Niederrheiner Thread! All Colors!

[TheTropix]

Girls?

 

[TheTropix]

These are a few of my Niederrheiner chicks.

 

[Sylvester017]

Boys' combs/beginning wattles will start turning deeper pink/red much sooner than girls' combs. The girls' combs will stay light pink until they reach close to point of lay. By about a month or two the girls' tails grow out much faster and nicer than the boys' tails. My understanding is that the cockerels' legs/feet are thicker/bigger too.

 

[TheTropix]

Thanks. : ) I get it about the combs and thicker legs and stuff. I wasn't real clear with what was rolling around my mind. I really meant the color of the feathers. Some have grayer cushion areas, as pictured and I was wondering if that indicated a boy.
How is everybody's Niederrheimer birds/projects coming along?

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks. : ) I get it about the combs and thicker legs and stuff. I wasn't real clear with what was rolling around my mind. I really meant the color of the feathers. Some have grayer cushion areas, as pictured and I was wondering if that indicated a boy.
How is everybody's Niederrheimer birds/projects coming along?

Oh, I'm sorry -- since you started with chicks I wasn't sure how much you knew ahead of time about determining sexes. Wish I could help you with Nieds. Your chicks are gorgeous -- large birds, eh?

 

[TheTropix]

Good morning, Sylvester. : )
Happy 4th of July to you and everyone in America!
There's NOTHING for you to be sorry about! You were being helpful. : ) Words of Wisdom are ALWAYS welcome!! hahahaa These chicks are my first experience with Niederrheiners. They're incredibly friendly little toots, too. There's other chicks in the 'bigger baby' pen with them and the Nied. babies always come running when they see you. lol Thank you for your kind words about them!
Johnny (Vorksigan) is who I got these chicks from and he was telling me that there are very few people breeding/improving the Breed and asked me if I would be interested in participating in the task. I told him yes, so along with the 55 Flowery chicks & eggs I got some Niederrheiner chicks. Now they're starting to feather out and some have gray and some don't. I'm not sure, yet, if that gray indicates a boy, or if it's just one of those things that will be being bred out per the improvement project.
Everybody, Have a Wonderful & Safe & FUN 4th of July!!
Happy Birthday & Independence Day, America! We love you!

 

[TheTropix]

I hope that the talk & chatter about how everyone's birds are coming along will perk up a little and advise on what needs improving and where the birds are going as a Breed. I see (via Vorksigan) that a concise German S.O.P. is elusive at best, and that a Standard (American?) is being drafted here in the U.S. How is that coming along? I saw a little talk about it earlier and input about what all needs to be in the S.O.P. I don't have any Niederrheiners that are even fully feathered out, so I'm still months & months away from any breeding, or even knowing much about this particular Breed. I was just wondering how it's coming. : )

 

[TheTropix]

I was looking over all the chick pics, and I notice that some Niederrheiner chicks have yellow legs and some have willow (I believe that's the correct term) legs. Is one or the other a 'disqualification', or is either allowed?

 

[Sylvester017]

When I used to browse the Greenfire Farms breeds it seems I remember there was more than one variety of Nieds? A yellow cuckoo and another color too? I don't know much about Nieds and have a terrible memory about what I fleetingly see on the internet. That's why I like BYC posts to talk with others who clarify info.

I think that's great that you are assisting a fellow Nied owner to get some diversity in the Nieds. I love to see the rarer breeds get a diverse start. I passed up getting Nieds or Sulmtalers because they are large breed hens and in my hot SoCalif climate I keep the less-fluffy breeds in my little backyard flock. I lost a couple larger breeds in our brutal humid climate a couple years back so I stick with lighterweight breeds. I cycled through a few rare breeds and found the Breda were a good lighterweight breed for my zone except they have other hardiness health issues unrelated to climate -- mainly low immunity/resistance.

The Dominiques almost became extinct in the 1970s but were brought back by a few dedicated breeders and now Doms are a hardy flourishing breed. I got 3 Dom chicks last year August in a hurry when I started losing hens to heatwaves and another because of tumor so that I was down to only two hens left. I didn't want 3 chicks but I factored in chick mortality so that I wouldn't be left with a lonely chick -- but as luck would have it all 3 chicks survived and thrived so now I have eggs coming out of our ears! But that's ok! The Doms turned out to be a very hardy, talkative, non-combative, easy-going, active, human- and flock-friendly breed so I guess it all worked out LOL! Wish I could have more chickens but we're zoned for only 5 hens in our county and NO ROOs -- I'm so jealous that you can have a bigger flock!

 

[Sylvester017]

P.S. Are there any social media websites on Niederrheiners? I know there are some dedicated sites about other rare poultry. I don't like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc etc -- not enough time in my day for such chatter -- but for a dedicated topic I think social media would be great for interested breeders.