My experience with bielefelders so far

[docdubz]

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.

 

[khpadventures]

I got my Biels from Omega Hills as hatching eggs, and I've been happy with them so far. I ended up with two roosters and four hens. One of the roosters was very flighty and nasty towards me, he ended up as soup. Great meat bird, I have to say. The other, while he does posture at me, follows me around like a puppy and is perfectly calm being held and pet. I do have hens with missing back feathers due to him, but he honestly doesn't seem overly aggressive, he's just big I think, with not quite enough hens to cover.

Of the four hens, one turned out incorrectly colored. She looks a lot like a New Hampshire red, which was a breed used to create the Biel. She is a very large bird though, and very beautiful. One hen was caught by an owl sadly. And yes, I did have one hen die suddenly of unknown causes.

They free range and eat....anything and everything. They have access to our compost pile, so anything goes. I wanted birds that were tough, and these guys have fit the bill perfectly for me. They survived a whole string of below zero nights with no extra heat or care.. Just a bit of frostbite on the tips of the combs as a result. They started laying late, but were solid producers all through a rough colorado winter. They are predator savvy as well, I even watched my roo play the injured chicken card to try to draw a hawks attention away from his ladies, while they all flattened to the ground and waited for his return.

My take on the whole thing? I think they are great birds, but the breed isn't finished fully developing over here in the US. I think there are a TON of birds over here that were inbred too far, resulting in the sudden deaths. The breed needs some dedicated folks to work out some issues. But I see the potential!

 

[Sally PB]

I have 3 Bielefelder pullets coming in May from Mt. Healthy. I'm really looking forward to having them in my flock.

 

[hannah and the chickens]

I have two bielefelder chickens, too! I can't say anything about the roosters but my hens are really sweet. They are pretty docile usually and when I introduced two new hens last summer, they only chased them around a bit for the first two or three weeks and after that returned back to being their usual selfes. They usually don't fight or are mean to other chickens.
I can totally agree on the health problems though! At first I thought they were in bad health because the breeder didn't take the best care of his chickens, but it has been a reocurring thing. They seem to be especcially sensitive to sudden changes in their feeding plan, so I've been extra careful with leftover veggies, fruit and pasta. They really can only handle a really small amount of it before they get diarrhea. My other chickens are less sensitive.

In my opinion, the nice things about this breed are the eggs (even when my hens were young they laid big eggs regularly) and the meat also tastes good. Additionally, they can become really tame. My chickens were really skittish when I got them but soon learned to follow me around the garden. Even though I sometimes wish the chickens were more low-maintenance, I wouldn't want to miss out on the bielefelders because of their sweet character.

I think most of their health problems are caused by their size. There are also big differences between individual chickens, because some breeders like to have bigger chickens with better meat qualities that don't really fit the breed standard anymore.

 

[Mtn Homestead]

Love to see how your chicks are doing.Any updates?

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.

 

[Sally PB]

This thread hasn't been active in several months, but I thought I'd post about my four Bielefelder girls. I got them from Mt. Healthy as day old chicks in mid-May.

They are 28 weeks old. Robin looks like she could lay Any. Day. Now. Her comb and wattles are much bigger and redder than the others' and she has been in the nestbox. I've seen her sit in there, scratch around, and hang out for 10-15 minutes. She's also gotten noisy.

Another one of them, Pip, was the smallest, and is still smaller than they rest, though I don't have any weights, so I can't be sure. Pip's comb popped up at 5 weeks. I was suspicious that perhaps she was a he, and not a Bielefelder. I got an extra chick, and lots of chicks, male and female, have the "chipmunk" stripe look. Nope, Pip is a Biel pullet. Of that I'm sure now. Whew.

They were brooder raised. When they first went outside at 5-ish weeks, Pip picked up coccidiosis. Twice I found blood in the shavings under where I'd seen her roosting, and she was very lethargic. A course of Corid, and she was fine.

That is the only health issue I have had with my Biels. They are friendly, seem to get along well with the other birds in my flock. Sunny and Pip are my "lap chickens." The other two will sit near me, but are less likely to get on my lap.

I'm still waiting for eggs. We're in the waning hours of daylight time of year, so I won't be surprised if the don't lay until after New Years.

I expected my feed bill to double, since I was nearly doubling my flock; I went from 6 to 11 birds total. I'd say it's nearly double, so no surprise there. I feed Kalmbach Flock Maker. Their main "treat" is that feed, wetted into a mash. They get some other things (a pumpkin from a neighbor, yum!), but treats are kept to a minimum.

I would say that so far, my experience with Bielefelders has been very positive. I probably won't be adding to my flock until at least 2025, or even later. I'm maxed out on birds for my space. But based on what I've seen so far, I wouldn't hesitate to get more Bielefelders.

 

[LaurenRitz]

And today was the day.

You've been egged!

 

[BlueBaby]

I have a whole flock of these going now that I hatched last year from shipped hatching eggs from ebay and this year I recently hatched out some from Omega Hill's Farm in Mississippi. I am happy with mine. The picture of the chick's has 5 pullets and 1 cockerel.

 

[gunslinger33]

I've had my Bielefelders for 5 years now. I bought mine from a private breeder. This is my experience.

They are very calm birds. I have not had any issues with either my girls or boy. Most of the time you can just walk up to them and pick them up.

I haven't experienced any more or less aggressiveness in breeding. I think maybe the size of the rooster causes some injuries, but nothing excessive. My experience with roosters of different breeds as well as Bielefelders is , they will breed when they want to breed whether the hen is a willing participant or not.

They are gluttons for sure. They are BIG eaters. Never turn down a meal. Maybe more free ranging can reduce "feed" consumption. Honestly most of the large breeds are big eaters. My RIR rival my Biels in eating , so not sure if it's just a Bielefelder issue. My Orps are also big eaters.

Eggs size is impressive , for the first two years , but tapers off quickly. My eggs have an orangish / tan tone some with speckles and some solid.

Food cost isn't a concern for me , so I would get some again. I would look for high quality birds.

If temperament is important , I would give them a chance. If food cost to yield is important I would probably look at sex links

 

[gunslinger33]

I forgot to mention that my Biel hens go broody regularly