A Bielefelder Thread !

[otakalhasas]

"When I bought my farm I did not know what a bargain I had in the bluebirds, daffodils and thrushes, as little did I know what sublime mornings and sunsets I was buying." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Baking bread, canning and making jelly and jam, eating a breakfast of your own harvest and work. These activities are amazing eye openers. Eating food you produced is a grateful, rewarding experience.

Most of us are standing knee deep in a river and dying of thirst.

I tramp thru the woods, enjoy the company of my chickens, feed my friends and wonder why it took me so long to come home. I have a little shop and I am gradually selling all the things that I used to think were important. The china has to go, I need another coop!

Yes Bine.....I know exactly what you mean.

Nicely, nicely put, both of you. AMEN!!!!!!

 

[Coop de Grass]

Chickens are addictive. Once you can see that behind your breakfast egg is a little person that loves life, has friends and is able to communicat joy and sadness, everything changes and you begin to think about the bacon, milk, cheese and suddenly the car you drive is less importen than the food you eat and where it comes from. You begin to think about the earthworm population in your garden and discover that everytime you walk into your yard you stand on top of a hidden world full of creatures that secretly talk to your plants, negotiate the terms for supply contracts, building homes and habitats.
For non-chicken people the day you talk about your hens getting bored b/c of the rain, you get weird. How on earth can such a bird brain complain about the weather? And when you mention that you think about a plan to make your worm population happy, most people stop talking to you.
And yes I confess to live in a fairytail only that the wizzards are eathworms, the pixies are beatles and the fairys are hens.

How lovely, The best part of joining BYC is that you find like minded people who believe in Wizards.

 

[DesertChic]

Sadly due to another disaster that is shipping chicks thru the USPS I have only 4 out of 11 survivors from VA. That brings my grand total up to 4 pullets and 3 cockerels. I think I will just stick with those as my starter flock. I might just have to contact Papa Brooder or the breeder in western WA (I'm sorry I have forgotten your screen name) and will have to take a road trip and either pick up eggs or chicks later this spring if they have anything available. I can maybe go on a few rock hounding adventures and make it interesting for my hubby too.

I am so sorry to hear about your shipping issues. This is precisely why I've never bought live chicks to be shipped. I know how horribly our local post office is about handling anything and everything and I'm terrified of what those chicks will go through. I ordered hatching eggs for all of my starter birds because if an egg breaks in the mail it just doesn't weigh on my conscience the same way. Luckily you have enough survivors to get a decent little flock going, Enjoy!

 

[DesertChic]

Chickens are addictive. Once you can see that behind your breakfast egg is a little person that loves life, has friends and is able to communicat joy and sadness, everything changes and you begin to think about the bacon, milk, cheese and suddenly the car you drive is less importen than the food you eat and where it comes from. You begin to think about the earthworm population in your garden and discover that everytime you walk into your yard you stand on top of a hidden world full of creatures that secretly talk to your plants, negotiate the terms for supply contracts, building homes and habitats.
For non-chicken people the day you talk about your hens getting bored b/c of the rain, you get weird. How on earth can such a bird brain complain about the weather? And when you mention that you think about a plan to make your worm population happy, most people stop talking to you.
And yes I confess to live in a fairytail only that the wizzards are eathworms, the pixies are beatles and the fairys are hens.

Perfectly stated! And for me at least, you can add Tilapia to the list since I'm also doing aquaponics. I fret over whether those 16 fish are content in their tank, eating enough food, etc. My earthworms will be added in a few months, but by plants are already growing happily.

 

[Saris]

Sadly due to another disaster that is shipping chicks thru the USPS I have only 4 out of 11 survivors from VA. That brings my grand total up to 4 pullets and 3 cockerels. I think I will just stick with those as my starter flock. I might just have to contact Papa Brooder or the breeder in western WA (I'm sorry I have forgotten your screen name) and will have to take a road trip and either pick up eggs or chicks later this spring if they have anything available. I can maybe go on a few rock hounding adventures and make it interesting for my hubby too.

Many 0f my eggs are from Papa Brooder, and there is a breeder in Boise that I ordered eggs from. Do you have an incubator? I may end up with too many for mine. I've ordered 34 Biele eggs some to keep, most to sell.

Chickens are addictive. Once you can see that behind your breakfast egg is a little person that loves life, has friends and is able to communicat joy and sadness, everything changes and you begin to think about the bacon, milk, cheese and suddenly the car you drive is less importen than the food you eat and where it comes from. You begin to think about the earthworm population in your garden and discover that everytime you walk into your yard you stand on top of a hidden world full of creatures that secretly talk to your plants, negotiate the terms for supply contracts, building homes and habitats.
For non-chicken people the day you talk about your hens getting bored b/c of the rain, you get weird. How on earth can such a bird brain complain about the weather? And when you mention that you think about a plan to make your worm population happy, most people stop talking to you.
And yes I confess to live in a fairytail only that the wizzards are eathworms, the pixies are beatles and the fairys are hens.

Beautifully said!

"When I bought my farm I did not know what a bargain I had in the bluebirds, daffodils and thrushes, as little did I know what sublime mornings and sunsets I was buying." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Baking bread, canning and making jelly and jam, eating a breakfast of your own harvest and work. These activities are amazing eye openers. Eating food you produced is a grateful, rewarding experience.

Most of us are standing knee deep in a river and dying of thirst.

I tramp thru the woods, enjoy the company of my chickens, feed my friends and wonder why it took me so long to come home. I have a little shop and I am gradually selling all the things that I used to think were important. The good china and dust collectors have to go, I need another coop!

Yes Bine.....I know exactly what you mean.

I couldn't agree more!

 

[Bine]

Proposal for a breeding Project

I thought about how to get a little more progress into the Bielefelder breeding thing. I know that breeding is time consuming and it is hard with a popular breed and with a rare breed it is even harder to find a starting point. So maybe this helps. It is a modified version of a breeding circle for ... I think Vorwerk or German Langshan.

1. 1. Define breeding goals everyone in the group wants to breed for and prioritize the goals.
2. 2. Put someone in charge of the breed registration. Every breeding bird will get a register number that does not change as long as the bird lives/breeds. The register will note the hatching date, the breeder, pros and cons of the bird, the breeding partners and offspring that was selected for breeding.
3. .3. Mark the addresses of all breeders on a map. Figure out a way to exchange the birds with your nearest breeders on the map. If there is no way to exchange living birds, exchange hatching eggs and select a rooster for breeding.
4. 4. Every Breeder selects an A-Team of best birds – one rooster and four hens
5. 5. Form a Breeding Council. Find people with experience in breeding. They will help judge the birds as long as they are not recognized by the National Breeders Club.
I know that noone will travel all of the US to look at your bird, so try to make a picture of them that show the bird best. Take photos of the birds in an definde angle and difinde distance from the camara. There is a possibility to use a standard grey backround card. It helps to correct the color of digital photos. So you can get as near to the real color as possible. Create a little "yearbook" for your breeding birds.


Data that is worth noting:
Pedigree (rooster/hen)
Egg weight, number the eggs so you can find out the relation between egg and chick weight and evtl. quitters
Hatching date
Hatching rate
Hatching weight
Weight after 4/8/10.. weeks
Weight when reaching sexual maturity
POL Date for hens, egg weight
Birds lost to infections or other reasons
Allover weight and number of eggs laid by the A-Team
Total weight of your A-Team

Take notes of the daily feed ration, how they feather out, first try to crow, first nest building trails.
Put the birds on scales every time you change feed, housing, pasture. This way you will find out the best time for breeding and hatching. What to feed, when to change the feed, when to put out the birds into coop and pasture.
Try to swap the roosters every two/three month, so you have enough time to make sure that the rooster is really the dad of the chicks and you have enough time to collect a good number of hatching eggs.

Use the internet and electronic stuff to connect with other breeders. Share your data and discuse it with other breeders. If you have a organizer programm(like OneNote) on your mobile or pc you can take quick notes and organize and share the stuff later.

B/c of all the data you can make sound decisions when you select for your next A-Teams. And o/c you can create B(ack-up)-Teams and collect all the same data from the B-Teams. Often you learn more form the B-Teams b/c you may see how undesired qualities accumulate or vanish through breeding with the right/wrong partner.

I think that could work even if only two or three people join the breeding project it would help to improve and promote the birds in the US.

So what do you think?

 

[DesertChic]

Proposal for a breeding Project

I thought about how to get a little more progress into the Bielefelder breeding thing. I know that breeding is time consuming and it is hard with a popular breed and with a rare breed it is even harder to find a starting point. So maybe this helps. It is a modified version of a breeding circle for ... I think Vorwerk or German Langshan.

1. 1. Define breeding goals everyone in the group wants to breed for and prioritize the goals.
2. 2. Put someone in charge of the breed registration. Every breeding bird will get a register number that does not change as long as the bird lives/breeds. The register will note the hatching date, the breeder, pros and cons of the bird, the breeding partners and offspring that was selected for breeding.
3. .3. Mark the addresses of all breeders on a map. Figure out a way to exchange the birds with your nearest breeders on the map. If there is no way to exchange living birds, exchange hatching eggs and select a rooster for breeding.
4. 4. Every Breeder selects an A-Team of best birds – one rooster and four hens
5. 5. Form a Breeding Council. Find people with experience in breeding. They will help judge the birds as long as they are not recognized by the National Breeders Club.
I know that noone will travel all of the US to look at your bird, so try to make a picture of them that show the bird best. Take photos of the birds in an definde angle and difinde distance from the camara. There is a possibility to use a standard grey backround card. It helps to correct the color of digital photos. So you can get as near to the real color as possible. Create a little "yearbook" for your breeding birds.


Data that is worth noting:
Pedigree (rooster/hen)
Egg weight, number the eggs so you can find out the relation between egg and chick weight and evtl. quitters
Hatching date
Hatching rate
Hatching weight
Weight after 4/8/10.. weeks
Weight when reaching sexual maturity
POL Date for hens, egg weight
Birds lost to infections or other reasons
Allover weight and number of eggs laid by the A-Team
Total weight of your A-Team

Take notes of the daily feed ration, how they feather out, first try to crow, first nest building trails.
Put the birds on scales every time you change feed, housing, pasture. This way you will find out the best time for breeding and hatching. What to feed, when to change the feed, when to put out the birds into coop and pasture.
Try to swap the roosters every two/three month, so you have enough time to make sure that the rooster is really the dad of the chicks and you have enough time to collect a good number of hatching eggs.

Use the internet and electronic stuff to connect with other breeders. Share your data and discuse it with other breeders. If you have a organizer programm(like OneNote) on your mobile or pc you can take quick notes and organize and share the stuff later.

B/c of all the data you can make sound decisions when you select for your next A-Teams. And o/c you can create B(ack-up)-Teams and collect all the same data from the B-Teams. Often you learn more form the B-Teams b/c you may see how undesired qualities accumulate or vanish through breeding with the right/wrong partner.

I think that could work even if only two or three people join the breeding project it would help to improve and promote the birds in the US.

So what do you think?

Definitely a time consuming process, but well worth the effort for those who are truly serious about their projects. I'm currently doing a lot of this already for all of my birds irrespective of breed....I guess because I'm that crazy.

I even record when an egg pips, and then how long before it hatches. I'm looking for anything and everything that may reveal patterns for desirable and undesirable traits. What you wrote out here....VERY well thought out and organized. It clearly shows me where some of my tracking weaknesses are...namely in regards to feed. I will be copying + pasting to my MS Word files for future reference...so, THANK YOU!

 

[DesertChic]

As some of you already know, when I performed my last hatch, I included eggs from hens that had been mated by my Bielefelder cockerels. I've already shared photos of the Biel/Silkie cross, but I also have a Biel/Australorp cross that resulted in three cockerels and one lonely little pullet. They came out looking much like Barred Rocks, but with some notable differences. The boys are started show hints of buff feathering coming through their black & white mix, but it's the body shape that most intrigues me. All three of my boys are BIG and very meaty, and my girl's "posture" reminds me a lot of the Biel girls. (I own Barred Rocks so I've been able to compare to them.) Here's a few photos...just for interest.

Ivy - pullet: Notice her very straight line along the back to the tail. None of my BR nor Australorps share this shape.


And my largest cockerel, Freddy: His body shape almost perfectly mimics his daddy's, Hansel, even though his feathering is so different.


As I said, this was an unintentional mating that I hatched out for the sake of curiosity and learning. I think their feathering is lovely, but I still prefer the traditional Biel feathering and have no plans to pursue a project with these birds. In fact, I've got someone interested in buying the pullet and one of the cockerels from me, and the remaining cockerels will be butchered. BUT....I did learn quite a bit about the genetics aspect of breeding.

 

[Bine]

I love your mixed birds. I think the Silky-Mixes are too cute, but this Mix is very interessting. It seems that the hight tail or U-Form we saw in some Bielefelders are easy to breed out than I thought.

 

[Red Banks]

As some of you already know, when I performed my last hatch, I included eggs from hens that had been mated by my Bielefelder cockerels. I've already shared photos of the Biel/Silkie cross, but I also have a Biel/Australorp cross that resulted in three cockerels and one lonely little pullet. They came out looking much like Barred Rocks, but with some notable differences. The boys are started show hints of buff feathering coming through their black & white mix, but it's the body shape that most intrigues me. All three of my boys are BIG and very meaty, and my girl's "posture" reminds me a lot of the Biel girls. (I own Barred Rocks so I've been able to compare to them.) Here's a few photos...just for interest.

Ivy - pullet: Notice her very straight line along the back to the tail. None of my BR nor Australorps share this shape.


And my largest cockerel, Freddy: His body shape almost perfectly mimics his daddy's, Hansel, even though his feathering is so different.


As I said, this was an unintentional mating that I hatched out for the sake of curiosity and learning. I think their feathering is lovely, but I still prefer the traditional Biel feathering and have no plans to pursue a project with these birds. In fact, I've got someone interested in buying the pullet and one of the cockerels from me, and the remaining cockerels will be butchered. BUT....I did learn quite a bit about the genetics aspect of breeding.

They are beautiful!