Welsummer

I cared for a flock of chickens (varied breeds) at my last job, and the welsummer and I had a longstanding feud. Despite all attempts to socialize or bribe her, no matter how much time or how many treats, she did NOT like people and was always the last to be put away because while the others usually cooperated and went into the run when I started rounding them up, miss Poorwinter (yes, we're extremely original) was just as contrary as her name and would run off every which direction, screaming bloody murder and acting generally like an idiot. Her eggs were a pretty medium brown with speckles (they were no where near chocolate, not even at POL, and she was not from hatchery stock), and in summer she laid about 3-4 a week, winter she slowed to 1-2. When I was planning my home flock, I intentionally left out the welsummers. It may just have been my particular hen's personality, but she was such a frustrating bird that I didn't feel the pros outweighed the cons. She also was an aggressive forager and ripped the landscape to shreds, which is fine if you've just got pastures, but for a backyard flock she'd be a nightmare. When planning for dark, pretty eggs, I chose a golden cuckoo marans for the rich browns instead-- much better experience.

I did no research on Welsummer's before getting mine and I would just like to say that I am thoroughly satisfied with my Welsummer's. I ended up with 2 hen's and 1 roo. My hen's lay at least one egg daily and are open to the thought of experimenting with brooding, they are doing their own experiment with laying on eggs. My Roo, which we named Red, is the most polite roo I have ever encountered before. I have never seen a Roo to be so lax and gentlemen-like. He is rather gentle when it comes to mating, very protective when it comes to other males who try to mate hens of his flock, very docile to other hen's and roo's when introducing them to the flock, I have even seen him defuse a fight that a Delaware roo tried to start with him! Red let's the ladies have first choice when it comes to feeding and treat time. On the down side he has challenged me more than once and I had to put him in his place. After I got over letting him think I was afraid of he, he has simmered down and I think we have a mutual respect for each other now.

I have 4 welsummer hens, they were my first to lay, and haven't stopped! They are very smart, the first to use the perch, the first to figure out changes to waterers and feeders. They free range well, but always lay in the coop, so I never have to search for eggs. They lay beautiful, chocolate brown eggs. I often am required to keep them in coop and open topped runs, and have never had one get out when I don't want her to, though she makes it clear she could, if she was so inclined by standing on top of the gate, but never flying over. Over all they have been great ladies!

My welsummer, named Pickles, was born with a crooked tail, but this did not stop her from being a friendly, outgoing chicken. She is my favorite chicken in my flock of 6. Also, a little over a year ago, she was attacked by a raccoon at night. If my poodle hadn't woken us up in the middle of the night, then she surely would have been killed by the raccoon. The morning after she was attacked, I did not think she was going to make it. With about 3 weeks of quarantine, treatment, and TLC, she was able to survive. In the attack she lost one of her eyes. It took a while for her to get used to only having one eye, and I had to slowly reintroduce her into the flock. She was picked on a lot at first, but I used a water sprayer, and would spray any chicken that touched her, causing that chicken to run away. After around 3 weeks of slowly reintroducing and spraying the meaner chickens, I was confident that Pickles would be safe back in her flock. It took about 6 months after the attack for her to start laying again, but now, over a year later she is a great layer at over 2 years old. I absolutely love Pickles, she is adorable and has a great personality, and is very friendly with other chickens. Overall, Pickles, my welsummer, is a great bird who has been through a lot.



This photo shows the good side of her face, and her crooked tail.

My review is pretty much like many others. This egg color is amazing. My hens are timid with humans and at the bottom of the pecking order; they get picked on. They are flighty and too smart so can get into places they shouldn't be in. LOL. But they are not troublemakers and they are calm and quieter than my Delaware or Astralorp

I've been hatching Welsumer eggs for years. They have great hatchability, and vigorous health. They're still relatively rare in the U.S. Their eggs are gorgeous, and they're active, alert birds who tolerate the cold well (not so much the heat). They are sometimes very noisy, but overall they're a great chicken breed.

My Wellie is the top-hen in my case. She is very friendly, and will be the first to come running if you have some scratch or treats! She is also quite the "thief." Every chance she has, she will try to "steal" your food right out of your hand. Welsummers are awesome chickens, I will most definitely recommend.

I had to put in my review. My Wellie is too cool. Not the highest in the pecking order, but not the lowest.,likes to stay by the henhouse and never wanders to far. A very cute " chipmunk" chick and pretty feathering. wonderful temperament and laid back personality. We are a good fit. :

Not for everyone, must be patient for the puller to mature. Handling at young age will help build the confidence.

Prefers fruit and independent.

I breed Welsummers and these birds would be great for any one.

My Cackle Welsummer, Wilson laid her first dark, speckled egg at just under 21 weeks old. She was not the most easy to handle chick, nor does she seek attention, but she's not a total lunatic. She just keeps about 5 feet away from me unless there's food around, which is absolutely fine by me. She makes more noise than the rest of my mixed flock and beats up on the new additions given half a chance. If you are trying to have secret chickens, don't get one of these, they'll rat you out with loud squawks every time they lay an egg. Or every time they are THINKING about laying an egg. Or whenever they see something alarming. Or food, etc etc. That being said, when I read reviews of the Mediterranean dark layers, the wellies seem quite calm and docile by comparison and their eggs ARE beautiful. I'll probably always have one for those cool speckled eggs. I'm getting 5 a week. This is my first Welsummer, so take this review with a grain of salt, of course.

I had two welsummers I have just rehomed to a farm. I live on a third of an acre and am allowed 6 hens in my backyard. The two welsummers I had were always complaining and squawking. Compared to my other breeds - barred rock, cochin, buff brahma, and easter egger, they were by far the loudest. They were also at the top of the pecking order and regularly pulled feathers out of the other hens' backsides. They might be a good free range bird, but they seem to get bored and mean if kept in smaller quarters. They also did not lay darker terra cotta colored eggs like I was hoping. They laid pinkish eggs with darker terra cotta colored spots, but they did lay them 6 days a week.

We have one Welsummer and she is positively a joy to have in our flock! She loves treats and will have no trouble running right to your feet every time you're outside and wait for you to hand her something. She has the most amazing colors. Almost a bright orange around her head, and a beautiful red comb. She lays a dark orange/brown egg that is speckled with a darker brown about once a day. The only con I can think of is it took her almost three months to finish molting! And she is on the same feed and treats as the rest of my flock and I even gave her special vitamins to help her, but to no avail.

None the less Welsummers are a spectacular breed!

I got my wellsummer from a friend and she is wonderful. She is very smart and always interested in what I'm doing around the backyard. She is very treat driven, which is so great! My mom is a dog trainer and taught her some basic tricks.

I try to keep my chickens away from the vegetable garden and, if it wasn't for her, I think I'd have a lot more success! She is just so interested in checking out new areas of the yard.

Overall wonderful bird, who lays beautiful brown eggs. I always recommend the breed to people who are just getting into chickens.

Granted my Wellies are one week old to 9 weeks old, but so far, they're all very personable and easy going. The rooster has been a delight to keep. He's quiet and runs the place well without being in the least mean. He puts down insurrections from our younger roosters without so much as a noise--let alone any real fighting or damage. He's also growing up gorgeous, which can't hurt his chances of being kept around The older hen is also very sweet and neither the top of the food chain nor at the bottom. She is particularly inquisitive, and he is particularly laid back. They don't necessarily like being picked up but can be easily handled (seem more confused by it than anything). Neither of them has pecked or scratched anyone--bird or person--even in 'investigating' the new bird on campus. He is very fond of dustbathing and really likes to let everything just hang out, flops out on his sides and everything.

These are good hens to round out a balanced flock. Mine are neither friendly nor aggressive. They are good foragers, and not flighty. They are winter hardy. Not sure about heat hardy, as our summers have been mild the past few years. The eggs are beautiful.

I would not have an entire flock of them, though, because they are not winter layers. In north-central Pennsylvania, they stop laying in mid-October and don't start up in earnest until mid to late March, despite having supplemental light.

If you scroll down, you'll see that below the line is my original review of Eula, my Welsummer. But I have to edit it! She has really come into her own over the past year and she deserves a rewrite....

Eula is now 16 months old. And she's simply the BEST girl of my flock of 9!

While she was maturing, she screamed for attention. A LOT. But that stopped once she really embraced her status as top hen. She's not a bully any more either. Maybe she was only establishing her place in the order, I don't know. But all the qualities that were "cons" before have virtually vanished. She's a A+ now. It just took a little while.

She's the top hen, but she's not mean or threatening. She rules fairly and she's very accepting of new flock members. She isn't a huggable chicken, like an Orpington might be, but she's very friendly and runs to me every time I come into the yard. She is a little shy. She does like to sleep with no other chicken too close to her, but she isn't a meanie. She only has to look at another hen to let them know that SHE comes first. She is respected by the everyone, but yet no one fears her. Even my BO has really learned to live with her and no one is getting hurt.

In hindsight, I was much too impulsive with my original review. I tried to changing the star rating, but the system wouldn't let me. I'd easily give her 5 stars now.

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My Welsummer, Eula, is about 7 months old as of this post.

PROS:

Terrific production. She started laying at 24 weeks. So far, I've been getting 6 eggs a week from her consistently.

Beautiful bird. She's much, MUCH prettier than I expected her to be. The photos don't do these pretty girls justice. Her feathers are bold in color, and very silky to the feel. It literally feels like I'm running my hand across fine silk whenever I pet her.

She's active, curious, only slightly and occasionally skittish. Terrified of any kind of cord or hose -- probably thinks it's a snake, which is a good thing because we have rattlers in our area. She forages, but she's a "delicate" forager, as compared to my BO, which is a ferocious, deliberate and tenacious forager.

CONS:

Extremely loud. She literally screams her lungs out most of the morning. Surprised the neighbors aren't throwing rocks at my house yet. What she wants is attention. I do spend a lot of time with her, but I can't be there every second of every day, and she's a little high maintenance in the attention department. So she screams when she wants out of the run, she screams when she wants me to come hang out with her,.... she just screams. All. day. long. If I go out and hold her for a few minutes, I can usually get her to stop for a little while. But I can't do that all day -- I have a life! ;P

Bully. She dominates with an iron beak. Hasn't drawn blood (yet!), but does stop the BO from eating and drinking at times. Then again, the BO is a very docile breed. Breaks my heart to see the gentlest one be so intimidated by her. My BO won't even sleep next to her any longer because she's afraid of her now. I may have to put her in "time out" for some much needed discipline if this doesn't resolve itself soon.

OVERALL:

I adore her! Full of personality, and oh-so pretty. Lays consistently, beautiful medium-sized dark drown and (sometimes) speckled eggs. Very reliable layer. However, I wouldn't get another -- only because I prefer the docile, more affectionate breeds. And my Welsummer tends to pick on those

One of my favorite birds is a Welsummer I called "Gah" got the type of noise she makes. She broke her leg and I kept her seperated in a dog crate in our garage while it healed. She would call after me every morning when I left her in the garage during that time with a very pitiful "Gaaaahhh" sound every day. The name stuck. I love the coloration on the Welsummers. Golden to orange brown on the neck, and golden to reddish brown on the breast with fine speckling throughout. Beautiful! I had to give up my Wellie roo before I could see his coloration all come out, but he went to a good family who needed a Roo.

We have four Welsummers and they are great foragers and very pretty!!!! I love this breed they are a great bird for any flock. I would defenitly get this breed again.

Although my girls started out anti-social and would not allow me near them even if I had treats...I can now say since they are starting to mature and attempting to lay eggs...my girls are now becoming hand tame...They squat down and spread their wings a little (makes me think of them breeding) and now let me pet them. One hen is very vocal since the rooster was killed. She watches out and allows certain feral cats to lay beside their pen area and 2 other feral cats get near, it sounds like WW3 breaking loose. She stands her ground until I go and chase off the "bad" cats...then she calms down. I really like my girls now more than I originally had. But my favorites are the 3 Turkens (dinosaur chickens...lol) which have always been friendly. So I now have the 3 Turkens and 12 Welsummers.

I'm starting to think that the two Wellies I have are not true Welsummers their eggs are small and not the dark Tara cotta color I have read about the eggs being dark.
The girls are calm and I can reach under them and get the egg without getting peck.