The Bielefelder was developed relatively recently in (you guessed it!) Bielefeld, Germany, in the early 1970s, by poultry breeder Gerd Roth and remains highly prized in its homeland. Herr Roth set out to create a large, hardy, and highly productive dual-purpose bird by combining the genetics of several exceptional breeds, including the Cuckoo Malines, Amrock, New Hampshire, Rhode Island Red, and Welsummer. When you combine the precision of German craftsmanship with a passion for poultry, you get the ultimate “uber-chicken”: the Bielefelder! By 1980, the Bielefelder was recognized by the Association of German Breed Poultry Breeders. 

Gerd Roth continued experimenting with Bielefelder coloration and introduced the Silver variety in 1982, perfecting it by 1988. He maintained that no silver or silver-necked birds were used in its creation; instead, through careful crosses with Welsummers, Amrocks, and Malines (both Amrocks and Malines carry the black-and-white cuckoo pattern, which includes the silver gene) he was able to select chicks that hatched with a lighter, gray-toned plumage. Over successive generations, he refined this trait. In essence, the Silver Bielefelder shares the same foundational breeds as the Crele variety; Roth simply focused on pairings that expressed the silver coloration, primarily derived from the cuckoo Malines and Amrocks.

Embedded in the Bielefelder DNA is the autosexing function; day-old chicks can be easily sexed based on their feather color patterns, a characteristic reliably passed down through each generation. This quality was especially important to Roth, who aimed to make the Bielefelder as practical for breeders as it is beautiful. His deliberate selection of foundational breeds with barred and cuckoo plumage patterns was key to achieving the breed’s remarkable autosexing ability. To learn more about autosexing breeds, check out the dedicated section on our website.

Modern chicken breeds often arrive with plenty of hype, but in the case of the Bielefelder, the praise is well deserved. If you could keep only one breed, the Bielefelder would be it. With their impressive size, excellent meat quality, large eggs, built-in autosexing ability, gentle nature, and stunning plumage, they truly excel in every category.

We now proudly raise three types of Bielefelders on our farm: the classic Crele, the striking Silver variety, and a charming bantam Crele version. The Crele color pattern, known in Germany as Kennsperber, is best described as a cuckoo red partridge. The Silver variety shares the same beautiful pattern but lacks the red and orange pigments, giving these birds a lighter, more refined appearance. In Germany, this variety is called the Silber-Kennsperber. Bielefelders are characterized by yellow legs, red earlobes, and a straight comb. We’ve observed that the Silver variety tends to be slightly more robust than the Crele, with a broader chest and a larger overall frame.

Bielefelders are prolific layers, consistently producing some of the largest brown eggs of any breed we keep at Greenfire Farms. Expect around 200-230 eggs per year (about 4 eggs per week) with shells in a beautiful brown hue, often accented with pink undertones and subtle speckles that set them apart from other breeds. Hens may occasionally go broody, but they are generally less consistent about sitting on their eggs and tend to be less protective during the laying period.

These birds are truly large and make an excellent table breed, with roosters typically weighing 8-10 pounds and hens 6-7 pounds. Despite their size, both hens and roosters are remarkably gentle and docile. Calm and relaxed by nature, they’re less flighty than many other breeds and move at a leisurely pace, making them perfect for spacious pastures where they can forage unhurriedly while enjoying plenty of downtime.

Bielefelders typically don’t roost very high, and due to their larger size, lower perches are recommended to prevent injury when they jump down. During winter, roosters tend to be less active, and egg viability often drops, while spring and summer see much higher success. Despite their large size, Bielefelders don’t require a massive pen. They enjoy roaming and foraging, but in larger spaces, roosters may favor certain hens and not mate with the entire flock, making careful management of rooster-to-hen ratios essential for successful breeding. We recommend a ratio between 1:8 to 1:10.

Bielefelders are truly striking birds. The Silver variety features a mix of light and dark grey with white accents, and hens display a subtle brown barring on their chest. Both varieties are large, with full tails, broad chests, and yellow legs free of feathering, along with red earlobes and a single, straight comb.

For more details on the breed standard, you can visit the two links below! Just note that they are in German and will need translation.

▷ Das Bielefelder Kennhuhn » Infos & Tipps zu den Bielefeldern

The Bielefeld Kennhuhn

We incubate eggs at 99.5°F and 55% humidity. The Bielefelder generally hatch reliably, with around 80% of eggs in our hatcher successfully hatching by day 21, though a few may take an extra day. The chicks typically hatch in an even 50:50 male-to-female ratio, though individual hatches may lean toward one sex.

When hatching out the Silver Bielefelder, each chick should be carefully inspected for leg feathering. This is not a standard trait, and any chicks exhibiting it should be excluded from breeding programs.

We are actively working to improve the genetics of our Silver flock and plan to import an unrelated bloodline to support this effort. We take pride in being transparent about our breeding practices and hope this information helps fellow poultry enthusiasts know what to watch for in Silver Bielefelders. We’ve identified a genetic issue in our flock, called “split wing,” where the axial feather is missing on one or both wings, creating a gap between the primary and secondary feathers. While not all birds in our parent flock carry this trait, we are carefully selecting against it to strengthen and improve the overall genetics. 

The axial feather plays a role in balance, and we’ve observed that some Silver flock chicks may struggle to stand upright, occasionally flopping over a day or two after hatching. While Silver chicks tend to be less hardy than those from our Crele line, we hope that importing a new bloodline will allow us to provide chicks that are healthier and genetically stronger.

Import Notes

In 2011, Greenfire Farms was the first to import Bielefelders into the United States. We expanded our stock to include the Silver and bantam Crele varieties in 2021.