A Bielefelder Thread !

[PeepersMama]

He's gorgeous! I love the name Fritz XD

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Thanks, he is even more stunning now that he has filled out more. Hoping he has good fertility too!

 

[moving coops]

Ok, I invested in more Bielefelders as I loved my one girl I had already for two years. Paid good money for these others.

But notice they have whitish tint to earlobes. Not white but definitely tinted...

Also some eggs lighter color and seem small. Now they are some young stock just getting laying, but usually egg size quickly gets bigger. It does not seem like it...

Also seems like Rooster is not wantin* to breed everyone. Lazy relaxed breeder?

Not super happy with amount of eggs. People here want sexed chicks so that is why I decided to go into them, thinking they would all be like my first girl...

One of my biggest questions, for those butchering, truly truly what is your dressed out weight on the 5 to 6 month cockerels?

 

[moving coops]

These ones with a whitish earlobe, do they also tend to be large looking carcass but when actually butchered not really enough meat...which does not make for dual purpose even if they look like it.

 

[DesertChic]

Ok, I invested in more Bielefelders as I loved my one girl I had already for two years. Paid good money for these others.

But notice they have whitish tint to earlobes. Not white but definitely tinted...

Also some eggs lighter color and seem small. Now they are some young stock just getting laying, but usually egg size quickly gets bigger. It does not seem like it...

Also seems like Rooster is not wantin* to breed everyone. Lazy relaxed breeder?

Not super happy with amount of eggs. People here want sexed chicks so that is why I decided to go into them, thinking they would all be like my first girl...

One of my biggest questions, for those butchering, truly truly what is your dressed out weight on the 5 to 6 month cockerels?

I can't speak to the white earlobes because I was fortunate enough to hatch mine out before that trait began appearing around the country. I can say that these birds do NOT do well in the heat, and I too have been quite disappointed with their laying. None of my hens were ever impressive layers, though two of the three laid very large eggs when they did lay.

I had nine cockerels in my hatch and only three hens, so I culled most of my boys between 20 and 24 weeks. They all processed out between 3.5 and 3.9 lbs, but again, these were my culls and mostly on the smaller side with slower growth rates. Of the two roosters I kept, the largest one grew to weigh nearly 13 lbs before 2 years of age and was very tall before I had to cull him after he broke his beak while trying to fight another bird on the other side the hardware cloth. My lone rooster is an absolute love and has achieved "pet" status in my flocks. His weight vacillates between 9 and 11 lbs and he'll be three years old in March. He will be one of the few birds allowed to die of old age unless I have to perform a mercy killing as I did for his brother.

As far as the mating is concerned, my boys were very active in the early mornings most of the year and never failed to get the job done. Have you ever seen a 13 lbs rooster try to mate with a 26 ounce Buff Silkie? It was downright tragic, but he got it done.

I actually processed out one of my two remaining hens just a couple weeks ago. I have never processed a bird so full of fat. She was an 8 lb. hen live weight and I literally removed a full 2 cups of fat from her carcass before roasting, and got another 2.5 cups of rendered fat from her after roasting. Seriously, when all was said and done I only had enough meat from her to make soup. I have one hen left to cull, but she's definitely leaner than her sisters, one of which died of heat stroke two summers past.

Personally, in spite of the fact that I adore these birds for their sweet, docile and friendly personalities and gorgeous appearance, I do not think they are a very good dual purpose bird. I've worked with a variety of breeds now and unfortunately the Bielefelders fall pretty low on my list as production birds. For people who want pets, they're fantastic. For people who breed and raise bird for both meat and egg production, not so much.

I hope this helps.

 

[ZurcherFarms]

@PeepersMama I'm in Eastern Iowa with some birds that I plan on hatching out from in February/March. PM me if you are interested - I can also send some pictures of my parent stock. My birds got all honorable mentions and champion breeding pair at county fair.
ETA - If you are looking to hatch your own sooner, I got eggs from the ebay seller "skywalker2136" and they not only sent extra eggs, but packaged them better than any eggs I'd ever been shipped. I think the seller is around the Chicago area, and the eggs were fairly priced. (about a 70% hatch rate, and the birds are very close to, if not SOP)

I ordered some chicks from him as well. I had a decent hatch rate, they're almost 12 weeks only now. (Males are about 3.5lbs, females between 2.5-3lbs)

I had a few with sprigs on their Combs, but otherwise they seem like decent birds.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I ordered some chicks from him as well. I had a decent hatch rate, they're almost 12 weeks only now. (Males are about 3.5lbs, females between 2.5-3lbs)

I had a few with sprigs on their Combs, but otherwise they seem like decent birds.

Yay! I hope I have a decent hatch rate also. I have his eggs in the incubator now, with an estimated hatch day of the 12th-13th. Only two eggs did not develop out of 1, so that seemed pretty good. I will post here when/if they hatch.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I can't speak to the white earlobes because I was fortunate enough to hatch mine out before that trait began appearing around the country. I can say that these birds do NOT do well in the heat, and I too have been quite disappointed with their laying. None of my hens were ever impressive layers, though two of the three laid very large eggs when they did lay.

I had nine cockerels in my hatch and only three hens, so I culled most of my boys between 20 and 24 weeks. They all processed out between 3.5 and 3.9 lbs, but again, these were my culls and mostly on the smaller side with slower growth rates. Of the two roosters I kept, the largest one grew to weigh nearly 13 lbs before 2 years of age and was very tall before I had to cull him after he broke his beak while trying to fight another bird on the other side the hardware cloth. My lone rooster is an absolute love and has achieved "pet" status in my flocks. His weight vacillates between 9 and 11 lbs and he'll be three years old in March. He will be one of the few birds allowed to die of old age unless I have to perform a mercy killing as I did for his brother.

As far as the mating is concerned, my boys were very active in the early mornings most of the year and never failed to get the job done. Have you ever seen a 13 lbs rooster try to mate with a 26 ounce Buff Silkie? It was downright tragic, but he got it done.

I actually processed out one of my two remaining hens just a couple weeks ago. I have never processed a bird so full of fat. She was an 8 lb. hen live weight and I literally removed a full 2 cups of fat from her carcass before roasting, and got another 2.5 cups of rendered fat from her after roasting. Seriously, when all was said and done I only had enough meat from her to make soup. I have one hen left to cull, but she's definitely leaner than her sisters, one of which died of heat stroke two summers past.

Personally, in spite of the fact that I adore these birds for their sweet, docile and friendly personalities and gorgeous appearance, I do not think they are a very good dual purpose bird. I've worked with a variety of breeds now and unfortunately the Bielefelders fall pretty low on my list as production birds. For people who want pets, they're fantastic. For people who breed and raise bird for both meat and egg production, not so much.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for your input. Just out of curiosity, were your butchered fatty hens confined? I got a few from someone who kept them confined in a barn, and they do seem to be heavier and not as good layers as I had hoped. I also got a chick (along with some other breeds) from the same person (and from the same layers I currently have). she was free ranged and seems to be a much better layer, and more well acclimated all together. I have wondered if this is a breed that does not do well in confined areas, and may require more exercise. Just a thought.

Hopefully, the eggs I have due to hatch in the incubator will be better layers.

 

[DesertChic]

Thanks for your input. Just out of curiosity, were your butchered fatty hens confined? I got a few from someone who kept them confined in a barn, and they do seem to be heavier and not as good layers as I had hoped. I also got a chick (along with some other breeds) from the same person (and from the same layers I currently have). she was free ranged and seems to be a much better layer, and more well acclimated all together. I have wondered if this is a breed that does not do well in confined areas, and may require more exercise. Just a thought.

Hopefully, the eggs I have due to hatch in the incubator will be better layers.

No, she along with all of my other birds were free-ranged....though here in AZ where "green" is hard to come by, that probably carries a different meaning than in more lush parts of the country. They get whatever Bermuda grass they can scratch up, and I grow pasture areas of clover, alfalfa, radish, kale, etc. for them to enjoy as often as possible. I feed treats minimally...scratch maybe once per week and pulp from the veggies and fruits I juice a few times per week, shared by dozens of birds.

All of that said, I do believe the Bielefelders, and all chickens actually, do far better free-ranging than in confinement. They're healthier and happier overall. I've adopted a few birds from friends who kept them confined in decent sized coops, and the birds always perform better for me than they ever did for their previous owners. As much as I may like to blame it on my scintillating mother clucker personality, I'm sure it has much more to do with them having room to scratch, dig, dust bathe, hunt, sun themselves, etc.

 

[Faraday40]

To all my flock friends:
Happy Valentine's Day!

DS & I made many, many of these for all his classmates & teachers.