HomeCountry of OriginGermany → Bantam Bielefelder
Greenfire Farms is thrilled to announce that by releasing a small chicken breed we are filling a giant void on the American poultry map.
Item1+Quantity
Bantam Bielefelder Day-Old Chick Male49.00
Bantam Bielefelder Day-Old Chick Female99.00
Bantam Bielefelder Hatching Eggs18.00Sold Out
Autosexing is an extraordinary genetic trait in a chicken breed that provides clear visual cues to determine a chick’s gender on the day it is hatched. While this trait is now commonly seen in American large fowl flocks (thanks in large part to our importation of breeds like the Cream Legbar and 55 Flowery Hen), there has never been an autosexing bantam breed available to the American poultry hobbyist; until now, that is.

We are pleased to announce that we have successfully imported bantam Bielefelders, which is now the only autosexing bantam breed on American soil. Their famous counterpart, the large fowl Bielefelder, was originally introduced to America by Greenfire Farms more than seven years ago. The Bielefelder, often called the Uber Chicken for its extraordinary size and egg-laying prowess, took America by storm and can now be found in several hatcheries around the country. But, large fowl Bielefelders require spacious pens and room to roam, and there was never a bantam alternative for hobbyists with smaller pens or who are simply attracted to smaller chicken breeds.

We have a small laying flock of bantam Bielefelders, and these beautiful miniatures are as captivating as their larger counterparts. These bantams produce auto-sexed chicks, a first for a bantam breed in America, and the males can be identified with their light-colored fluff and a dot on their head while the females have darker fluff and dark brown chipmunk stripes.

Breed History

The bantam version of the Bielefelder was also created by Gerd Roth, the creator of the large fowl Bielefelder. The breed was officially recognized in 1985. To create the bantam Bielefelder Gerd Roth used New Hampshire bantam, bantam Amrocks, and bantam Welsumer.

Appearance and Behavior

Compare the size of the bantams to their large fowl counterparts. Scroll through the images and you will see a large fowl rooster weighing in at 8.95lbs (or 4.06kg) standing next to his bantam brethren who weighs just 3.85lbs (or 1.75kg). In another image, you will see a large fowl hen who weighs 7.30 lbs (3.31kg) standing next to a bantam hen that weighs just 2.75 lbs (1.25kg). This exceptional size differential provides a completely different experience in raising this remarkable breed, and every poultry hobbyist can enjoy the ease with which the bantams can be housed and managed.

Normally the hens will weigh about 2 to 3 pounds at maturity and the roosters will weigh about 3 to 4 pounds at maturity. Our flock has done well at a rooster-to-hen ratio of 1:10. They have a similar temperament to the large fowl Bielefelder and are typically calm and docile. They do seem to be more active than the large fowl, especially in the high temperatures of summer. The birds will spend a lot of their time foraging. They aren't overly flighty and from what we have seen, they choose more often to run or walk than fly.

Since we have had the breed, we have noticed that they are somewhat broody but not heavily broody. The egg size compared to their body size is impressive. You don't get jumbo-sized eggs like with the large fowl, but you do get a beautiful medium-sized egg.

Breed Standard

There is no approved standard but you can read more about them here - https://huehnerhaltung.org/huehnerrassen-uebersicht/zwerghuhn/bielefelder-zwerg-kennhuhn/. This page is written in German so odds are you will need to use your internet browser to translate the page into English.

Hatching Eggs

We incubate at 99.5F and 55% humidity. We've seen that while they tend to have great viability, they aren't the best at hatching. Typically we will hatch about 60% of the eggs that have been put into our hatcher. A lower humidity may result in better hatch results. You should inspect every chick's legs to make sure they are clean-legged, meaning no feathers on their legs. We sometimes hatch chicks that will have 2 to 3 small feathers on their leg. We cull for this on hatch day so you should expect to do the same.
Egg Color tan
Egg Size Small to Medium
Average number of eggs per year 160 - 180
Gamefowl no
Country of Origin Germany
Also called Bielefelder Zwerg-Kennhuhn
Cold tolerant yes
Year of import(s) 2021