Niederrheiner Thread! All Colors!

[OpalBadger]

Thank you very much. The breed standard is smaller than I thought but I'll reserve judgment until I see how my young ones mature. They are a very attractive bird anyway. Do you know of any breeders in the US who are raising colors other than lemon cuckoo? The blue cuckoo birds are gorgeous.

 

[Bine]

As far as I know Greenfire Farm is the only Company that imports European Breeds into North America and sells the birds to public. Given the import laws not an easy task. He only independent sources for chickens here in Europe are the Lifestock Preservation Society, Show Breeding Clubs and the affiliated Scientific Poultry Yards that is sponsored by the animal welfare orgs, the breeders clubs and research funds from the goverment.
I know I often sound like a conspiracy theorists but we, our backyards, are the first, last and only line of defence against the worst of the universe aka the big Agribusinesses that control 95% of our food. They ruin not only the tast of our food they ruin animals, plants, traditional farmers, our health and the environment. The German Goverment was under heavy critisism by the Agribusiness Lobby for sponoring a cryogenic reserve of cock sperm. The Gov. gave 480.000 € to a project that preserves 12 traditional breeds. A small sum compared to the subsidies the EU pays for other projects but enough to make the Lobbyist mad.
Anyways, I would love to see more breeds making the passage to America. We have so many lovely breeds that are on the brink of extinction. Maybe Paul Bradshaw is right and the US and Canada can be a save haven for the older and younger breeds that struggle here. Wouln't it be great when we, our breeders clubs, the preservation societies, organization for biodynamic agriculture and animal welfare could work together to save our rare breeds and to bring back the traditional family farms?

 

[UberchicRanch]

Hi @OpalBadger ,

And welcome! As breeders of Niederrheiners, we can assure you that the hens are usually between 6-9 pounds. So 7.5 pounds would be the median average for hens. Roosters can be 10 to 12 pounds on average but could be +/- from there. You could get some a little lighter or a little heavier. But that is the breed's average.

We are currently compiling stats on all of our birds so we can see what the average weight is for both roos and hens. Once we feel we have a good sample, we'll share what we're averaging. We would like to share that we are currently not rationing the feed. They have room to run and jump around and have constant access to both food and water.

They claim Niederrheiners are slightly lighter in weight than Bielefelders but we are finding them to be around the same size and mass as our Bielefelders too. Both breeds are still pretty big compared to many other chicken breeds! Anyways - please check back when we share our stats of both our Niederrheiners and Bielefelders.

Thanks for posting!

 

[UberchicRanch]

@Bine ,

Thank you for your interesting post! Yes we agree on the "Big Agriculture Business" is ruining our environment and health. It's no conspiracy at this point. Too many documentaries are coming out. There was one about pig farms and it was absolutely disgusting! I can't eat pork after watching that. And we wonder why the current generation is getting sick sooner and more often which has decreased our average lifespan in the States. I'm going to find an old National Geographic (I think) that has an article stating how the government wanted us to have at least 2 hens per family of 4. This mag is dated around 1982. The article claimed that eggs are labelled "farm fresh" when they can be a couple weeks old by the time they are purchased and brought home and that as newer generations accept these eggs, the younger generations would never know what "farm fresh" eggs really means and how it should look, smell, and taste like.

We're dedicated to finding a solution and are working with a Master Landscape Architect from California on some of these issues that you brought up. We might have a different post related to this topic but I thank you for your post. The more people know about these issues, the better.

As far as how it's tied in with the Niederrheiners; we felt the Niederrheiners are an exceptional utility breed that could be one of the candidates for tackling some of these issues so that we can have better quality meat and eggs locally, which is sustainable and leaves a low carbon footprint. Together, we could make a difference.

Thank you and take care!

 

[hofhine68]

Welcome, Opalbadger! I have one cockerel and one pullet Niederrheiner and they are the sweetest, friendliest birds I have ever encountered!

:^)

 

[OpalBadger]

Thank you for the welcome. I got my two pullets almost two weeks ago; they're pretty love bugs and I'm really liking the breed so far. I bought a dozen Niederrheiner eggs which should arrive later today but I still would like to find a young rooster for the girls.

 

[hofhine68]

@OpalBadger

Keep us updated on your eggs! I'm always looking for good resources to purchase hatching eggs.

It's too bad you are all the way on the other side of the country, or my roo could live with you!

:^)

 

[OpalBadger]

@hofhine68

My Niederrheiner eggs arrived this morning and appear to be in good shape; they'll go into the incubator tomorrow and maybe we'll have babies in 3 weeks.

I guess your roo could learn to fly the easy way - by plane. It never fails, that whatever I need is always in the wrong part of the country. I found a roo in New Hampshire that I was going to buy and have shipped to Florida, until I found out he only weighed 6 lbs at 11 months old. How old is your roo?

 

[hofhine68]

@OpalBadger

I have the same luck as you!

He is two months old yesterday. I need to post some new pics this weekend.

You can see his one month and baby pics under my profile, although you could also wander backwards through this thread.

 

[hofhine68]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here is a quick video from today - my Niederrheiner boy and girl, and my little Bielefelder.

http://www.screencast.com/t/bJNmIWELa3d