A Bielefelder Thread !

[Red Banks]

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...

First off LowerBamaMama...... nothing like our neck of the woods..... gotta love the south, especially today with this beautiful weather.

Here is a link to the French Marans website.

http://marans.eu/accueila.htm#LA MARANS

I sent it because it gives the standand and drawings. I think it is simple and easy to understand and maybe there will be something there that can help you understand the B la felder standard. It may not help at all but it made things a little clearer for me on some points. It is a translated website..... you don't need to parlez francais!

 

[LowerBamaMama]

First off LowerBamaMama...... nothing like our neck of the woods..... gotta love the south, especially today with this beautiful weather.  

Here is a link to the French Marans website. 

http://marans.eu/accueila.htm#LA MARANS

I sent it because it gives the standand and drawings.  I think it is simple and easy to understand and maybe there will be something there that can help you understand the B la felder standard.  It may not help at all but it made things a little clearer for me on some points.  It is a translated website..... you don't need to parlez francais!

Yes! It has been wonderful! I have two new chicks that have been stuck inside till they feather more but the last few days have been so hot I've almost considered turning on the air conditioner! So my babies have enjoyed outside time!
I will definitely check that out! Maybe the pictures along with the descriptions will help

 

[DesertChic]

I think I'm finally getting eggs from a couple of my Biel girls. Today I found the most beautiful rose-brown egg in their nesting box, and it was a whopping 1.90 ounces already. Since a couple of my girls hatched from rosy colored eggs I was really hoping at least one of them would lay eggs of a similar color.

 

[Candy442]

we are now getting about 3 eggs a day from our six Biele hens

So glad! Now, we need to look for fertility. I have two cockerels in with them now. Closer to spring, we will limit time with Fritz only and see what we can hatch. Stay tuned!

 

[LowerBamaMama]

So in reading the standard it says minimum hatching egg weight is 60g. I'm wondering is this something people are adhering to?
Red banks, thanks for the link! It helped quite a bit

 

[Bine]

I have tiny birds and chicks from underweight eggs struggle to grow and often stay smaller, they have smaller eggs or have trubble laying... and smaller eggs start a down ward spiral. More quitters and the hatching rate goes down the drain. With bigger breeds it may not be as importent and a chick from a 58 gr egg may do fine but with my tiny birds 2 gr. can make a big difference.

 

[Faraday40]

So in reading the standard it says minimum hatching egg weight is 60g. I'm wondering is this something people are adhering to?
Red banks, thanks for the link! It helped quite a bit

The main reason for only hatching hen's eggs (& not pullet eggs) is because of chick size & health. A cramped egg will cause the chicks to be smaller & perhaps have deformities. She doesn't have to technically be a 12 month old hen to hatch her eggs, but you do want to make sure a pullet is laying "normal" eggs of a good size. As you know, pullet eggs can come in crazy shapes & sizes with varying shell thicknesses & possible double-yolkers. It's just best to wait until the girl's reproductive system is regular. No one wants unhealthy chicks.

 

[LowerBamaMama]

The main reason for only hatching hen's eggs (& not pullet eggs) is because of chick size & health.  A cramped egg will cause the chicks to be smaller & perhaps have deformities.  She doesn't have to technically be a 12 month old hen to hatch her eggs, but you do want to make sure a pullet is laying "normal" eggs of a good size.  As you know, pullet eggs can come in crazy shapes & sizes with varying shell thicknesses & possible double-yolkers.  It's just best to wait until the girl's reproductive system is regular.   No one wants unhealthy chicks.

Yes but do y'all actually weight them and always go by that minimum weight? What size does 60g fall under? I don't really think in grams so I can't picture how large that is? Large? jumbo? If you have a well conformin hen who consistently lays 50g eggs, would you disqualify her from your breeding? I understand that per the standard you SHOULD but my question is wether people are actually weighting their eggs before they set?

 

[DesertChic]

So in reading the standard it says minimum hatching egg weight is 60g. I'm wondering is this something people are adhering to?
Red banks, thanks for the link! It helped quite a bit

EDITED:

I try to stay around 55-60 grams for my own hatching eggs, with the exception of Silkies, of course. I've found that the larger eggs result in larger and heartier birds as a general rule. And yes....I absolute weigh ALL of my eggs, not just hatching eggs, as egg weight tells a lot about a pullet's/hen's development, genetics, health, etc. Weighing for hatching is vitally important. I weigh and document all egg weights before setting and then at regular intervals along with candling as the incubation progresses. I've actually be able to predict which eggs I expect to see hatch first with decent accuracy, and I not only document when each egg has pipped, but also how long it takes the chick to unzip, and then how much that chick weighs once it's fluffed up. I then track the chicks' weights at regular intervals, charting and documenting their growth patterns.

Why do all of this? Well, for one thing I've only been into poultry husbandry for about a year and still have a lot to learn. Collecting data helps accelerate that learning curve. Secondly, when breeding for particular characteristics, hard data is an irreplaceable tool to help you reach your goals.

 

[Bine]

60 gr are 2,12 oz . With a letter scale you can weight them. Bielefelders are normally non-broodies, so we have to do what a good broody does. My hens normally sort out all eggs that are not promissing healthy chicks. Very young first time broodies sometimes need a helping hand, but a older hen somehow knows how many eggs, what size and weight is good. I have no idea how they do that.