A Bielefelder Thread !

[otakalhasas]

Anddddddd today is our first heat wave of the summer and my bielefelder dies from a heat stroke. Awesome.

Geeze, I'm not too sure I would call that awesome - so sorry for your loss

 

[Faraday40]

To lighten the mood I thought I'd share a pic of my tiny Sebright attempting to cover her giant orpington chicks. They're 4 weeks.

She certainly has the perfect expression.

 

[Honora]

To lighten the mood I thought I'd share a pic of my tiny Sebright attempting to cover her giant orpington chicks. They're 4 weeks.

She certainly has the perfect expression.

LOL they are the same size as her!

 

[otakalhasas]

LOL they are the same size as her!

She certainly put a capital "M" in Mamma!!!!! What a hoot!!

 

[Coop de Grass]

For some reason Bielefelder eggs just seem to be harder to hatch. Your little starter flock there is adorable!

Do you think that it is shipping that causes the low hatch rate? Or is it general fertility? I just put 3 dozen eggs into the incubator from my mixed flock. Right now the laying hens are 2 Bielefelders, 2 SL Wyandottes, 1 Buff Orp, and 1 Black Australorp. My Bielefelder roo is 16.5 weeks old and has been "taking care of the girls for 3 weeks. We can't eat the eggs (antibiotics

) so I thought I'd see if he was doing his job!

I am hoping for a few Bielefelders, and will sell the rest as mixes.

Does anyone have any idea of fertility in Biels? Or if a roo needs some "practice" before he gets it right? The girls have stopped screeching, and just sit there for the 2 seconds it takes.

BTW I am having hilarious conversations with my 20 year old son, and his friends when they learn about chickens mating.

 

[Coop de Grass]

I enjoy hearing the starter crows. We had one sound like the cartoon character Homer Simpson shouting, "WooHoooo!"
His adult crow was not loud, low-pitched, & infrequent. (He literally only crowed for about 10 min in the morning.) He was even a perfect gentleman to the hens. Too bad he got a god-complex around 8 mo & at 11mo. began random attacks. He didn't make it to one.

I am hoping that Kaiser-Roll doesn't get uppity. I think I need to spend more time with him. Because he tends to head in the other direction since I gave him his shots!

 

[Coop de Grass]

My current roos are 16 mo & still never challenged me. They also still get along. I think they worked out the pecking order in the brooder. Only once did they have a spat which ended with some nicks on their combs. The #2 roo backed down & then all was well again. If I think a roo may challenge a human or if he's too aggressive chasing hen, I simply bend down & pick him up. I don't kick or stomp my foot. I don't even flip him upside down. I just pick him up & carry him around with my left arm, so my right is free to continue doing what I was doing. The roo settles down & gets put down when I decide to let him go.

I am clearly not handling the 16 week olds as much as I should. The other 5 are Ameraucana/EE pullets, and they were under a broody Buff Orp, so they are not as tame as the big girls. At 16.5 weeks,Kaiser looks bigger than the Biele hens already. I better start establishing my own pecking order, pronto!

 

[Coop de Grass]

Anddddddd today is our first heat wave of the summer and my bielefelder dies from a heat stroke. Awesome.

I am so sorry to hear this. My Biels are 1 year old this week. I didn't notice a problem last summer, but this year the hens are panting in the heat. Luckily they they have access to shade, and I just bought them a mister although I may return it for a "real" one. When I tried the twisty hose thing out, it was blowing like crazy so I couldn't tell if it was doing anything.

Still love my Biels and want to keep them comfy.

 

[otakalhasas]

I am clearly not handling the 16 week olds as much as I should. The other 5 are Ameraucana/EE pullets, and they were under a broody Buff Orp, so they are not as tame as the big girls. At 16.5 weeks,Kaiser looks bigger than the Biele hens already. I better start establishing my own pecking order, pronto!

I've heard that it can actually be better if you do not handle the boys too much as that keeps them somewhat afraid of humans, therefore more submissive even if more flighty. Thoughts anyone?????

 

[Faraday40]

Both of my roos were incubator hatched & imprinted on us. My DD handled one roo a little, but the other was supposed to be sold. He was the slightly skittish one & always ran away from us. When they started crowing (for real), I started putting them in the garage at night so my neighbors can sleep in. One boy we could simply bend down & pick up at any time, but we had to wait until roosting time to grab his brother. Every night they get carried to their cage in the garage (& receive a little bedtime snack for being good boys) & every morning, they get carried to the yard to be reunited with their girls. They don't squirm or fuss because they know a reward awaits them. The skittish one just gradually got used to the routine. Now we can pick either one up at any time & they'll take treats from our hand. Often I carry a roo under each arm, so I only have to make one trip. Neither will jump into my lap for snuggles, but I have hens for that.

The only part that is not ideal is the morning hormones. The boys have to go all night without hens, so there's some chasing when I first set them down.