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Until recently, unknown to anyone, Bielefelder chickens are today rapidly gaining popularity. Although, from the point of view of the chickens themselves, they are not such a young breed.
Bielefelders were bred in the 70s of the last century in the town of the same name. Four meat-egging breeds of chickens took part in the creation of these chickens. Initially bred as an autosex breed, that is, chickens of this breed can be distinguished by sex from the first day of life, the Bielefelder was presented at the exhibition in 1976 as the “German Determined”. In fact, one cannot demand a rich imagination from the creator of the breed. However, in 1978, the breed was renamed after the place of breeding - the city of Bielefeld.
It was registered as a breed by the German Federation of Pedigree Poultry in 1980. And already in 1984, a dwarf version of the Bielefelder was registered.
Description of the Bielefelder chicken breed
Bielefelders have a very beautiful and original color. They are not just variegated, they also have several colors that shimmer into each other.In this case, the specks are evenly scattered throughout the body. This color is called “krill”. Roosters of this breed are usually lighter than hens and have a wider range of colors.
The male's body is rather elongated with a long back and a wide, deep chest. With a large body and medium-sized wings, the Bielefelder rooster has some difficulties in flying to the fence, despite the well-developed powerful shoulders. The ridge is large, erect, leaf-shaped. The tail is not long, but bushy.
Chickens can have a rather dark coloration, which would be similar to the coloration of a wild chicken, if not for the same speckling throughout the body.
Or they can have a color similar to the color of roosters and be light.
Or maybe even with a red mane.
If chicks from a dark hen can be separated by sex from the first day, then chicks from a light hen may not differ from each other in color at all.
In addition to color, chickens differ from roosters in having a more rounded body with a greater forward bend. Chickens have a voluminous belly.
Externally, Bielefelder chickens look like a large, imposing bird, which in fact they are. The weight of a one-year-old rooster, according to the standard, should be 3.5 - 4 kg, while a two-year-old rooster gains 4.5 kg. Six-month-old males weigh 3-3.8 kg. The total weight of a two-year-old chicken is up to 4 kg. A one-year-old hen should weigh up to 3.2 kg. And the chicken is a pullet, 2.5 - 3 kg. Bielefelders move rather slowly, which may be facilitated by relatively short legs with unfeathered metatarsals compared to the large body.
Bielefelder at the exhibition:
Productive characteristics of Bielefelder chickens
Chickens of this breed begin laying eggs at six months, reaching peak productivity at 1-2 years.After three years of age, the egg production of Bielefelders decreases.
Bielefelders lay an average of 210 eggs per year, and according to German standards, the egg must weigh at least 60 g.
Chickens lay eggs evenly throughout the year, but only under conditions of long daylight hours. In winter they need to install artificial lighting. If the daylight hours are shorter than 14 hours, the chickens stop laying eggs.
The advantages of the breed, of course, include the ability to separate the hens from the cockerels from the first day.
In the photo of day-old chicks, the difference between future laying hens and roosters is clearly visible. The hens are darker in color, they have light stripes on their backs and a dark head. Cockerels are lighter in color, with a white spot on the head. There are only two cockerels in this photo.
Features of keeping and feeding the Bielefelder
The breed is practically unknown in Russia. The happy owners of Bielefelder chickens can be counted almost on one hand. Therefore, almost all the information that a person who wants to own this breed of chicken can receive is advertising and does not focus on certain nuances.
Frost resistance. The advertisement presents the breed as frost-resistant, but does not specify what this actually means. In fact, this does not mean that chickens can spend the night in the snowdrifts of Alaska, it only means that at air temperatures down to -15 ° C they can walk in an enclosure without a canopy. But they must spend the night in insulated chicken coop.
The second advantage in advertising is the ability of Bielefelder chickens to independently obtain their own food.. But any other chicken that has the opportunity to roam freely also has this advantage, and only in the summer. In winter, chicken of any breed must be fed.At least not a single chicken has yet learned to tear apart snow and frozen ground half a meter deep.
If Bielefelders are kept in an enclosure, then even in summer all their “excellent foraging qualities” are reduced to zero, since the pasture in the enclosure will quickly run out.
Even in the photo, the Bielefelder looks like a rather massive chicken. Being a large bird, the Bielefelder needs food high in protein and vitamins. And to produce eggs they also need calcium. Therefore, Bielefelders need to be fed with complete chicken feed all year round.
The breeder's goal was to develop a breed of chicken that was disease-resistant, fast-growing, calm in nature, had a good taste of meat and high egg production. These goals have been achieved. One of the goals was also frost resistance. If we remember that in Germany in the last third of the twentieth century -15 in winter was almost the limit of low temperatures, and in many areas even today lower temperatures are a natural disaster, then the claim about frost resistance was justified. But not for Russian conditions.
During the breeding process, fortunately, Bielefelder hens retained their brooding instinct, which makes it possible to hatch chickens of this breed not in an incubator, but under a hen.
This is another argument in favor of feeding chickens. Fast-growing Bielefelder chickens require special feed with a very high protein content. Many Bielefelder owners even feed their chickens dry dog food after grinding it up. In general, this option is quite justified, since meat and bone meal and eggs are used in the production of dog food, but it must be taken into account that dog food is designed for the metabolism of dogs, not chickens.However, it is not for nothing that the chicken is considered an omnivorous bird.
It is recommended to give young animals cottage cheese and boiled fish a couple of times a week to provide growing chickens with calcium and protein. Without such additives, young animals will not be able to achieve the required condition. Among the grains, the Bielefelder is given corn, soybeans, peas, wheat, oats, and barley. They are also given finely chopped vegetables.
Some enthusiasts even keep manure heaps to provide chickens with animal protein, although this most likely has another benefit: the production of humus.
Bielefelders are fed twice a day. But the summer diet can differ from the winter one only if the chickens have the opportunity to freely range in a large space and partially provide themselves with feed. Otherwise, the task of providing Bielefelders with a complete diet falls entirely on their owner.
Device chicken coop for Bielefelders
Because of their lack of conflict and slowness, Bielefelders are unable to stand up for themselves. More aggressive and active hens will push them away from the feeder, which is why Bielefelders may not receive enough feed.
When arranging an aviary and a chicken coop for Bielefelders, you need to take into account their size and weight. The enclosure should be spacious enough so that the chickens can walk around in it without constantly bumping into each other.
It is better to make the perches low, since when trying to climb onto a high perch, a heavy chicken can be injured.
Bielefelder roosters do not strive for constant fights, but they also have cocky individuals. The only way to avoid a showdown between Bielefelder roosters is to not seat them. If you had to seat them, you can no longer place them together.
Bielefelder bantams
Registered a little later, the large breed of chickens differs in appearance from its large brother only in a greater variety of colors. The weight of dwarf Bielefelder roosters is 1.2 kg, chickens - 1.0 kg. Egg production up to 140 eggs per year. Egg weight 40 g.
Dwarf Silver Bielefelder
Young Silver Bielefelders
Golden color variant of the Dwarf Bielefelder
Reviews from a few owners of the Bielefelder chicken breed
In our Crimean conditions, similar in annual temperatures to Germany, these chickens are simply a godsend. But, of course, I have to feed them all year round. In our summer, green grass can only be found near the river, everything else burns out, and these chickens cannot catch lizards, they are too slow. But in winter I don’t worry if I suddenly forget to close the door to their chicken coop.
The eggs, however, could be laid all year round, but I tried it, then I calculated the cost of the eggs and the cost of the energy consumed and decided that it would be better to lay them rarely in winter, but “for free.” The eggs turned out cheaper than electricity.
However, we are not going to give up Bielefelders. More experienced chicken breeders have already enlightened us that all chickens need to be fed, regardless of breed. And stability down to -15 degrees in Russia is like nothing. Therefore, it makes absolutely no difference for which breed of chickens we will have to build a warm chicken coop.
Otherwise, I really like these chickens.Both by color and by the fact that they are tame. You can pet them, you can talk to them about life, sitting on the same bench. Well, they lay eggs. But after intimate conversations, I won’t be able to cut them. I'll ask the neighbors.
Conclusion
Bielefelders are well suited even for beginners, but you will need to take into account that this breed does not possess any superpowers. But with proper maintenance, you can get high-quality meat and eggs from it. And at first you can even do without an incubator, especially if the bird is bred only for your own consumption.
