A Bielefelder Thread !

[Cynthia12]

That silkie is darling. I love the silkies. Have some eggs in the bator now. Have a white boy out there right now, and like I said, a smooth SG. Love them.

My SG..I have a wee one inside. A blue smooth.



My young white silkie boy.



I love the EE's too. Always so different in color.







And a frizzle that is soo sweet and laid back.







My future egg layers, should be in a couple of months.

 

[Sylvester017]

Love love the Denagard, swear by it. Hasn't hurt a thing in all these yrs. My chickens are doing great! I eat the eggs, no problems there either.
There are vets that don't worry about it. I know of the old farmers that give the real hard anti biotics to their chickens, and eat their eggs any way. I won't do that, but don't worry about the Denagard. What ever works for each of us. As long as I don't see any harm to my girls..which I haven't. Like I said when I posted it..not everyone would like it...not for everyone. I know several that are using it the same way and having great results too.. It's ok...for us.

And yes Sylvester..these little birds do tug at my heart strings. Love them. I just sit out there at times, like today, when I need some time away from .. stuff..and I talk to my girls. Had a great talk with my SG and Silkie this afternoon. They sat on my leg and talked right back. Great listeners.

Don't you just love the conversations? Sometimes I swear I understand what some of their tones mean! Honestly, I have a Black Silkie that says my DH's name because she always hears me calling him to help me outside! Another Partridge Silkie will either sit on my shovel while I'm gardening or else she stands on my shoe to give herself height during treat time! She's 5-yrs-old and bosses the 3-yr-old Ameraucana and 1-yr-old Breda. I'm just afraid to add a Bielie to the flock in case the Bielie I would get might not submit to her little 2.4-lb size! Size-wise and gentle-wise we found the Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar) and the Blue Breda as two lighter-weight large fowl we could mingle with the 2 Silkies.

 

[Cynthia12]

Don't you just love the conversations? Sometimes I swear I understand what some of their tones mean! Honestly, I have a Black Silkie that says my DH's name because she always hears me calling him to help me outside! Another Partridge Silkie will either sit on my shovel while I'm gardening or else she stands on my shoe to give herself height during treat time! She's 5-yrs-old and bosses the 3-yr-old Ameraucana and 1-yr-old Breda. I'm just afraid to add a Bielie to the flock in case the Bielie I would get might not submit to her little 2.4-lb size! Size-wise and gentle-wise we found the Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar) and the Blue Breda as two lighter-weight large fowl we could mingle with the 2 Silkies.

Aww, beautiful birds...and yes! I know what you mean about their tones. I have that...begging tone down pretty good. lol...then when they are just visiting, it is so much more quiet.



I love the leghorn, I don't think most folks know just how friendly they are. I can't wait for this Bielelfelder to grow up. She is one of the sweetest babies ever. When I open her little coop, which is the one in this photo..it's my grow out coop, and the run is there behind me, anyway, she is the first to come running to me. When I walk into the run, she is right there to greet me. She is so young. I had heard that these birds are friendly, but wow.

 

[DesertChic]

Yes, I understand your choice completely. On the farm our folks raised poultry with the knowledge that after egg-production they would be table meat and no expense was wasted on sickly or dying birds. Our backyard chickens today are kept mostly as pets and for our enjoyment of the 3 unusual breeds we finally decided to keep. And the expense to keep them healthy or have occasional fecal tests done thru the vet is just a chosen convenience by us since we are so attached to our pets. Some people spend money for licenses, vaccinations, housing, medications, vet bills, etc on their cats or dogs but in lieu of cats or dogs we chose to keep chickens as pets and we haven't regretted a minute of it -- especially once we found a vet that exercises on the side of caution and doesn't believe in unnecessary preventative medications

. But we bless him for keeping our spunky 4-yr-old Silkie well!

Here she is with her "hair" full of cobwebs and straw - making us smile! We just have to keep this little girl around and healthy as long as possible!

LOL! She's adorable! And I hope I didn't come across as offensive in my post. I wholeheartedly understand the 'chickens are my pets' mentality and have begun to edge into that category with a few of my own birds. People really do underestimate just how endearing chickens can be.

 

[DesertChic]

I love NN's and SG's. I have a smooth SG. Getting ready to lay anytime. Check out that crop on that baby...cute. Eating well.

Oh yes! Mama Lily taught these guys well and always had them eating. I'm just really hoping they'll become friendlier with me in the coming weeks as I handle them more. Right now they still remember their mama's instructions to stay away and it's been a bit of a challenge to convince them that it's okay to stay near me. But, they're only 4 weeks old and that's usually a pretty skittish time with chicks. Her last flock didn't warm up to me until 8-10 weeks old.

 

[kris86AR]

Well my CL pullet has survived the scare she gave me. Next morning she was back on her feet eating and drinking good. Still dont know what was wrong with her. Thanks to all who commented and messaged me with tips.

 

[otakalhasas]

Well my CL pullet has survived the scare she gave me. Next morning she was back on her feet eating and drinking good. Still dont know what was wrong with her. Thanks to all who commented and messaged me with tips.

How wonderful! Keep up whatever it is you were doing!!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Aww, beautiful birds...and yes! I know what you mean about their tones. I have that...begging tone down pretty good. lol...then when they are just visiting, it is so much more quiet.



I love the leghorn, I don't think most folks know just how friendly they are. I can't wait for this Bielelfelder to grow up. She is one of the sweetest babies ever. When I open her little coop, which is the one in this photo..it's my grow out coop, and the run is there behind me, anyway, she is the first to come running to me. When I walk into the run, she is right there to greet me. She is so young. I had heard that these birds are friendly, but wow.

The White Leghorns are wonderful and GREAT egg layers! We had ours for 3 yrs as a gentle alpha but after her 3rd year molt she regrew her beautiful white feathers and came back with an aggressive attitude toward the flock. We gave her a chance to settle down but after a couple weeks we found her a new home with a friend's layer flock where she worked her way to alpha there. At least we could visit her there but unfortunately compared to some breeds the Leghorns are not touchy-feely birds. They are friendly, jump on your lap or arm to get treats, but after treats they're GONE! We liked our White Leg so much we invested in a Buff Leghorn but she had a wilder streak in her than the White Leg. By the time she was a year old she was being nasty to all the other birds in the flock, chasing them, pulling out their beards and muffs, etc. She was re-homed in the same flock as our White Leg where she quickly learned she couldn't bully anyone. Sad - because I was raised with flocks of Babcock Leghorns and love Legs for so many reasons but realize I can't mingle them with gentle, timid, or smaller breeds.

LOL! She's adorable! And I hope I didn't come across as offensive in my post. I wholeheartedly understand the 'chickens are my pets' mentality and have begun to edge into that category with a few of my own birds. People really do underestimate just how endearing chickens can be.

I value all your input and do not take offense. There are too many styles of raising poultry and one gets to understand where most owners are coming from. On the farm my folks raised animals for food but I was so traumatized on slaughter days that Mom made sure I wasn't around when she had to prepare a chicken, duck, or goose. Forget goat, sheep, or cattle days! Currently, my major protein consumption is hen eggs. We stopped eating beef years ago, have a hard time ordering chicken in restaurants and ask for substitutions. Crazy - eh? I suggested to my DH we process a mean Marans we had and said he wouldn't eat her and quickly found a new home for her - what a softie!

Well my CL pullet has survived the scare she gave me. Next morning she was back on her feet eating and drinking good. Still dont know what was wrong with her. Thanks to all who commented and messaged me with tips.

Every once in a while a hen gives me a scare too - lethargic, no appetite, reclusive - and then suddenly the next day is all happy and active again. I guess chickens have bad days too where they just don't feel well. I know during molt chickens get cranky, reclusive, quiet, lose their healthy appetites but when you see the falling feathers you know that behavior is normal during molt.

 

[Coop de Grass]

Hello all

We have survived the respiratory infection and I have an appointment to take one of the Bielefelders to the avian vet tomorrow - it took her the longest to recover. The purpose is to have her tested so that we know what they got. In the interim, she was being attacked by the flock (5 hens and 8 (3 month old) pullets. I have had her separated in a crate in our family room. She has regained her strength and I have taken her out for walks. I thought that she was fine until today - I built a pen inside the run, with a roost and a nest box. She didn't show any interest in the roost, and when I put her in the nest box she came straight out. I was thinking about bringing her to the house, but she walked up the ramp and through the pop door to the coop. I watched her try to jump to the intermediate roost twice. Each time she slipped off. I finally went in and placed her on a roost and turned off the lights. She stayed on the roost for 10 minutes, but then she started to stand up and fell off.

Has anyone encountered this? She seems to walk alright, if not super fast. She has always been passive... usually the last to notice that everyone has moved on. When she was attacked, she did nothing but lie there.

I will have an answer from the vet tomorrow afternoon, and will share what I find out.

 

[DesertChic]

Hello all

We have survived the respiratory infection and I have an appointment to take one of the Bielefelders to the avian vet tomorrow - it took her the longest to recover. The purpose is to have her tested so that we know what they got. In the interim, she was being attacked by the flock (5 hens and 8 (3 month old) pullets. I have had her separated in a crate in our family room. She has regained her strength and I have taken her out for walks. I thought that she was fine until today - I built a pen inside the run, with a roost and a nest box. She didn't show any interest in the roost, and when I put her in the nest box she came straight out. I was thinking about bringing her to the house, but she walked up the ramp and through the pop door to the coop. I watched her try to jump to the intermediate roost twice. Each time she slipped off. I finally went in and placed her on a roost and turned off the lights. She stayed on the roost for 10 minutes, but then she started to stand up and fell off.

Has anyone encountered this? She seems to walk alright, if not super fast. She has always been passive... usually the last to notice that everyone has moved on. When she was attacked, she did nothing but lie there.

I will have an answer from the vet tomorrow afternoon, and will share what I find out.

I can't help but wonder if she's not still feeling some of the effects of having been sick, perhaps now with balance problems. I don't know of chickens experience symptoms similar to humans, but when my ears are stuffed up badly I have balance issues. Or maybe she's just still feeling a bit weak.

I do, however, have one Biel girl who really struggles to roost because she's so darn big and has taken to sleeping on the floor at night with my Silkie and Frizzled EEs.