From May, 2014....
My search for the perfect chicken breed may finally be over! Meet our new flock of Bielefelders! We got them locally from The Angels Share Homestead, a sustainable farm a couple hours south of us. (You can find them on Facebook) They bought theirs directly from Greenfire Farms. http://greenfirefarms.com/As you will see on Greenfire's site, the Bielefelder was developed in Germany in the 70s and has only been in the USA since 2011. We are proud to be some of the first breeders of this amazing bird! Already, they have won my heart. This afternoon I put out a feeder and sat with them, petting them all as they ate. They are more like curious pets than chickens. They will sometimes run right up to you, just to see what you are doing. They really are super quiet and mellow. Much quieter than my other chicks and not as easily frightened.
Here's a picture of their father, a splendid, HUGE handsome roo! In person he was such a proud, stately bird. As tall as my knees! Laid back, yes. But the owners told me that when threatened, this guy will stand up and fight to protect his hens. The whole time we were there, he was a quiet as a mouse. Even though there were dozens of other roosters crowing all around us. Even when they picked him up, he didn't make much fuss!
Here's a picture of his hens. Aren't they pretty? Again, all super quiet, the whole time we were visiting. All bright and active, but remarkably quiet. Their eggs are a lovely smooth slightly pinkish tan, noticeably heavy and dense. 
As I mentioned, you can tell the boys from the girls, right from day one. The boys have a light spot on their head, and the girls have a chipmunk stripe over their eyes. As they get older, the cockerels remain light, and the pullets darken and develop more striping and a dark triangle on their head. It's kinda nice to be able to tell so easily who's who! Can you pick out the two cockerels in the baby picture? I bought 8 pullets and 4 cockerels. Being such mellow birds, I'm told the high percentage of little roos won't be a problem. If I can keep them all to breeding age, it will be nice to have that much more diversity in the bloodlines. In about 3-4 months I'll be getting my first eggs. I'm so excited! If this bird continues to impress me as much as it has already, we will be switching exclusively to the uber chicken! The Bielefelders!
Fast Forward a few months to today:
I have heard people complain that Bielefelders eat a lot. I personally did not notice. I think you would have to measure and keep careful records to determine any difference at all between these and any other breed. And, well, they are huge birds! So of course they would eat a lot! But they are excellent foragers, so if you let them feed themselves, your pockets stay full. As an added bonus, they will eat most of your ants, slugs, moths, flies, grasshoppers, snails, and even mice! If you confine them to the garden plot for a few weeks before planting, you won't have any weeds! And you almost won't have to till as these big birds have big feet and can really turn a lot of dirt. Seriously. I'm not kidding.
The eggs! They really are denser than normal. You can feel it when you pick one up. They are just heavier than a regular egg. Quite a lovely color too, don't you think? As any free range egg, they really are super tasty too. And yes, they lay eggs nearly every day.
I can't say enough good things about the Bielefelder! They really are the Uber Chicken!
Want to order some? Click here! ->
http://www.qwatra.com/bielefelders.html
