The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[pinkchick]

................let's start talking Wellies!



Ready, set, GO!

 

[Araucana Nest]

My 3 year old Welsummer "Friendly" just started laying again. She had a hard molt and was very off for a couple of months. I'll be hatching her eggs and keeping pullets for a while.

 

[gimmie birdies]

 

[SeattleSelkie]

Doing research on wellsummers some say they do well in confinement others say no. I will definitely have to raise them confined to many predators in my area not to. Will they be a good confined chicken?

I think so much of that depends on how much room you give them. Chickens do not do well with crowding, and that includes Welsummers. While they are not a large breed (like an Orpington) they are quite active. Mine are pastured in moveable coops with electric net fences, which deters my many predators, and are terrific foragers and quite active no matter the weather. They are not aggressive with each other, but then again I give them lots of space. My tendency would be to say that if you don't crowd them, and if you give them things to do with their desire to forage (like deep litter that you refresh) then they can be happy in a confined space. I have found my Wyandottes to be much more the laid back, couch potato bird......as an example of a good confinement bird.

I also have found my cocks to be very watchful and protective of their hens, which helps with the threat of aerial predators. They are the best flock protectors I have had. Best of luck with your choice.

 

[Magnolia7330]

Just received this girl this morning.

 

[Opa]

A welsummer rooster was the model for Kelloggs Corn flakes advertising campaign. I don't think you can find a better breed. While not a friendly bird, they are docile, easy keepers. They are the only large fowl breed that I keep any roosters from. I separate my welsummers in the spring so that I can breed true. I also like the fact that I can sex them at hatch with pretty reasonable accuracy.

 

[rarebear]

Royce, I never said that it was not a welsummer that she has, I just stated that the color pattern in the photo looks a little off to me, my opinion. Although others have expressed their thoughts also and some have said partridge rock. I don't think it's a partridge rock.

I have been hatching, breeding, selling hatching eggs, chicks, adults for several years now. I had welsummers several years back for about 8 years. I sold out and have started breeding again for about 2 years now. I'm not claiming to be world renowned expert such as yourself, but believe me I do know welsummers.

I am listed on the WCNA breeders list as well as a member. I am NPIP certified and take pride in what I do with my birds. I for one enjoy this thread as well as the WCNA website and their facebook page.

I buy from breeders like Brian because he breeds beautiful birds. I have been duped by several so called breeders that sold me birds that were bred for profit not perfection. I truly appreciate his expertise. I got the most beautiful Welsummer eggs ever from him. I am ordering more.

 

[faykokoWV]

I'm not one to recommend hatchery birds - but for people starting out sometimes that I think it may seem easy as you can order exactly what you want as far as breed and sex, and that's not usually an option with a breeder, primarily because most people want more pullets than roos and most breeders aren't willing to dispose of roos like that do at a hatchery. the hatchery is also much cheaper than buying from a breeder. I started out with hatchery birds myself. I had Welsummers from Ideal poultry. I will say, the egg color I got from them was actually pretty good, but the birds did not look like the welsummers I got from a breeder. They also behaved differently, my hatchery roos were mean!

I guess what i'm trying to say is, you will often hear us say "that's not a quality bird you should get your birds from a breeder" its not because we're trying to push breeders, it because many of us have been down the hatchery route and know that most people will be disappointed in what they get from the hatchery.

As to the WCNA, I think there are many many quality breeders listed on the site. Please don't let one person's opinion sway you from the welsummer club. That group ( including Tailfeathers when he was a member) has taught me more than I could have imagined about welsummers. I hope to continue learning from them for years to come!

 

[bwalden]

How long is a laying cycle? So if one were to incubate, then it's not necessary to choose darker (early in the laying cycle) eggs?

Their laying cycle would be over a period of several months. The first pics I posted (darker ones) are in the fall, the second set around January, the lightest ones from early spring. They usually molt and starts all over again. Mine pretty much or almost stop laying when they molt, lose a ton of feathers and look pretty scraggly to be honest. I was looking for a pic of a hen that molted recently. Sorry I must have deleted it.

You would want to select the darkest eggs to incubate, but you would need to know what that hen is capable of producing at their darkest point as well as what they look like at their lightest point. Something that I always think about with my Marans that Bev Davis says. If she doesn't at least produce a #4 on the Marans eggs color scale even at the lightest point, then it's really not one you would want to incubate for future dark egg producers. I myself remove those hens I know consistently produce lighter colored eggs. I keep them in a separate coop. They are what I call my "eating egg" flock. It really all depends on what you are breeding towards. Are you just wanting darker eggs? Do you want to sell hatching eggs? Do you intend to show the birds or sell them as eggs or birds to people who might want to show them? If you are just looking for darker eggs then I would suggest to see what your hens darkest eggs will be like then decide if you want darker or if her eggs are are ok.
I apply the same method with my Welsummers. I mostly breed for egg color while trying to adhere as closely to the SOP as I can. But I do really pay close attention to those who consistently produce a darker egg year round. My roosters all came from very dark eggs so I feel ok with them. Then I take those darker eggs produced to incubate and work on my next generation of layers. It takes a lot of time and patience to get it all right. Now am I going to say that every egg of mine hatched will be a dark egg producer? No, I won't claim that, but odds are pretty good that they will be because of my selective breeding. You have to cull and document and keep track of who is doing what. It's a lot of work especially if you have a large flock. If you have just a couple birds it can be difficult to get that "dark egg" result you are looking for because you can't really cull and selective breed.
Fact is some hens just don't produce that dark color like we hope they will. In that case it might be best to look elsewhere. I've had hatchery welsummers before. Some of them were just fine, produced a nice dark egg. But overall most of them are no where near what my flock is today. I bit the bullet and bought from a private breeder and ended up with some really nice birds. Like I said though, it all depends on what you want to do with them in the end.

 

[Hens and Roos]

DD just finished showing at our county fair this past week- she showed a cockerel and a hen, both received top blues. The cockerel was the only one in the cockerel class so not much to compare it to.