Chicken Breed Focus - Bielefelder

[Faraday40]

I had a wonderful experience with my Biele boy, but then he up & died one night. (Perhaps heart attack due to the extreme heat) I still miss him.

My friend kept his brother & he was great until age10 mo when he began attacking people. He was an only rooster, so perhaps he just got a "god complex" with no other roo to keep him in check.

 

[Reyvaughn]

If you've tried already then you must have a 'rogue' Bielefelder gene in there somewhere! A nervous cockerel I can easily believe, but an agressive one seems so unusual. Are they related, or from different sources?

I have 3 cockerels and 3 pullets from 2 different sources. The one that is aggressive is in with his "brother" and two females from the other breeder. The aggressive boy was the only one that wasn't flighty and I could handle him regularly when he was younger. His brother is flighty, but the one from the other breeder is the flightiest. I don't treat my birds as pets, so I don't coddle them and treat them like babies. When I handle my birds, it's because of a health reason, switching pens/cleaning pens or something like that.

 

[jeffsmith13]

I have a Bielefelder rooster over 3 years old who just attacked my wife . She called my crying because he has always been so sweet . He has been gentle with kids and adults and not flighty . He was handle since I hatched him for health checks and never fussed . He is way too big to allow this behavior . I cull mean anything .

 

[Faraday40]

I have a Bielefelder rooster over 3 years old who just attacked my wife . She called my crying because he has always been so sweet . He has been gentle with kids and adults and not flighty . He was handle since I hatched him for health checks and never fussed . He is way too big to allow this behavior . I cull mean anything .

Isn't it unusual for a mature adult to attack? Was there anything that he could have perceived as a threat? (new boots, diff coat, shovel/broom, squawking hen, etc.)

I'm not recommending keeping a roo that attacks. But if he's been a good boy all along, there may be something else that caused him to panic.

 

[UberchicRanch]

I believe this is regarding the roo attacking the wife. My apologies if I'm replying to the wrong post. This is a tricky one. Was the attack observed by any bystanders? Does your wife recall the moments leading up to the attack? Did she do any "dominant" poses like the Superman pose? (Chickens do understand this human body language which translates to a sign of dominance). Reason I'm asking is, we need to use the process of elimination to see why this happened. Bielefelders do have Rhode Island Reds in their genes and those roosters can be super aggressive. In fact, my most crazed and aggressive rooster ever, was rightly named "Rex" the RIR roo. He even had a heroic end, making him legendary here at the 'Ranch -- he protected the ladies by attacking a prowling skunk in the middle of the night. The skunk ultimately did him in, but it was enough to scare the skunk away which spared all the hens.

I digress. So what's unusual is this never happened before in 3 years. How often does your wife go in the backyard? Were any of the hens sick or injured? Any chicks or broody hens nearby? There are so many factors as to why this happened.

The key thing for your wife to realize is this is not her fault and she also shouldn't take it personally. Your roo is doing what he is designed to do. This behavior can be corrected. You don't need to cull the roo. If someone scoops him up so that your wife can hold him, this could suppress this behavior from happening again. If you want to be really aggressive, you can "hold him by the..." by having your wife hold him by his legs / shanks and let him dangle, just as you would right before you would cull a chicken. This doesn't hurt them, but it makes them realize that you have complete dominance over him. This could help.

 

[Marty101865]

Thanks for the idea of holding them by the shanks. I've been pinning them to the ground but the other chickens seem to take the opportunity for cheap[ shots and I end up defending them for the minute I hold them down. I don't let the aggressiveness go beyond a single peck in an aggressive manner, especially with the roos. They are young still but one of my Marans bit me (grabbed the skin and twisted) so I grabbed him and pinned him to the ground. Only time will tell if this teaches him he isn't REALLY the king. The hen that is dominant gets carried away and is given the same treatment BUT afterwards I pick her up and talk with her..yep she's spoiled and my favorite. I've promised her I won't eat her also!
I'll reserve the upside-down treatment for the roos.

 

[Faraday40]

With my 2 best roos I discovered a few things that may have contributed to them staying nice:
1. Having more than one roo.. A single roo can be sweet but then get a "god complex" as he nears 1 yr old. (We had this with a sweet orp who became unpredicable.) When we had more than 1 roo, this never happened. The brothers always had to share & worked out the pecking order long ago in the brooder.

2. Daily interaction. Due to crowing & living in a neighborhood, we put our roos in the garage each night. They get carried to bed where a little snack awaits them & carried back out to the hens in the morning. They get put down only when calm. Squiggles = a longer carrying time Because being held is usually followed by something positive, they quickly accepted the routine & now never run away when we bend down to pick them up any where in the yard. They know we have control by picking them up, but also know that we won't hurt them & give good things like treats & hens. They are not snugglers, but very calm when we pick them up. If we want a lap chicken, we grab a hen.

If I saw an alert, slightly puffed roo, I just picked him up. They settle immediately. I've never seen the lowered head & raised hackles toward a person.

 

[KayTee]

Having had my pair of Bielefelders for a year now, I have one more thing to add:

Their calm, quiet nature is wonderful, especially in a roo, but I have a single female, and she is the lowest on the pecking order of 11 adult birds. She spends the majority of her time on her own - even her siblings (Marans that were hatched under the same broody hen) pick on her at treat and bed time! I will never hatch a single Bielefelder again - this year I made certain that there were 3 in the first hatch, so that they will always have a 'friend' in the flock!

 

[KayTee]

Daily interaction. Due to crowing & living in a neighborhood, we put our roos in the garage each night. They get carried to bed where a little snack awaits them & carried back out to the hens in the morning. They get put down only when calm. Squiggles = a longer carrying time Because being held is usually followed by something positive, they quickly accepted the routine & now never run away when we bend down to pick them up any where in the yard. They know we have control by picking them up, but also know that we won't hurt them & give good things like treats & hens. They are not snugglers, but very calm when we pick them up. If we want a lap chicken, we grab a hen.

If I saw an alert, slightly puffed roo, I just picked him up. They settle immediately. I've never seen the lowered head & raised hackles toward a person.

Regular daily contact is so important. My roo backs away from me in the day - he is not happy to be touched when he is out free-ranging - but as soon as he is up on the roost in the evening I can pick him up and check him over without any fuss. He never raises his hackles, and is the gentlest roo I have ever known!

 

[crawford-3546]

Does he look to be full blooded?