A Bielefelder Thread !

[Sylvester017]

I'm so sorry you had such bad luck but I do think a lot of the problems you faced had to do with the Leghorns I noticed you kept getting them I'm guessing for eggs. Leghorns have a reputation as being a much more domineering breed. I know some people have had good luck with them but I don't think they are very well suited to a small docile flock that doesn't have a lot of space.

I told you about our two brown leghorns. We have one cuckoo marans and she is a bit more dominant but not a bully either. I don't know what was up with that bird. Perhaps it was just a bad egg or went completely nuts. Lol

Anyway that being said I don't think that large fluffy orps would do well in your South California temps they are very high in the summer correct?
We broke 100* here multiple days here last summer with up to 100% humidity and our girls were miserable. They pulled through it like troopers even when I was worried we'd lose a bird but their size and fluff does make it more difficult.

Perhaps something like a Buttercup, campine or something along those lines?

We continued w/ Leghorns because the first White Leg was such a nice humane alpha w/ the Silkies. We were advised and found that as hens mature they get more assertive so with heavier dual purpose or layer breeds they can turn too aggressive around littles. Our White Leg was exceptionally nice up until 3-yrs-old and then she turned aggressive. The Buff Leg was aggressive almost at the start. The Marans was just an out-and-out sneaky hen that avoided human contact except for treats and she would roost next to the Silkies at night to pluck them. During the day she tried to usurp the White Leg's alpha position but got put in her place by the Leg. Then the Marans shifted her attention and outright viciously attacked a Silkie pullet. We had had it w/ all the dual purpose or layer drama queens and started researching docile breeds like Ameraucana, Araucana, Breda, Crevecoeur, Dorking, Easter Egger, Houdan, Pavlovskaya, Polish, Sultan, and some of the reported gentle giants like Bielie's, Brahma, Cochin, Jersey Giant, Orp's, and Sussex. Since Buttercup are from the assertive Mediterranean class like Leghorns we didn't think trying more Med class would be a good idea or trying any of the braekel types like Campine, etc.

We finally chose an Ameraucana as our egg layer and I'd have more of them because of their great temperament and acceptance of new birds into the flock without incidents -- but these sweet overly-fluffy girls suffer in our horrible SoCal summers. Last year the 100o temps started in May and lasted in the upper 90's to over 100 without a break all the way thru Sept. Oct and Nov cooled to upper 80's to 90's. Usually we only get one or two weeks of 100's temps but last year it was solid heatwave for months and we lost our sweet Ameraucana and docile Breda to heat-related issues despite our attempts to keep it comfortable for them. Only the old Silkies made it through our brutal 6-yr State-declared drought. We're expecting this year to be the end of the drought but have no idea if the summer will be milder -- usually our summers are milder after a drought is lifted.

Because the Breda is a lightweight bird we added a new pullet and have another one coming later this year. We're gonna try the Breda's again and hope this year will be kinder to them climate-wise because they are great layers and docile around the Silkies. Wish me luck!

 

[chickendreams24]

We continued w/ Leghorns because the first White Leg was such a nice humane alpha w/ the Silkies.  We were advised and found that as hens mature they get more assertive so with heavier dual purpose or layer breeds they can turn too aggressive around littles.  Our White Leg was exceptionally nice up until 3-yrs-old and then she turned aggressive.  The Buff Leg was aggressive almost at the start.  The Marans was just an out-and-out sneaky hen that avoided human contact except for treats and she would roost next to the Silkies at night to pluck them.  During the day she tried to usurp the White Leg's alpha position but got put in her place by the Leg.  Then the Marans shifted her attention and outright viciously attacked a Silkie pullet.  We had had it w/ all the dual purpose or layer drama queens and started researching docile breeds like Ameraucana, Araucana, Breda, Crevecoeur, Dorking, Easter Egger, Houdan, Pavlovskaya, Polish, Sultan, and some of the reported gentle giants like Bielie's, Brahma, Cochin, Jersey Giant, Orp's, and Sussex.  Since Buttercup are from the assertive Mediterranean class like Leghorns we didn't think trying more Med class would be a good idea or trying any of the braekel types like Campine, etc.

We finally chose an Ameraucana as our egg layer and I'd have more of them because of their great temperament and acceptance of new birds into the flock without incidents -- but these sweet overly-fluffy girls suffer in our horrible SoCal summers.  Last year the 100[SUP]o[/SUP] temps started in May and lasted in the upper 90's to over 100 without a break all the way thru Sept.  Oct and Nov cooled to upper 80's to 90's.  Usually we only get one or two weeks of 100's temps but last year it was solid heatwave for months and we lost our sweet Ameraucana and docile Breda to heat-related issues despite our attempts to keep it comfortable for them.  Only the old Silkies made it through our brutal 6-yr State-declared drought.  We're expecting this year to be the end of the drought but have no idea if the summer will be milder -- usually our summers are milder after a drought is lifted.

Because the Breda is a lightweight bird we added a new pullet and have another one coming later this year.  We're gonna try the Breda's again and hope this year will be kinder to them climate-wise because they are great layers and docile around the Silkies.  Wish me luck!

Good luck. Also sorry if I came across as offensive I know there are some people with stories of great Leghorns that wasn't our experience. We did have a great experience with ISA browns though.

That's interesting I forgot buttercups were in the same class as the Leghorns I've heard great things about them and we would love to try them out but unfortunately none of the eggs we bought hatched.

Unfortunately as everyone here knows if is hard to introduce new birds into an existing flock and I think that birds do much better with silkies when raised with them.

I know you didn't mention them and they obviously only lay a bantam egg but we have had great luck with Oegb and they get along great with our silkies. Being smaller I bet the heat wouldn't be too bad on them and they make great pets like silkies do but they are fliers.

Mine often fly up onto my arm.

 

[summerb123]

We continued w/ Leghorns because the first White Leg was such a nice humane alpha w/ the Silkies. We were advised and found that as hens mature they get more assertive so with heavier dual purpose or layer breeds they can turn too aggressive around littles. Our White Leg was exceptionally nice up until 3-yrs-old and then she turned aggressive. The Buff Leg was aggressive almost at the start. The Marans was just an out-and-out sneaky hen that avoided human contact except for treats and she would roost next to the Silkies at night to pluck them. During the day she tried to usurp the White Leg's alpha position but got put in her place by the Leg. Then the Marans shifted her attention and outright viciously attacked a Silkie pullet. We had had it w/ all the dual purpose or layer drama queens and started researching docile breeds like Ameraucana, Araucana, Breda, Crevecoeur, Dorking, Easter Egger, Houdan, Pavlovskaya, Polish, Sultan, and some of the reported gentle giants like Bielie's, Brahma, Cochin, Jersey Giant, Orp's, and Sussex. Since Buttercup are from the assertive Mediterranean class like Leghorns we didn't think trying more Med class would be a good idea or trying any of the braekel types like Campine, etc.

We finally chose an Ameraucana as our egg layer and I'd have more of them because of their great temperament and acceptance of new birds into the flock without incidents -- but these sweet overly-fluffy girls suffer in our horrible SoCal summers. Last year the 100o temps started in May and lasted in the upper 90's to over 100 without a break all the way thru Sept. Oct and Nov cooled to upper 80's to 90's. Usually we only get one or two weeks of 100's temps but last year it was solid heatwave for months and we lost our sweet Ameraucana and docile Breda to heat-related issues despite our attempts to keep it comfortable for them. Only the old Silkies made it through our brutal 6-yr State-declared drought. We're expecting this year to be the end of the drought but have no idea if the summer will be milder -- usually our summers are milder after a drought is lifted.

Because the Breda is a lightweight bird we added a new pullet and have another one coming later this year. We're gonna try the Breda's again and hope this year will be kinder to them climate-wise because they are great layers and docile around the Silkies. Wish me luck!

My Leghorns are low ranking

right next to my Dorking that is the last in the ranking! Y'all would laugh if I told y'all who was on top! but my Polish rooster is gentle! the Easter Egger I have is the sweetest little thing! Leghorns are little rascals! Always getting into things! My Leghorns have a great personality! I love the goofball Leghorns! Fun to watch!

Also my Leghorns always untie my shoes!

Eat my hair! Peck at the silliest things on your clothes and sometimes get curious enough to hop in my lap! Perch on my arm for a treat! and one of my Leghorn hens cluck when she finds food!

Such goofs!

 

[Sylvester017]

Good luck. Also sorry if I came across as offensive I know there are some people with stories of great Leghorns that wasn't our experience. We did have a great experience with ISA browns though.

That's interesting I forgot buttercups were in the same class as the Leghorns I've heard great things about them and we would love to try them out but unfortunately none of the eggs we bought hatched.

Unfortunately as everyone here knows if is hard to introduce new birds into an existing flock and I think that birds do much better with silkies when raised with them.

I know you didn't mention them and they obviously only lay a bantam egg but we have had great luck with Oegb and they get along great with our silkies. Being smaller I bet the heat wouldn't be too bad on them and they make great pets like silkies do but they are fliers.

Mine often fly up onto my arm.

TY - appreciate your input!

Leghorns are a peculiar personality. By themselves they are great birds to have in the backyard but I never realized at the start that they could develop aggressive behavior around timid, docile, or smaller breeds. I really like the Whites because historically they are the breed engineers used to increase production in other breeds like Kraienkoppe, Welsummer, Legbars, hybrids, and so many others. White Legs were used extensively for reproductive cancer research since 45% develop cancer by age 4. If the White Leg gets past 4 yrs w/o reproductive issues they will continue to be excellent layers well into their 8th yr and beyond. White Legs are used in SoCal to monitor mosquito carriers of the West Nile disease. Apparently White Legs are immune to the symptoms of West Nile mosquito bites and scientists can draw Leg's blood to check for the presence of the virus in the vicinity without harm to the Legs. Bless those White Legs for being so important in so many ways. I love them since I grew up on my folks' farm who raised Babcock Legs in the '50's-'60's. I once wanted every variety of Leg but after our experience w/ the Buff Leg who behaved even more aggressively than our White, we knew Legs weren't going to work in our little flock. Mediterranean class of chickens are not normally receptive to human touch - they come to you on their own terms. Individually they are great personal pets but once they re-enter a flock they become less pet-like. Our White Leg would follow me around the yard but it was more to see what worms I dug up rather than to be my cuddle bug.

My day-old two Silkie chicks were raised with six large fowl day-old chicks - Orp, Marans, Legs, Sexlinks. Unfortunately the large fowl chick breeds grew larger and faster than the Silkie chicks and picked on them for being smaller and timid. The Silkies had to hide out all day to keep from getting picked on by the bigger chicks. So it's not true that Silkie chicks raised together with larger breed chicks will necessarily work - it didn't for us.

I did look into all sorts of other bantam breeds w/ great owner feedback - Brahma, Cochin, OEGB, Olandsk Dwarf, Pyncheon, Sultan, etc, but I really wanted a good layer with larger than bantam eggs. I even looked into gentle giants like Bielies, etc. I already had two sweet broody Silkies and didn't want to chance any more broody breeds because it cuts into egg production numbers. Bantams are all adorable but I needed more consistent egg layers that weren't going to be combative or bullies. When I found the Ameraucana and Breda were not usually broody and were docile breeds we tried them and were happy -- except for the brutal heat-related issues which took them from us last year.

. Bad luck - just as it's been for a lot of owners this humid year.

This summer we'll see how the Breda manage our summer and whether the climate will be less brutal than the last couple years have been. We have found the Breda such a good all-round pet, good flockmate, and non-broody production bird. They like to stay close to the yard or coop and are not adventurous fliers like other lightweight breeds. It's gonna be a wait-and-see year for us!

 

[Fosmorefarm]

I bought small flock of 5 Bielefelder pullets and a cockerel, 3 of the pullets have white earlobes. I culled the cockerel because he had wry tail and coloring that was not proper according to the German SOP. Other than the white lobes they are excellent type and color birds. The person that these originally came from said that their original stock came direct from Greenfire Farms and they were aware of the white earlobe problem but they are not culling for it. My other original flock of 8 hens and 3 cock birds all have red ear lobes and all of their offspring have proper coloring throughout. I am not sure if they have been crossbred with something or if this is a common problem in some BF flocks.How common are white lobes in Bielefelders? I am hoping to get feedback on what others are experiencing with their flock. PM me if you would prefer to keep the info off the site. I now have some very expensive egg layers. Thanks in advance.

 

[Eggscoozme]

Some people confuse the ears with the earlobes. Perhaps a picture would help

 

[Fosmorefarm]

These are definitely the ear lobes, not the feather tuft above the lobe. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow. How many are seeing this in their birds? Surely I am not the only one. If so I would have to question whether this breeders birds are pure.

 

[DesertChic]

These are definitely the ear lobes, not the feather tuft above the lobe. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow. How many are seeing this in their birds? Surely I am not the only one. If so I would have to question whether this breeders birds are pure.

I've never seen white ear lobes in my Biels. Granted I only had the one flock, but it was not an evident trait in them.

 

[Fosmorefarm]

I have 8 hens and 3 cocks from my original flock after culling for faults and none of them or their offspring had white lobes.

 

[otakalhasas]

I've never seen white ear lobes in my Biels. Granted I only had the one flock, but it was not an evident trait in them.

Neither have I - a photo would help a lot!