My experience with bielefelders so far

[LaurenRitz]

And today was the day.

You've been egged!

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Niederrheiners must be very difficult to find here in the USA

MurrayMcMurray Hatchery sells them for a very reasonable price!

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Finally remembered to snap a few pictures while I was out there yesterday! I noticed when I came in that my lens was smudged, so some pics are a little blurry.

We lost several of the Biel females in the brooder. Not sure why they seemed more prone to death than the other chicks, and not sure what the problem was. All the males survived, and we still have some of the females. They seem to be doing well now!

We decided on names for all the Bielefelder roosters:
Sheriff (he already seems to be keeping the peace pretty well in the flock, even though he is younger than many of them)
Deputy
Roy Rogers
Lone Ranger
Tonto

We haven't named the girls yet.

I think Hazel and Ginger have a nice ring to them, if you are open to name suggestions of course!

 

[allgr8dogs]

Oh boy. I am always tempted because they are big and adorable looking and I love the coloration, they look so much like my CCL that I love so much, just bigger and without the crest, not to mention thehy are auto sexing. Maybe I rethink getting them and satisfy myself with my CCLs.
I'm so sorry to hear about your hen. I hope she pulls through! Thanks for all the input and honesty.

I find the comments about the roosters being vicious at odds with my experience. My Bielefelder rooster, Pretty Boy, is very gentle, can be trusted not to frighten toddlers, never tears my hens up. He has gone toe to toe with a crow that appeared to be after my smallest silkie Fluffy. He also went toe to nose with a dog that got in my yard and was going after my chickens. But again he's a gentle boy. I got him from Sandhill preservation. He'll be 2 years old next month.

 

[Guy4God]

I started off with 20 chicks in June and my flock has 35 birds now. 10 of my first chicks were bielefelders. And, from my experience so far I think it would be a long time before I even think about getting any more of them. For anyone considering getting them, here's why:

1) they eat a ton, I'd say upwards of 2 lbs of feed per bird per day
2) they are not as docile as people on the internet say they are, especially the roosters, they are quite vicious with hens, I have a hen right now that is missing half of her back from being clawed while mounted
3) they seem to be prone to health problems, I've had 4 die in the past 3 months and they are the only breed that's dying and they didn't start dying til they were full grown. I'm guessing it's some sort of metabolic thing because they get huge. The last roo I had die had to weigh close to 15 lbs.

Seriously?? 2 pounds a bird?? Most chickens are 1.5 pounds a week!!

 

[Sally PB]

That post was from nearly 4 years ago, and the poster hasn't been on in a couple years.

 

[Guy4God]

That post was from nearly 4 years ago, and the poster hasn't been on in a couple years.

Ok. Maybe someone else will chime in. 2 pounds a day sounds crazy??

 

[BlueBaby]

Ok. Maybe someone else will chime in. 2 pounds a day sounds crazy??

I'm not sure. I never weighed mine for that. It also might depend on what they were feeding theirs.

 

[Sally PB]

I have 10 hens, 4 of which are Biels. I'm going to guess I give them roughly 2.5-3 pounds of food a day for all 10. I've never weighed it.

Right now it seems like they are eating more. They're done molting (when they ate less, for some reason), and about half are laying eggs again.

I feed Kalmbach 20% Flock Maker crumbles. Their #1 treat is that feed, wetted into a mash. Sometimes with something added, mostly plain.

Other treats include: BOSS, kitchen scraps, garden weeds (in season), Japanese beetles (in season), a heel of bread (rarely).

As for being docile, they are the friendliest birds in my flock. I also spent the most time handling them as chicks, so that may be why. All my chicks have been brooded indoors by me, not with a broody hen.

 

[Kiki]

Ok. Maybe someone else will chime in. 2 pounds a day sounds crazy??

It is crazy. They eat roughly 1/4 pound of feed per day.