that's what it sounds like. Then there's another that "honks" at me. I believe the "Honking" is her way of announcing "Treats are comin!" or it's just her individual way of begging."

I have one bielefelder girl who makes the strangest noise! It's almost like growling or groaning. So funny!

 

[Zinniah]

"BTW- I noticed that Bielefelders make all kinds of unique noises. Does anyone else have this? I swear one of the hens is growling at me. At least that's what it sounds like. Then there's another that "honks" at me. I believe the "Honking" is her way of announcing "Treats are comin!" or it's just her individual way of begging."

I have one bielefelder girl who makes the strangest noise! It's almost like growling or groaning. So funny!

Mine do that to, but they are my first chickens, so I thought all chickens made noises like that. They mostly do it when they want something, or think i have something edible when i don't. They are very loud and vocal when they want to be. One girl kinda scares me, because the way she"honks" its very loud and fast, she stares into your soul when she does it to.

 

[TNBielefelder]

I'm new to this breed & just found this thread.

Here are my Bielefelders:
They have finally started laying. I got 3 mini pullet eggs in the last 4 days. (have 3 biele pullets) They just turned 26 weeks. I'm guessing they're from the Bieles since my English Orp pullets will likely take 8 months or more.

BTW- I noticed that Bielefelders make all kinds of unique noises. Does anyone else have this? I swear one of the hens is growling at me. At least that's what it sounds like. Then there's another that "honks" at me. I believe the "Honking" is her way of announcing "Treats are comin!" or it's just her individual way of begging.


"Hen Solo" in a tree. Doesn't she know that she's not supposed to fly?


"Chew-BAWK-a" looking cute...... trying to convince me it was her digging in my strawberry patch. (notice the muddy beak)



The roo has only crowed a handful of times. The hens make a lot more noise. The orp roos seem to take care of most of the crowing & mating. The Biele roo's pretty smart, though.

Each night I take the boys off the roost & put them to bed in the garage. That way they can crow away & no one will hear them until I let them out. Anyway, the biele doesn't like being carried. When he sees his brothers being carried away, he usually jumps off the roost. (Makes it easier for me to bend down & pick him up off the ground, rather than reach up & take him down. Because I find it helpful, he tends to get moved last.) Last night I finished the chicken count & moved the 2 orps, but Biele was no where to be seen. I checked both runs & the coop. Then I saw him in the garage. He walked all the way over to the "rooster box" & was waiting to be put inside.



When I compare the roo to his orpington brothers, he's definitely slower to mature & more timid. (He'll come near for treats, but won't take from my hands.) The orps & bieles were all hatched together, so no fighting. Biele roo's got no problem with size! He's just lower in the pecking order than the other 2. The Biele girls, however, like to boss the other pullets around. They act like queens -almost rooster-like. Everything belongs to them. I have a mixed flock with older hens. The Biele pullets will bully younger pullets, but leave the hens alone. Are bieles usually at the top of the pecking order?

Also, mine were broody raised. They are finally getting more relaxed. Do most tend to become lap chickens like orpingtons?

Thanks for posting the pictures. Glad you found the thread.

 

[DesertChic]

I'm new to this breed & just found this thread.

Here are my Bielefelders:
They have finally started laying. I got 3 mini pullet eggs in the last 4 days. (have 3 biele pullets) They just turned 26 weeks. I'm guessing they're from the Bieles since my English Orp pullets will likely take 8 months or more.

BTW- I noticed that Bielefelders make all kinds of unique noises. Does anyone else have this? I swear one of the hens is growling at me. At least that's what it sounds like. Then there's another that "honks" at me. I believe the "Honking" is her way of announcing "Treats are comin!" or it's just her individual way of begging.


"Hen Solo" in a tree. Doesn't she know that she's not supposed to fly?


"Chew-BAWK-a" looking cute...... trying to convince me it was her digging in my strawberry patch. (notice the muddy beak)



The roo has only crowed a handful of times. The hens make a lot more noise. The orp roos seem to take care of most of the crowing & mating. The Biele roo's pretty smart, though.

Each night I take the boys off the roost & put them to bed in the garage. That way they can crow away & no one will hear them until I let them out. Anyway, the biele doesn't like being carried. When he sees his brothers being carried away, he usually jumps off the roost. (Makes it easier for me to bend down & pick him up off the ground, rather than reach up & take him down. Because I find it helpful, he tends to get moved last.) Last night I finished the chicken count & moved the 2 orps, but Biele was no where to be seen. I checked both runs & the coop. Then I saw him in the garage. He walked all the way over to the "rooster box" & was waiting to be put inside.



When I compare the roo to his orpington brothers, he's definitely slower to mature & more timid. (He'll come near for treats, but won't take from my hands.) The orps & bieles were all hatched together, so no fighting. Biele roo's got no problem with size! He's just lower in the pecking order than the other 2. The Biele girls, however, like to boss the other pullets around. They act like queens -almost rooster-like. Everything belongs to them. I have a mixed flock with older hens. The Biele pullets will bully younger pullets, but leave the hens alone. Are bieles usually at the top of the pecking order?

Also, mine were broody raised. They are finally getting more relaxed. Do most tend to become lap chickens like orpingtons?

This breed never ceases to amuse and impress me. I love hearing about their personality quirks.

My own Biels are not especially noisy, though one of my three pullets is very chatty with us when we pick her up. Her vocalizations aren't loud, but she sounds like she's actually holding a conversation with us. My son absolutely loves it. My other two pullets really don't make much noise at all. And at roughly 30 weeks, only one of them started laying eggs, and it's currently been a week since I got an egg from her. I'm trying to be patient, but it's not one of my virtues. I ask the girls every day when they're going to start earning their keep. In response they just lay at my feet and nap. Only one of my pullets is really snuggly, one is okay with being held, and the other just wants to admire us from a short distance.

Of my two cockerels, one began crowing at 3 weeks of age and has become not only the dominant cockerel in the Biel flock, but acts as the "great uniter" with my other flocks, mating every girl he can and bringing pullets and cockerels alike together to feed on the small patch of grass I maintain for them in my arid backyard. This guy tolerates being handled, but prefers not to be. He's never aggressive with us when we pick him up but also doesn't fully relax. That said, he's still very friendly and always comes running to us when we go outside. I consider him to be the perfect rooster.

My second cockerel, Bosch, yeah...he's my baby...a very snuggly lap chicken that walks around my legs like a cat until I pick him up to snuggle. He will literally sit on my lap for an hour while I stroke him and he falls asleep. His own harem is pretty small, but he's devoted to his handful of girls.

 

[Candy442]

Fingers (or claws) crossed for your girls laying soon! BTW - how do you find the Cream Legbars vs the Bielefelders? These are the two breeds I'm considering adding to my flock. Thanks!

I love the cream legbars we have. Only two hens and they are non-crested. They actually live in the Bielefelder coop Love them both very much and the pretty blue eggs the legbars lay.

 

[Faraday40]

BTW - how do you find the Cream Legbars vs the Bielefelders? These are the two breeds I'm considering adding to my flock. Thanks!

I hatched some CCLs in spring 2014. They began laying around 22-25 weeks. They had a very light /partial molt in October and stopped laying until mid Feb. I do not use supplemental lighting, so all of my blue & green egg layers stop in the winter months. (not slow down, STOP) I enjoy the pretty blue eggs, but like I said they are seasonal. Half my EEs lay blue (some lay green-blue or mossy green). If you only want the colored eggs, EEs are the way to go. Easy to find, less expensive to buy, cold hardy, & higher production. (EEs = 5 eggs per week; CCLs = 3-4 eggs per week) However, I do love the way my CCLs look. For the 1st year, mine only let me touch them if I had treats. They did follow me around & came when called, though. Eventually, they started jumping up into my lap. The CCLs are easy on the food budget. They like to free range, scratch, dig, etc. Mine pretty much stay in the yard with a simple 4' chain link fence. Once every couple months one may jump down out of a tree & end up on the wrong side of the fence. They can fly but choose not to, so I must open the gate & call them back over. They are very alert to predators. Due to limited space & my desire to try out new breeds, I recently rehomed all but one CCL. I can't compare the males, b/c I only hatched one male who I gave away. The auto-sexing part is great.

I'm new to the bieles, but they certainly like to eat! They grow very fast, so truly a dual purpose breed. They respond well to food and are very easy to train. Each has some very unique personality quirks. One "Honks", one "growls", and one skips. (Most chickens have a waddle or dino-like run.) That hen pops upward as she runs so bounces & skips in excitement as she runs to me. Like the CCLs, I enjoy their feather pattern. Also like the CCL, the way they look (happy or grumpy) depends on the camera angle.

 

[otakalhasas]

Thanks so much for the comparison! Maybe I'll try a couple more EE - I have two and they lay lovely BROWN eggs (obviously they are just backyard mixes)!

 

[otakalhasas]

Now that's good to know - same coop! Thanks!

 

[stryker]

Now that is a big rooster. I now want one more than ever...