My Bielefelder pullet is 8 months old and still no eggs! Total slacker.Here she is with her buddy the chocolate EE. They think I have food.
They're both beautiful! And don't they always think we have food for them, LOL! Mine race across half an acre of land at full speed whenever they hear my sliding door open. A few have actually mistakenly run straight into the house before realizing that I and any food I may have are already OUTSIDE and they might be missing out.
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Yeah, none of my Biel hens began laying before 8 months. AND they both stopped laying completely in October and only just started laying again at the end of January. My girl, Zoey, started laying eggs weighing over 2.5 ounces on Jan 29th and is now averaging 3-4 per week. Gidget, the more affectionate of the two, has laid only 2 eggs, but she's having a lot of problems and I will probably be culling her before the month is over. She's never been a good layer and overheats very quickly. For 2-3 days leading up to laying her large but unexceptional egg, she spends a lot of time panting and 'complaining'. It just seems cruel at this point to allow her to go on this way.
Good for you! I am so glad you have a "bit" of Gretel to continue to love and enjoy!!!!!Well, my Biels may not thrive in this environment, but their hybrid offspring sure do. Some of you may recall that last summer I lost my all-time favorite hen, Gretel, to heat stroke:
And yes...she took this selfie herself after tapping her image on my cell phone.
Well, luckily, I had collected a couple of Gretel's fertile eggs and hatched out two beautiful Naked Neck/Bielefelder chicks, my favorite of which is Gypsy, who has many of Gretel's personality characteristics:
Well I crossed Gypsy with this pretty boy, Pepper, a Naked Neck/Australorp mix:
Now I'm thrilled to have three lovely and exceptionally friendly chicks mothered by Gypsy!!!
This is Claudia, who most closely resembles her mom and is perfectly content to snuggle in close and just be loved.
This is Michonne, my little "warrior" girl who is probably one of the hardiest, most adventurous, and most entertaining birds I've ever hatched. She immediately runs to me, flies up to my shoulder, then down to my leg, demands to be snuggled, and then wants to be off to explore the world before running back for more love. Obviously she took after her father in coloring, but he was never this friendly, so I have Gypsy to thank for her personality.
And this boy, Jake, has completely stolen my heart. I'm used to my Bielefelder roosters being affectionate, but some of them took a little time to get that way. Not Jake. From day one he just wanted to spend as much time with me as possible. He actually cries out if I have the audacity to enter the cabin in which his pen is located and NOT snuggle with him. On weighing day he'll even settle onto my boot and stay there while I weigh the other chicks. He's very calm and sweet, and very brave. When I introduced a new, larger feed dish to his pen all of the other chicks took off running, terrified of it, but not Jake. I leaned down and pointed to it and he happily hopped off my foot and began eating, encouraging his flock mates to do the same. He may give my beloved Biel rooster, Bosch, some stiff competition for being the most lovable boy on the property.
Jake is very handsome it will be cool to see what he looks like as an adult.Well, my Biels may not thrive in this environment, but their hybrid offspring sure do. Some of you may recall that last summer I lost my all-time favorite hen, Gretel, to heat stroke:And yes...she took this selfie herself after tapping her image on my cell phone. Well, luckily, I had collected a couple of Gretel's fertile eggs and hatched out two beautiful Naked Neck/Bielefelder chicks, my favorite of which is Gypsy, who has many of Gretel's personality characteristics:
Well I crossed Gypsy with this pretty boy, Pepper, a Naked Neck/Australorp mix:
Now I'm thrilled to have three lovely and exceptionally friendly chicks mothered by Gypsy!!!
This is Claudia, who most closely resembles her mom and is perfectly content to snuggle in close and just be loved.
This is Michonne, my little "warrior" girl who is probably one of the hardiest, most adventurous, and most entertaining birds I've ever hatched. She immediately runs to me, flies up to my shoulder, then down to my leg, demands to be snuggled, and then wants to be off to explore the world before running back for more love. Obviously she took after her father in coloring, but he was never this friendly, so I have Gypsy to thank for her personality.
And this boy, Jake, has completely stolen my heart. I'm used to my Bielefelder roosters being affectionate, but some of them took a little time to get that way. Not Jake. From day one he just wanted to spend as much time with me as possible. He actually cries out if I have the audacity to enter the cabin in which his pen is located and NOT snuggle with him. On weighing day he'll even settle onto my boot and stay there while I weigh the other chicks. He's very calm and sweet, and very brave. When I introduced a new, larger feed dish to his pen all of the other chicks took off running, terrified of it, but not Jake. I leaned down and pointed to it and he happily hopped off my foot and began eating, encouraging his flock mates to do the same. He may give my beloved Biel rooster, Bosch, some stiff competition for being the most lovable boy on the property.
So glad that you have a bit of Gretel to carry on. These last two sound like a whole lot of fun!
This is Michonne, my little "warrior" girl who is probably one of the hardiest, most adventurous, and most entertaining birds I've ever hatched. She immediately runs to me, flies up to my shoulder, then down to my leg, demands to be snuggled, and then wants to be off to explore the world before running back for more love. Obviously she took after her father in coloring, but he was never this friendly, so I have Gypsy to thank for her personality.
And this boy, Jake, has completely stolen my heart. I'm used to my Bielefelder roosters being affectionate, but some of them took a little time to get that way. Not Jake. From day one he just wanted to spend as much time with me as possible. He actually cries out if I have the audacity to enter the cabin in which his pen is located and NOT snuggle with him. On weighing day he'll even settle onto my boot and stay there while I weigh the other chicks. He's very calm and sweet, and very brave. When I introduced a new, larger feed dish to his pen all of the other chicks took off running, terrified of it, but not Jake. I leaned down and pointed to it and he happily hopped off my foot and began eating, encouraging his flock mates to do the same. He may give my beloved Biel rooster, Bosch, some stiff competition for being the most lovable boy on the property.
Well, my Biels may not thrive in this environment, but their hybrid offspring sure do. Some of you may recall that last summer I lost my all-time favorite hen, Gretel, to heat stroke:
And yes...she took this selfie herself after tapping her image on my cell phone.
Well, luckily, I had collected a couple of Gretel's fertile eggs and hatched out two beautiful Naked Neck/Bielefelder chicks, my favorite of which is Gypsy, who has many of Gretel's personality characteristics:
Well I crossed Gypsy with this pretty boy, Pepper, a Naked Neck/Australorp mix:
Now I'm thrilled to have three lovely and exceptionally friendly chicks mothered by Gypsy!!!
This is Claudia, who most closely resembles her mom and is perfectly content to snuggle in close and just be loved.
This is Michonne, my little "warrior" girl who is probably one of the hardiest, most adventurous, and most entertaining birds I've ever hatched. She immediately runs to me, flies up to my shoulder, then down to my leg, demands to be snuggled, and then wants to be off to explore the world before running back for more love. Obviously she took after her father in coloring, but he was never this friendly, so I have Gypsy to thank for her personality.
And this boy, Jake, has completely stolen my heart. I'm used to my Bielefelder roosters being affectionate, but some of them took a little time to get that way. Not Jake. From day one he just wanted to spend as much time with me as possible. He actually cries out if I have the audacity to enter the cabin in which his pen is located and NOT snuggle with him. On weighing day he'll even settle onto my boot and stay there while I weigh the other chicks. He's very calm and sweet, and very brave. When I introduced a new, larger feed dish to his pen all of the other chicks took off running, terrified of it, but not Jake. I leaned down and pointed to it and he happily hopped off my foot and began eating, encouraging his flock mates to do the same. He may give my beloved Biel rooster, Bosch, some stiff competition for being the most lovable boy on the property.
