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Bielefelder

The Bielefelder is a relatively new breed, development beginning in the 1970’s by Gerd Roth in the area of Bielefeld, Germany, hence the breed's name.
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Occasional
Climate Tolerance
Cold tolerant
Egg Productivity
Good
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly, gentle, mild tempered, handles well
Breed Colors/Varieties
A cuckoo red partridge pattern
Breed Size
Large fowl
APA/ABA Class
Not recognised
Color
A cuckoo red partridge pattern
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The Bielefelder is a relatively new breed, development beginning in the 1970’s by Gerd Roth in the area of Bielefeld, Germany, hence the breed's name. They were successful in creating a large fast maturing dual purpose breed with a kind calm temperament and excellent cold tolerance. The hens are friendly, gentle birds, excellent layers for a duel purpose breed, laying about 200 large dark brown eggs a year, and they are good winter layers. They will go broody occasionally. The roosters are said to have exceptionally nice temperaments. The breed has the added benefit of being auto-sexing by colour at hatch.

A number of breeds were used in the creation of the Bielefelder including Malines, New Hampshire Reds and Welsummers. They are a colorful attractive bird, in a cuckoo red partridge pattern reminiscent of the Legbars.

They are not APA recognised.

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Bielefelder chicks

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Bielefelder juveniles

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Bielefelder hens

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Bielefelder rooster

For more information on this breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-bielefelder.1069851/
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Latest reviews

NorthwoodsChick
Good dual purpose, friendly. Eats a lot, sliw to mature
Pros: Super friendly in either sex, autosexing at hatch, cold hardy, gets along in mixed flock. large eggs by 7-8 months. Great foragers.
Rooster is gentle with mating but mates often so needs at a minimum 6 hens. I have 9 which is perfect.
Cons: Quite slow to attain weight for meat production.
Eats a LOT of food unless able to forage.
Stunning roosters, beautiful hens. Too slow growing for broilers. At 7 months my roo is only 5 lbs soaking wet!
I love my bielefelders though and will keep the roo but choose another breed for meat birds.
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Purchase Price
$6 male. $8.50 female chicks. McMurrays
Purchase Date
Dec 2021
NorthwoodsChick
NorthwoodsChick
Prone to disease. Can go broody. My broody killed a total of 5 chicks over two clutches. Trust me, break the broody and use an incubator for this breed.
GermanKennhuhn
Pros: friendly, decent layers, dual purpose, auto sex
Cons: eat a lot
All of you out there that are looking for a good dual purpose chicken, look no further!!! the Bielefelder, a magnificent breed originated in Bielefeld, Germany. Worth a pretty penny over here in America, these birds give me an average of 5 large eggs a week. The roosers are super docile but protective!
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NJClucker
Pros: Friendly, Cold Hardy, Good Egg Production, Auto Sex Chicks
Cons: Feed Hogs, Slow To Mature, Susceptible To Sickness
I have had two flocks of Bielefelders, I was mostly drawn to them because of the chicks being able to be auto sexed at hatch. As I grew out the chick to pullets then hens they ate lots and lots and lots of feed, way more than the other breeds I had at the farm. They are a very heavy bird and due to their large size they did not start laying till close to 10 months old. Not a very cost effective breed to start out with as Bielefelder chicks prices are in the mid to hi end range, add in the amount of feed you will put into them before you see your first egg in 9-10 months.

Over the years of having them I have experienced a few times Bielefelder hens and roosters being fine in health the night before and the next morning I find one dead. The first few times I shrugged it off and figured it was just a weak bird that died however over the months and years I kept randomly happening. Out of a flock of 10 I have one lone hen left, she is now in our personal family flock and is still a good egg producer and one of our most friendly girls. In the end the Bielefelder breed was disappointing for us.
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Purchase Price
$25/chick
Purchase Date
May 2015
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jfporter1120
I purchased 5 hens & 2 roos chicks. They are free ranged and have food in coup at night. This has saved large feed intake. They apparently take longer to lay but these birds are just awesome and worth the extra money to purchase, feed and wait for their large brown eggs. There are creative ways to cut down on feed usage by using herbs and greens etc. if you don't free range your birds. I have had many breeds and these Bielefelders overall beat them all hands down for me. They are the sweetest, calmest and most gorgeous of birds to me. Hope this helps.



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Comments

kittydoc
I'm getting a dozen hatching eggs soon and can't wait to add these to our layer flock. I will probably cull most of the cockerels (some may think that cruel, but it's easier on me to let them go on Day 1 than to feed them for 3-4 months until I'm 100% sure of their gender, and by then I'm attached to them).
 
Chaneys Ranch
Mine originated from RBA/Greenfire and the owner had to rehome due to rezoning.
Mine were rehomed here sometime in November I think, didn't remember to record it.
 
opossum04
I have several breeds and these are by far my favs. They are quiet, gentle, and super easy to raise and manage. They capture the attention of visitors with their beauty and uniqueness. They are very good layers of big eggs. An absolute joy to raise.
 
Purpletie3
I have a small flock of them I just started from Greenfire. I can't wait until they grow up. They are so handsome!
 
7chickenmomma
Good to know. My dad wants a rooster, but so far my only experience has been with aggressive ones, I've been attacked three times by three different roosters, got lucky and only one had spurs.....
Where can you get these?
 
hellbender
Crossing them with your Naked Necks will surely help adjust their thermostats. jajajajajajaja
 
Mrs. K
I have just a rooster, and crossed him over riff-raff hens. Only got three pullets, but the roosters were nice carcasses.

Another advantage is the feather pattern disappears in the prairie. Making them blend in with their surroundings.

I was also surprised that the EE x B crossed hens produced blue and green eggs!
 
KayTee
I have hatched two lots of Bielefelder eggs under broody hens, and in both cases I had to help them out of the shell. The eggs from other breeds pipped and zipped as normal, but the Bielefelder shells / membranes seemed to be extra tough and although the chicks pipped ok, they could't make their way out. The first time I didn't notice quickly enough, and although I eventually helped the chick out it was too weak and it died. Second time round I was more vigilant - I noticed that they had pipped, but that there was no further progress even though other eggs that pipped at the same time had completely hatched. I gently broke the shell and membrane away, and both chicks went wild, as if saying "What took you so long?"! They're only 4 days old, but just as fluffy and lively as all the other chicks in the flock!
 
dekel18042
How old are your hens? Some start with laying smaller eggs, medium or so and their eggs don't increase in size until at least their second year and often get even larger the third.
 
Coop de Grass
I have not had to butcher any Bielefelders yet, so I cannot comment on meat quality. I've had 2 hens for a year bought them at 1 week. They began laying a month later than the other hens, however their eggs have been larger since day 1. They have been laying regularly except for when one of them went broody. I did break her of it by taking her out of the nest box constantly. It took a few weeks for her to start laying.

They definitely don't like the heat, but production hasn't dropped significantly. I can count on 5 eggs per week from each hen.

My girls have an extensive fenced area outside of a large run (30 x 30 x 10) they would rather be out and scratching through leaves in the woods, or in the backyard.

Can only speak about my hens. I will have to wait for my chicks to grow. The pullet was taken by a coon 2 months ago.
 
Diannastarr
hi DesertChic , great to know you have Bielefelder i was interested in that breed & also cream legbars good to know you are in southern AZ i am in Bisbee AZ , thanks for your info on the Bielefelders, very interesting ,i am also interested in Dorkings for some good broody mamas : )
 
DesertChic
@Diannastarr - Hello, neighbor!!! Bisbee does stay cooler than where I am in Green Valley so you may have better luck with the Biels than I've had. The Cream Legbars shouldn't be a problem. I have a friend in Texas who has some and says she's had no problems with them. This is my first year with Silver Grey Dorkings. They are currently about 20 weeks old and so far are doing well with our unusually hot spring weather. I hose down the ground for them on hot days and make sure they have plenty of shade and cool water...that's it. They're perfectly happy with minimal care out here. I'm hoping to work on breed improvement with my Dorkings as well as to increase breed recognition out here. They really are lovely, affectionate birds. The other breed I strongly recommend for those in the desert heat are the Naked Neck Turkens. It may take a while to get used to their unique looks, but for this area I truly think they are the best bird you can get, and super friendly. If you ever want to "talk chicken" just PM me. :)
 
treefarmer42
I have owned 2 flocks of Beils and neither have produced the amount of eggs as I have read to expect. Other then that they are great birds but taking into consider how much they eat in relationship to the amount of eggs I would have to rate them as fair-poor egg layers. Believe me they are fed the best foods, egg layer 16 %, black sunflower seeds, mealworms,black soldier fly larva, as treats and cracked corn in cold months with other foods. They live in a ventilated house with outside run. I have tried something that I have just began a new post on. I have bred a male Beil with RR hens and believe they are sexlinked chicks. Hoping to mix the 2 great birds to create the best brown egg layer with a colorful, large chicken.
Has anyone else done this and if so please let me know your findings.
Thank you
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
Chaneys Ranch
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Comments
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Reviews
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