Creating the silver welbar

[McChooky]

If I could get my hands on a F1 rooster and a welsummer hen I'd be happy happy happy!
I'm not a breeder or a seller just someone who loves welbars!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

In the incubator due to hatch next weekend i have 4 'project' eggs. These are from breeding group 3 - Gold duckwing Welsummer x Partridge Welbar.

We are expecting:
25% Male 'gold duckwing' single barred
25% Male Partridge duckwing single barred
25% Female Silver Welsummer
25% Female Partridge Welsummer

We have a 25% chance of getting what we want, not to mention a low hatch rate in my Welbar eggs (appeared to die around 14 days ish) statistically its probably unlikely we get what we need this time around with only 4 in the incubator.

Below are some pictures of the breeding group.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Update - the incubator failed on the Breeding Group 3 hatch, no eggs survived and on autopsy it looks like only 1 of the 4 was actually fertile... its hard to say, but i have put another batch in.

None the less, Breeding Group 2 (Webar X Silver Welsummer) has hatched in the other incubator. there were 5 eggs and we have 5 chicks!!

Offspring will be
Male - Ss and Bb
Female - s and B (Partridge Welbar)

therefore, i am expecting the silver to be evident on the males in the down, so if i were a betting man i would guess i have 1 male and 4 welbar hens, but time will tell.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Hi everyone, I’ve not provided an update for a while so I will let you know the latest movements.

We had another Breeding Group 3 hatch which again was fairly unsuccessful. The result was 3 hatched eggs which are 2 Silver Welsummer hens and one partridge cockerel (of no use). The cockerel is no longer with us, although that was not our intervention he was not required so somewhat fortunate In that regard. So, we’ve decided that Breeding Group 3 will now be retired, the Silver Welsummers can be used at the end of the project if we haven’t sold them. We are not using them for the next stage which I will explain…

Partridge Welbar Mortality Rate - Shocking!! The partridge Welbars were bought from a man who had decided to ‘give up Welbars.’ having now owned his flock for a year we have found the hatch rate of the Welbar eggs to be awful and the number of losses we have had quite considerable over that period. At first we assumed it was user error, but our other birds (welsummers, RIR, Legbar, Barred Rock) have all thrived with fantastic hatch rates and not a single loss… so we suspect that our flock is genetically weak and is in desperate need of some fresh DNA. Thankfully the 4 Welbar hens from Breeding Group 2 are energetic little guys, so they will hopefully be straight into the breeding pen with the other Welbar Cockerel to add in some diversity (with further interventions to follow).

So, next step. We have 2 F1 cockerels, one from Breeding Group 1 (Welbar x Barred Rock) and one from Breeding 2 (Welbar x Silver Welsummer). Both cockerels will be put over Partridge Welbar hens. Ultimately at this point we have a choice, do we lock in the Silver gene and finalize the Barring at F2 stage, or do we lock in the Barring and worry about the Silver gene last. Thanks to our Partridge Welbars inability to stay alive, we’re prioritizing having a cockerel that is S/s B/B as the partridge Welbar offspring in the process will be of more use than the silver Welsummers if we were to opt in the other direction.

The intention is to do another hatch at the end of summer. Space will restrict how many we get in, I’d like to get a minimum of 10 in, perhaps 5/6 from each F1 cockerel and hope the odds fall in my favor.

This is where it gets interesting.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Round 2! The incubator is on!!!

So, product of Breading Group 1 is our F1 cockerel ‘Ellison’ (his mom is called Ellie). He is 5 months old and a rather large chap, who somehow finds himself in a domestically abusive relationship with 2 Welbar hens. Despite finding himself at the bottom of the pecking order, we believe he has done the business, and we have set 8 eggs.

So, a reminder- Ellison is the product of a Welbar Cockerel x Barred Plymouth Rock hen.

Ellison has been with some Partridge Welbars for 2 weeks now, so we are expecting any of the below:
50% Black - culled
12.5% Partridge Welbar Rooster
12.5% S/s Welbar Rooster
12.5% Silver Welbar Hen
12.5% Partridge Welbar Hen

Here is a then and now of the big guy

By way of an update - Breeding Group 2 F1 Cockerel is currently running with 2 Silver Welsummer pullets, they are not laying yet.

 

[McChooky]

Round 2! The incubator is on!!!

So, product of Breading Group 1 is our F1 cockerel ‘Ellison’ (his mom is called Ellie). He is 5 months old and a rather large chap, who somehow finds himself in a domestically abusive relationship with 2 Welbar hens. Despite finding himself at the bottom of the pecking order, we believe he has done the business, and we have set 8 eggs.

So, a reminder- Ellison is the product of a Welbar Cockerel x Barred Plymouth Rock hen.

Ellison has been with some Partridge Welbars for 2 weeks now, so we are expecting any of the below:
50% Black - culled
12.5% Partridge Welbar Rooster
12.5% S/s Welbar Rooster
12.5% Silver Welbar Hen
12.5% Partridge Welbar Hen

Here is a then and now of the big guy View attachment 3199466View attachment 3199468

By way of an update - Breeding Group 2 F1 Cockerel is currently running with 2 Silver Welsummer pullets, they are not laying yet.

Can't wait until they start laying!

 

[McChooky]

Update? I've been following this breeding thread on silver welbars and can't wait to learn the results! I love the silver welbar roosters!

 

[dheltzel]

Update? I've been following this breeding thread on silver welbars and can't wait to learn the results! I love the silver welbar roosters!

I created a new website and have a nice pic of one of my silver welbars here: http://welbars.com/index.php/welbars/silver-welbar/

I have been producing Welbars in Gold (Partridge) and Silver for years. They are well established in my pens. I am currently working on an Isabel Welbar. Very pretty and still autosexing, but egg color is not fixed as dark as I would like. I am hatching only the darkest eggs and will probably breed back to a Gold to darken the egg color.

 

[McChooky]

I'm happy to hear your website is up and running! I got a peek at your silver welbars last night! They're absolutely gorgeous!

 

[dheltzel]

I'm happy to hear your website is up and running! I got a peek at your silver welbars last night! They're absolutely gorgeous!

Thank you! I am very happy with them. They lay a LOT of eggs too.

I am always looking for more breeders for the Welbars. Some hatcheries are picking them up now, but small breeders are the key to keeping them true to their Welsummer heritage. If anyone is interested in breeding stock, send me a PM. Too cold right now to ship, but with some planning, shipments are very successful.