A Bielefelder Thread !

[Sylvester017]

Very happy in receiving my Bielefelder chicks this morning, ordered 35 & they sent 36 but 10 didn't make the trip. Called Murray McMurray to let them know and they are sending me 10 Bielefelder replacement chicks in 2 weeks.

So sad so many chicks didn't make the trip -- losing chicks happens even if they aren't being shipped but McMurray will make it up. Are all the chicks females with the darker striped backs and the lighter striped backs are males? Or are all your chicks pullets from McMurray?

 

[Clayton 1974]

So sad so many chicks didn't make the trip -- losing chicks happens even if they aren't being shipped but McMurray will make it up. Are all the chicks females with the darker striped backs and the lighter striped backs are males? Or are all your chicks pullets from McMurray?

Yes Murray McMurray Hatchery has always done me good in replacement chicks but I do hate seeing dead chicks. I ordered 35 strun "unsexe chicks" & was very happy in what Murray McMurray Hatchery sent me. Out of the 26 chicks that I have 18 look to be female chicks & 8 look to be male chicks. Yes the darker chicks are female & lighter ones are the males.

 

[Graytalon]

Evening all,
First off I would like to apologize. It’s been along day and my brain is not computing.
We just received our box of 25 bielefelder chicks+1 surprise, The surprise is yellow chick with feathered legs; a present from the hatchery.
Anyway, it looks as if we will be having 15 males and 10 females. Or at least that’s what we think. There are some questionable chicks, so I am curious if there is another method, other than the white dot, of checking besides waiting? My wife was looking at the wings, but i’m not sure.
So, while we are waiting on the wind to die down, what is the wing method and are there pictures? Is there another good way?
By the way, while I’m sure its out there somewhere, I wanted just wanted a consensus.

thanks,
GT

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

Evening all,
First off I would like to apologize. It’s been along day and my brain is not computing.
We just received our box of 25 bielefelder chicks+1 surprise, The surprise is yellow chick with feathered legs; a present from the hatchery.
Anyway, it looks as if we will be having 15 males and 10 females. Or at least that’s what we think. There are some questionable chicks, so I am curious if there is another method, other than the white dot, of checking besides waiting? My wife was looking at the wings, but i’m not sure.
So, while we are waiting on the wind to die down, what is the wing method and are there pictures? Is there another good way?
By the way, while I’m sure its out there somewhere, I wanted just wanted a consensus.

thanks,
GT

Congratulations on your chicks!
I don’t believe wing sexing works on Bielefelders. Vent sexing would work, but that’s best done by a professional.
Maybe post some pictures?

 

[Graytalon]

This is GT's wife. I've got to make my own log in, this weekend. We're a little confused about the sex of the chicks because there seem to be about four coloring groups.

1. Light brown body, gray stripes on side back, white dot or horizontal stripes on head (assume these are male)
2. Light to medium brown with no white on head
3. Chipmunk (brown with dark brown stripes) with white spot on head
4. Chipmunk no white on head

Saturday we can try to post some pictures.

I checked on the babies about three hours after sunset and two were at the far end of the brooder (one poor baby was shivering). I put them back under the heat plate and moved some of the ones from the overcrowded one (with 26 babies we bought two heat plates). 30 minutes later all babies were still under the plates. Chickens are smart, so I found the behavior to be unexpected and wondered if they got lost. Maybe the brooder is too big. (It's roughly 3.5' by 5.5'. I wanted for them to have room to grow and not be squished.) For the first few days I am putting down paper towels covering the pine shavings so they can see where everything is located.

 

[Pretty Birds]

My 5 Bielefelder chicks arrived this morning! The hatchery sent an extra, but it didn't make it. The 5 are very active and healthy.

 

[Graytalon]

Congratulations on your chicks!
I don’t believe wing sexing works on Bielefelders. Vent sexing would work, but that’s best done by a professional.
Maybe post some pictures?

Ok, the spousal unit took some much better pictures than I could have done. But then again, she's normally much more on the ball than I am.

We lost one of them this morning, but the rest seem good to go. Here's the break down as I see it.
Group 1 has a couple with a light spot on their heads, but seem to be female...could be wrong.
Group 2 looks like they are lighter than group 1, but we think they are females.
Group 3 seems to be the males.
Group 4 has Gary, my son named it, and 4 others. One has a light spot on it's head...male? Anyway, other than Gary the yellow, these should be females with exception of the light spot.
Group 5 also seem to be lighter than the others, but no obvious white spot.

So, going with best case, we have 18 females, Gary, and 6 males. What do you think?

GT

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

I think 1 and 2 all look like females. 3 looks like all males to me. 4 looks like females, and so does 5.
Some of my pullets hatched with a tiny white fleck, but turned out to be girls.

 

[Graytalon]

Thanks for that! We appreciate the assistance. It makes it easier to plan out some projects.

GT

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

Thanks for that! We appreciate the assistance. It makes it easier to plan out some projects.

GT

No problem!