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AnneInTheBurbs said:
Thanks Stake, thankfully our realtor has played a lot of "chess" and is helping us with all of the little nuances that can seal the deal. I can't help being nervous though. Here I am at 3:43 on the chicken forum because this is third night I woke up in the middle of the night. I have prayed about it a lot and given it over to God, but waiting is hard to do...
As I'm reading this, all I can think of is Dennis sporting some new "Davey Crockett" type pelt hats for winter. Haha! If you're going to cull them, you might as well use that beautiful fur!
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Don't worry, things will eventually go your way. Sometimes, it just will take a while. I may have to rehome my chickens too in the near future, it makes me sad for a long time. But I know my BIL will take a good care of them and I will have chickens after we settle down. Now I feel much better. Hopefully, you'll hear some good news soon.
 
CynazarGoldens said:
Have you considered Bielefelders?
They are auto-sexing so you'd be able to tell exactly which ones are the pullets by their colors / patterns as soon as they hatch.
From what I've read about them they seem to be very sweet, calm, gentle, etc. They are nice and big (sort of like Brahmas), beautiful, fluffy, and do wonderfully in the cold weather. The Bielefelders really stand out to me because I've always drooled over that Crele/Cuckoo color pattern! They are also supposed to lay very dark brown eggs. They are on my very short list of "must have.. eventually". The other breeds on my list include Wyandottes (I love Wyandottes, especially Blue Laced Reds), Brahmas (loving Golden Laced and Blue Partridge, I don't like the fact that they have feathered feet, though!), and Barnevelders (they come in Double Laced Blue, totally awesome!). Okay I have to admit I'm also crazy about Rhodebars - I absolutely must get some of those eventually - and Basques. They sound really awesome and different (early maturing, completely unique temperament, etc.), plus I am secretly obsessed with all things Basque in the first place. Can you tell I'm missing having chickens?

I hope I helped!
Jenne
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I agree that bielefelder is a must have for every flock. I never expected a chicken can be so calm, although they are not necessarily people - friendly. Just like any other chicken, some Bielefelders are more friendly than the other, but they seem all calm and don't mind human contact. Ok, my girl Bear is only half bielefelder half rhodebar, but she acts ànd looks exactly like a bielefelder. When she wants attention or treats, she pecks me very gentle and she just so cute. She has super soft feathers too. She is only 21 week old and hasn't started to lay yet, so I cannot tell you the egg color. She's my hubby's favorite and he wants to take her as a house pet if we move and are not allowed to have chickens. But she's the head hen and Penny the Welbar is her best friend who follows her everywhere, so I don't think it's a good idea to take her as a house pet.

My rhodebar girl doesn't mind human contact either and she used to be very friendly. I'm not sure what happened to her, one day she just started to avoid other chickens and no longer came to me. I guess someone bullied her. She still wonders around by herself most time, but Brownie becomes her friend and sleeps with her every night.
 
CynazarGoldens said:
Have you considered Bielefelders?
They are auto-sexing so you'd be able to tell exactly which ones are the pullets by their colors / patterns as soon as they hatch.
From what I've read about them they seem to be very sweet, calm, gentle, etc. They are nice and big (sort of like Brahmas), beautiful, fluffy, and do wonderfully in the cold weather. The Bielefelders really stand out to me because I've always drooled over that Crele/Cuckoo color pattern! They are also supposed to lay very dark brown eggs. They are on my very short list of "must have.. eventually". The other breeds on my list include Wyandottes (I love Wyandottes, especially Blue Laced Reds), Brahmas (loving Golden Laced and Blue Partridge, I don't like the fact that they have feathered feet, though!), and Barnevelders (they come in Double Laced Blue, totally awesome!). Okay I have to admit I'm also crazy about Rhodebars - I absolutely must get some of those eventually - and Basques. They sound really awesome and different (early maturing, completely unique temperament, etc.), plus I am secretly obsessed with all things Basque in the first place. Can you tell I'm missing having chickens?

I hope I helped!
Jenne
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I have both Biels and Rhodebars. I'm selling my Rhodebar flock soon, they are no longer worth the space. I'm still on the fence about the Bielfelders, but I can guarantee you would like a Welbar much better. They are identical in many ways, but are a little lighter weight and have more gold on their hackles (prettier, IMO). They lay much better (and earlier) and the eggs are truly "Welsummer dark". The darkest eggs my Biels laid were roughly equivalent to the lightest colored Welsummer and Welbar eggs. Their eggs are large, I never got a "pullet" egg, they waited about 9 months to start laying, but they were large size right off. I only have 2 Bielefelder hens, so perhaps my experience is atypical, but I don't expect Biels to ever get as popular as Legbars.

Greenfire has imported Welbars and plans to sell them in 2017, no doubt for their typical very high prices. I have them now and for a lot cheaper than the Greenfire chicks will ever be. I hope they hype them up like they did the Ayam Cemani's, than will generate a lot of sales for me too
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Much as a like Welbars, Legbars are perhaps even better. I can't imagine not having both, to be honest, but for high egg production (and very pretty blue eggs at that), I think Legbars are the greatest.

My Welbar flock (turkey in the background, trying not to photobomb). Notice the very Welsummer-like colors on their heads, and their body color/pattern reminds me of a cream legbar, hinting about their autosexing ability.



My younger Jill Reese Cream Legbar flock (with a Bielefelder pullet). These legbars are laying well not, mostly still small size eggs, but I get 5 - 8 each day from a flock of 13 pullets. They were hatched last November and December and started laying in May. I think the Biel hatched in January and she is probably still months away from laying.
 
TillyPeeps said:
I agree that bielefelder is a must have for every flock. I never expected a chicken can be so calm, although they are not necessarily people - friendly. Just like any other chicken, some Bielefelders are more friendly than the other, but they seem all calm and don't mind human contact. Ok, my girl Bear is only half bielefelder half rhodebar, but she acts ànd looks exactly like a bielefelder. When she wants attention or treats, she pecks me very gentle and she just so cute. She has super soft feathers too. She is only 21 week old and hasn't started to lay yet, so I cannot tell you the egg color. She's my hubby's favorite and he wants to take her as a house pet if we move and are not allowed to have chickens. But she's the head hen and Penny the Welbar is her best friend who follows her everywhere, so I don't think it's a good idea to take her as a house pet.

My rhodebar girl doesn't mind human contact either and she used to be very friendly. I'm not sure what happened to her, one day she just started to avoid other chickens and no longer came to me. I guess someone bullied her. She still wonders around by herself most time, but Brownie becomes her friend and sleeps with her every night.
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I love the stories about your chicks, it reminds me of daytime soap opera, maybe with less overall drama.

I really hope you can keep your flock, you have invest so much time in them.
 
dheltzel said:
I love the stories about your chicks, it reminds me of daytime soap opera, maybe with less overall drama.

I really hope you can keep your flock, you have invest so much time in them.
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I'm waiting for the final decision of my last chance to stay here. I do hope that we can stay. If not, I'll try to see if I can find a place for rent allowing chickens. Chance is small though. Everyone in my family enjoys the chickens so much and no one wants to give up yet.

There's another major benefit of having bielefelder in a small flock: because they're so calm but big and powerful, they'll help to keep peace between girls. I saw Bear broke girls from fighting from time to time. She also protect weaker chickens from being bullied. That's why my flock is so peaceful and happy today. I think there is increasing interesting in Bielefelders now, so you should keep them at least for a while.
 

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