A Bielefelder Thread !

[Red Banks]

 

[jbkirk]

"In every thing Give Thanks:" 1 Thessalonians 5:18 B
Even those Beile's which haven't started to lay yet...

 

[Bine]

Greenfire Farms Newsletter Nov is out and they have an english version of the Standard. http://greenfirefarms.com/bielefelder-breed-standard/
They say that the Bielefelder is one of the popular breeds w/o writing how many they have sold already. I don't think that one of the "older" more rustic breeds will have such a succsess. They are normally lighter, louder, do not well in confinement, but if they could find only a handfull of people overseas that like those breeds for what they are, they would be saved.
BTW, the neighbors are normally not a problem when you have a longcrowing rooster. The long crow is not as loud and shrill as the crow of a normal rooster and they don't crow as often. The problem, besides finding someone who will sell those birds, is that they hate to sit in a run all day. The hens get easily bored and complain loudly. They are old fashion farm birds and they more or less need a old fashion farm, with a dog that keeps preditors away, a yard with fruit trees and bushes, a barn for shelter and a dung hill for entertainment.

 

[TNBielefelder]

Greenfire Farms Newsletter Nov is out and they have an english version of the Standard. http://greenfirefarms.com/bielefelder-breed-standard/
They say that the Bielefelder is one of the popular breeds w/o writing how many they have sold already. I don't think that one of the "older" more rustic breeds will have such a succsess. They are normally lighter, louder, do not well in confinement, but if they could find only a handfull of people overseas that like those breeds for what they are, they would be saved. 
BTW, the neighbors are normally not a problem when you have a longcrowing rooster. The long crow is not as loud and shrill as the crow of a normal rooster and they don't crow as often. The problem, besides finding someone who will sell those birds, is that they hate to sit in a run all day. The hens get easily bored and complain loudly. They are old fashion farm birds and they more or less need a old fashion farm, with a dog that keeps preditors away, a yard with fruit trees and bushes, a barn for shelter and a dung hill for entertainment.  

thanks for posting the information

 

[DesertChic]

I know it took me a while to post these, but here are the latest photo of the Biel/Silkie mixes at 6 weeks.

Uno, my smallest pullet.

Cockerel #1

Pullet #2, I think.

Jordi, cockerel #2 and my favorite.

The buff barring is definitely more prominent in the males than the females, but they all have at least touches of it. Their feathering patterns are changing quite a lot. Most of them weigh between 15 and 16 ounces, but that first little pullet, Uno, weighs in at only 11.89 ounces. She's like a friendly little sparrow that always wants to perch on my shoulder. Jordi, on the other hand, could spend all day either in my hand or on my lap. He's a total love bug!

 

[Faraday40]

DesertChic
They're all extremely cute, but that Jordi really steals the show!

 

[Bine]

I just found a page about the founder effect in genetics that could be helpfull for everyone who works with rare breeds. On the page is a link to whole book about inbreeding and stock managment that looks very interessting. I have not read all of it but it has some backround on how to create pedegree, prevent inbreeding depression and gen drift.
This is a doc on fish but the fao-page has something about chicken, rare breeds and biodiversity.

 

[Red Banks]

I just found a page about the founder effect in genetics that could be helpfull for everyone who works with rare breeds. On the page is a link to whole book about inbreeding and stock managment that looks very interessting. I have not read all of it but it has some backround on how to create pedegree, prevent inbreeding depression and gen drift.
This is a doc on fish but the fao-page has something about chicken, rare breeds and biodiversity.

I read a little..... Thanksgiving weekend is always so busy. Thanks..... I found the information very interesting.

 

[LowerBamaMama]

Can anyone link to an article that explains how to understand a breed standard. I was excited that agree fire has posted a translation of the Biel standard but even reading it in English, so much of it doesn't make sense. I tried googling for articles explaining "chicken body types" and "chicken breed standard terminology" and nothing helped...

 

[Bine]

I agree, reading standards isn't easy. Maybe you can find SOP in your local library if the SOP is like our Standard it has lots of plates with exsamples of feathers, heads, tails, etc. I think the easiest way to understand the Standard is to look at the diff. breeds and how they are discribed in the text.
On the other hand, when you try to discribe the diffences between say a Shamo and a Orpington you will see how hard it is. Shamos and Orpis have not much in common beside being big chickens, but still it's not easy to find words for it, I think.