German Bielefelder
(2023 Import)
**Offered in M&F Pairs Only**
On an extremely limited basis, we are offering 2023 Import German Bielefelder chicks. In 2024, we obtained hatching eggs from Greenfire Farms, and due to an abysmal hatching rate, have just a breeding pair. Fortunately, they are from different breeding pens.
At present, we do not intend to continue breeding Bielefelders on our farm much beyond 2026 other than as a genetic source for our Elk Creek Rock breeding project. If you plan to keep Bielefelders, please be sure that you are able to provide (or create) dense shade for them in the summer. On triple digit days these heavy-set birds will also need additional assistance to keep cool.
First imported into the US in 2011, Bielefelders have quickly gained a reputation as the ideal homesteader chicken. Developed by Gerd Roth in the 1970s, they were intended to be superior layers and produce extremely meaty carcasses. An auto-sexing breed, chicks can be sexed by the color of their down at hatch, with males being considerably lighter in color than females. They are known for being great foragers and friendly, easy birds to keep.
Greenfire Farms has imported the breed to the US five times now with the most recent being 2023. The breed is readily available through most industrial mail order hatcheries but many have found that their experience with the breed has not lived up to expectations. Complaints range from poor laying, to being prone to vitamin E deficiency, to poor longevity, to poor type relative to the German breed standard.
While we cannot yet speak to laying (these photographs are at five months), we can say that our breeding pair have the German body type many lament that their Bielefelders lack: a horizontal trunk with a straight back line, broad shoulders, a deep chest and full belly region. Both of our chicks hatched from large beige eggs with brown speckling.
We are selling chicks in male and female pairs, but if a hatch skews female, we will offer to give you two females instead. Whether you are looking to improve the type and genetic diversity of your own Bielefelders, give the breed a try for the first time, or see if this import impresses you any more than the others – we are excited to share these chicks with you!
Our Bielefelder rooster is also paired up with some of our Elk Creek Rock 2025 grow-outs in this year’s German Line of our Elk Creek Rock Breeding Project, so be sure to check that out as well!
Our Other Breeds & Breeding Projects
Elk Creek Rock Breeding Project
Perennial Hill, LLC 