A Bielefelder Thread !

[Coop de Grass]

Well, now I have to share some of my Biele pix!

That is one of the 2 Bielefelder girls on the branch. Mixed flock. The day I brought them home. June 22, 2015

July 27, 2015



August 4

October - after my foot surgery, the girls loved to brighten up my days, especially if I had treats with me.


This is my little roo right behind him is the pullet. To the left are 2 Ameraucanas.

Last week, that's the roo at the end, and the pullet is second from the front.

I wish that I could hatch a few more Bielefelders!

 

[DesertChic]

For those that have hatched Bielefelder eggs, was there a difference in procedure compared to other breeds?

I had 24 eggs of 3 different breeds, all roughly collected within a week or so time frame. The two other breeds have been hatching quite well for two days now, but none of the 4 Bielefelder eggs have pipped. It's almost day 23.

I've noticed their air cells were smaller than the other breeds which might be from the size of the egg and the thickness of the shell. I'm tempted to do a second clutch ALL bielefelders so I can tailor the humidity better for them.

I have a much harder time hatching Biel eggs in an incubator, but my broody hens do an outstanding job of hatching them. From this point on I plan to rely on them to help me increase my Biel flock.

 

[cutipatooti]

I have heard that bielefelder eggs require different humidity levels. I don't know what those levels are but a breeder had trouble filling my order due to not having great hatches as she tried to find the right levels. I had a decent hatch last year with the dry method but they were not the jumbo sized eggs.

 

[Coop de Grass]

I have a much harder time hatching Biel eggs in an incubator, but my broody hens do an outstanding job of hatching them. From this point on I plan to rely on them to help me increase my Biel flock.

I am hoping to be have fertile eggs once my Roo matures. At the moment someone else's eggs are under Schnitzel.

Unfortunately, my little Biele Pullet, Strudel, is having problems that began yesterday. I started a new thread asking questions about the yawning. This morning she was outside in the run, standing, but so listless that I approached her without any reaction and picked her up to bring her into the house.

She is now better, drinking, and getting more and more alert, but still open mouth breathing.

 

[Coop de Grass]

Another video of Strudel. She is much better than this, but I am still worried about her breathing, and the "lump" under her beak.

She is now standing and ate some meal worms from my hand.

 

[DesertChic]

I am hoping to be have fertile eggs once my Roo matures. At the moment someone else's eggs are under Schnitzel.

Unfortunately, my little Biele Pullet, Strudel, is having problems that began yesterday. I started a new thread asking questions about the yawning. This morning she was outside in the run, standing, but so listless that I approached her without any reaction and picked her up to bring her into the house.

She is now better, drinking, and getting more and more alert, but still open mouth breathing.

Another video of Strudel. She is much better than this, but I am still worried about her breathing, and the "lump" under her beak.

She is now standing and ate some meal worms from my hand.

Okay...One of my Biel girls behaved similarly a few weeks back and had me totally freaked out because she's one of my favorites.

Question 1: Did you feel her crop? Odds are that there's no problem there based on how she looks, but checking for sour crop is a good place to start.

Question 2: Do you hear any rattling when she breathes in, and is there any kind of discharge from her nose or mouth? From the video it appears the answer will be "no", but I still have to ask.

Question 3: Has she laid an egg since she began this behavior? This was the clincher for me, and it turned out the my girl, Gidget, had an usually large egg "growing" inside of her to be laid, and she was...I don't know...feeling the pain??? Gidget had stopped eating, nearly stopped drinking, pretty much had stopped pooping, and just laid around gasping until she laid that over-sized egg. Normal for her was around 1.8-1.9 ounces, but that egg was just shy of 2.5 ounces and quite round instead of her normal torpedo shape.

If you think Q3 might be relevant to your situation and she hasn't laid an egg, you could put on a glove and try palpating to see if she's egg-bound. If so you can either take measures to facilitate the laying of that egg, or wait to let nature take it's course. I got lucky with my girl in that she was able to push that egg out on her own and made a full and quick recovery, but I did lose a hen of a different breed that became badly egg-bound, so it pays to keep a close eye on her.

Good luck! I'm hoping for a quick and complete recovery for your precious girl.

 

[Coop de Grass]

Okay...One of my Biel girls behaved similarly a few weeks back and had me totally freaked out because she's one of my favorites.

Question 1: Did you feel her crop?

Question 2: Do you hear any rattling when she breathes in, and is there any kind of discharge from her nose or mouth? From the video it appears the answer will be "no", but I still have to ask.

Question 3: Has she laid an egg since she began this behavior?

If you think Q3 might be relevant to your situation and she hasn't laid an egg, you could put on a glove and try palpating to see if she's egg-bound. If so you can either take measures to facilitate the laying of that egg, or wait to let nature take it's course. I got lucky with my girl in that she was able to push that egg out on her own and made a full and quick recovery, but I did lose a hen of a different breed that became badly egg-bound, so it pays to keep a close eye on her.

Good luck! I'm hoping for a quick and complete recovery for your precious girl.

@DesertChic you are wonderful! I am really desperate.

1.Yes I did feel her crop and it was completely empty.

2. There is rattling when she breathes out. The only discharge was after I had massaged her "throat' running my hand from under her beak, down towards her abdomen. Then some liquid dripped out of her mouth - maybe a teaspoonful.
3. She is only 10 weeks old according to my calendar - hatched by me on Feb 17. So I'm pretty sure she isn't egg bound.

Here is the latest! You will notice that she does a slight "swallowing" motion early in the video. She has been much better since she started drinking and has just recently taken a few worms from my hand.

It was a whole lot easier figuring out what was wrong with my human babies! or maybe I've forgotten. The oldest is 30 and the youngest is 20!

 

[DesertChic]

@DesertChic you are wonderful! I am really desperate.

1.Yes I did feel her crop and it was completely empty.

2. There is rattling when she breathes out. The only discharge was after I had massaged her "throat' running my hand from under her beak, down towards her abdomen. Then some liquid dripped out of her mouth - maybe a teaspoonful.
3. She is only 10 weeks old according to my calendar - hatched by me on Feb 17. So I'm pretty sure she isn't egg bound.

Here is the latest! You will notice that she does a slight "swallowing" motion early in the video. She has been much better since she started drinking and has just recently taken a few worms from my hand.



It was a whole lot easier figuring out what was wrong with my human babies! or maybe I've forgotten. The oldest is 30 and the youngest is 20!

I hear ya! Human diseases are so much easier because we can actually tell you how we feel. Chickens are largely a guessing game and most of their illnesses resemble one another too much to know for certain without performing a fully scientific examination, possibly including collecting specimens, or performing a necropsy after death.

Okay...so this is obviously respiratory in nature. The liquid that came out is probably a result of the "massage" you gave her. I've seen the same thing happen in some of my perfectly healthy birds. The rattling in her breathing is what's most disconcerting, but since there's no nasal discharge there's still a lot of reason for hope. I would guess that her swallowing is resultant of a buildup of mucous. My first guess is Infectious Bronchitis, which thankfully has a low mortality rate. The best treatment is 1) Isolation to protect both her from being picked on and contagious spread to the other birds, 2) electrolytes and probiotics in the water, and 3) keep her warm and providing plenty of clean water and food if she's interested, and 4) the hardest...patience. It took 2 weeks for one of my NN chicks to get over this, and it actually resulted in stunted growth in her, but she's amazingly healthy and a great layer now, though I've read that this condition can permanently affect laying ability.

If her condition continues to deteriorate then I would consider Infectious Laryngotrachetis (not likely) or Newcastle Disease (more common). The treatment for Newcastle is pretty much the same as for Infectious Bronchitis, though perhaps requires more time and patience for complete recover. Keep posting updates if you see things progressing in the wrong direction. I'm still laid up from surgery and will check back frequently to help in any way I can, though admittedly my input is still merely educated guessing.

Oh...one thing that helped my chick recover...when she finally started eating again I fed her a fair amount of chopped, hard-boiled egg along with giving her water laced with electrolytes and probiotics. She loved the egg, which encouraged more eating and drinking, and her energy levels increased far more rapidly than when she was only fed fermented feed.

 

[Coop de Grass]

@DesertChic thank you for taking the time to write! I am going to get the electrolytes and probiotics into her asap... will keep you posted.
I hope that your recovery is swift and that your surgery was successful!

Thank you for your reassurance. That was amazingly helpful.

 

[crawford-3546]

From what I have read, it could be gape worm. Wouldn't hurt to check it out. Symptoms do sound similar.