A Bielefelder Thread !

[ChickCrazed]

I have Biele roo x Black sex link hens.  All resulting chicks have head spots, but I think BSL use Barred Rocks, right.  So wouldn't all of the offspring have barring regardless of gender?

Would the irreg shaped headspots = males?

Now they are 1 week old & getting wings - mostly black with very faint barring.  Shouldn't some be lighter / have more white = the males ???

Has anyone tried this combo or another barred breed with a Biele?  What were the results?

I hatched blue isbar eggs crossed with my Bielefelder roo, two barred girls with a bit of gold leakage at the neck and one gorgeous blue with gold at her neck, she looks like a blue copper marans without the feathered legs.

 

[UGLYFOOT]

I am digging this!!!! I will be borrowing this idea today. Also switching to the gravity fed auto cup waterers mounted in PVC to prevent waterer from filling up with wood chips. Anyone have better DIY ideas on brooder waterers?

I use the chicken nipples, both the vertical and horizontal but wait till the chicks are at least a week old.

 

[Faraday40]

Here's a similar feeder I made from the recycle bin. Basically add a 90' PVC elbow into your cut hole. Now you can fill it all the way up & it refills as the chicks eat. Hanging it keeps shavings out & prevents roosting on top. I introduce it when they're a week old, but the vertical nipple water bottles can be used from day 1. Then mine can easily switch over to the horiz nipples when they get older.

 

[bluejean55girl]

Here's a similar feeder I made from the recycle bin. Basically add a 90' PVC elbow into your cut hole. Now you can fill it all the way up & it refills as the chicks eat. Hanging it keeps shavings out & prevents roosting on top. I introduce it when they're a week old, but the vertical nipple water bottles can be used from day 1. Then mine can easily switch over to the horiz nipples when they get older.

need a better picture please. I'll bet your idea is better, but I can't see it. Grins

 

[DesertChic]

thanks Marshall, I need to check into that. But once our summer temperatures hit, a modified version would be better. Which I still need to learn about.

I ran into the same problem here in southern AZ. With such high temps I've learned that "wet" feed is outstanding, but fully fermented feed is impossible for most of the year. My birds LOVE and actually prefer the wet feed, and it rarely has the chance to go beyond two days before each bucket has been devoured. I simply fill a 5-gallon bucket about half way with water, stir in the mash, sometimes adding alfalfa pellets or sunflower seeds, red pepper flakes, yogurt or whey, or even a hint of ACV, and let it soak until the feed has pretty much absorbed the water. I have three buckets that I rotate around so I'm soaking feed every single day.

 

[Faraday40]

As requested...

I first cut off the ends of a 90' PVC elbow. (About 2" diameter for chicks or 3-4" for adults) This kind with one side female & the other male work well.



This particular elbow had 2 male ends, so I had to glue on a scrap piece from another feeder. But, this is about what it should look like.


Then find something from your recycle bin with a flat face & disinfect it well. Trace & carve a circle & slide the elbow through. If you make your opening tight enough you will not need glue.


Here's an adult one. The chickens must put their heads inside to eat. Because it can hold a lot, it does not need to be refilled daily. I used to put it up on bricks, but then learned that hanging it works better. (Prevents pooping on the lids.) Like the nipple waterers, they are so inexpensive to make that I have several hanging from trees. (I bring them in at night to avoid wildlife from sneaking food.)



As a gift, my father made me a treadle feeder, my mom picked out a pic, & my sister burned it into the wood.

 

[bluejean55girl]

As requested... I first cut off the ends of a 90' PVC elbow. (About 2" diameter for chicks or 3-4" for adults) This kind with one side female & the other male work well. This particular elbow had 2 male ends, so I had to glue on a scrap piece from another feeder. But, this is about what it should look like. Then find something from your recycle bin with a flat face & disinfect it well. Trace & carve a circle & slide the elbow through. If you make your opening tight enough you will not need glue. Here's an adult one. The chickens must put their heads inside to eat. Because it can hold a lot, it does not need to be refilled daily. I used to put it up on bricks, but then learned that hanging it works better. (Prevents pooping on the lids.) Like the nipple waterers, they are so inexpensive to make that I have several hanging from trees. (I bring them in at night to avoid wildlife from sneaking food.) As a gift, my father made me a treadle feeder, my mom picked out a pic, & my sister burned it into the wood.

nice!! Many thanks!!!

 

[ChickCrazed]

nice!! Many thanks!!!

I use the same feeder but made mine out of a trash can. It will hold a lot of food. And they are not able to drag feed out. I love it!

 

[Sylvester017]

I am digging this!!!! I will be borrowing this idea today. Also switching to the gravity fed auto cup waterers mounted in PVC to prevent waterer from filling up with wood chips. Anyone have better DIY ideas on brooder waterers?

We give our chickens bottled water from 5-gallon bottles because our city tap water is very heavily mineralized since our State drought started and is heavily chlorinated. We got tired of the wasted bowl water we were giving the chickens because of the debris kicked into it and the wild birds pooping in it. I finally got a Brite Tap nipple valve waterer that attaches to the pour spout of a 2-gallon Rubbermaid jug and now the water stays clean and cool from days to a couple weeks before I have to either clean it or refill it. It's portable and easy to place around the yard or carry to a cleaning station or it can be hung inside a coop because the jug has a handle. It's suggested to have one Brite Tap per dozen chickens. I have only 4 hens but still have two jugs in the yard. In summer, we add ice cubes to the water and the jug keeps the water cool for several days. We got our Brite Tap on the chickenwaterers.com website and they were helpful to assist me in assembling the Brite Tap to the jug and to advise us how to successfully transition our hens from bowl water to using nipple valves. Many hatcheries and chicken supply places are starting to carry Brite Tap too.









In these following 3 photos you can see the step-ups we made under the Brite Tap so different size chickens can reach the nipple valves.







For small chicks the soda bottle nipple cap valves would work well mounted on the sidewall of a small brooder space and are found on Dunlap Hatchery or Cackle Hatchery websites. Chicks catch on to using nipple waterers much faster than adults for the first time: We are saving a lot of money on precious bottled water: https://www.dunlaphatchery.net/Supplies/Waterer/waterer.aspx or http://www.cacklehatchery.com/bottle-cap-nipple-waterer.html
(Be aware that Cackle Hatchery photos of the soda bottle have been posted upside-down for some reason - LOL)

 

[texasmomma]

I ran into the same problem here in southern AZ. With such high temps I've learned that "wet" feed is outstanding, but fully fermented feed is impossible for most of the year. My birds LOVE and actually prefer the wet feed, and it rarely has the chance to go beyond two days before each bucket has been devoured. I simply fill a 5-gallon bucket about half way with water, stir in the mash, sometimes adding alfalfa pellets or sunflower seeds, red pepper flakes, yogurt or whey, or even a hint of ACV, and let it soak until the feed has pretty much absorbed the water. I have three buckets that I rotate around so I'm soaking feed every single day.

I do fermented feed year round here in Texas. My birds eat it well and there is no waste.