?? About Welsummer chicks & temperament

[windtryst]

My bantam wellie is very friendly,so were the Roos,but they are gone now. Give her some time,and she will soon be in your lap

 

[RonB]

I have two welsummers. one is almost 1 1/2yrs old the other is 7 months old. the older one use to follow me around like a dog and just talk and talk. but she is starting to molt now so she just wants to be left alone. the younger one is now following me around just like the other one did. they are great layers.
I have noticed that ALL my girls are more friendly after they start to lay

 

[suburbanchickymama]

I currently have 1 24 1/2 week old Welsummer, Willow. I had 2 boys that were rehomed - 1 friendly and 1 not. Willow is not super affectionate but she is awesome and very curious. And as a chick she was a bit skittish. Now when I am in the coop and run she stays glued right under my feet. She has only given up 1 egg so far but it was very pretty and I'm excited for more! Give 'em a chance and I bet they'll grow on you!!!

 

[lynn1961]

I have about 25 welsummers of various ages, they are friendly, not skittish at all, even the older rooster has a calm disposition.

 

[happima]

I have four chicks: Wellsummer, Astralorp, EE and Naked Neck. They are 3 and 4 weeks old. While my Wellsummer Rosie doesn't run up to me to be held, she will let me and the kids hold her and will cuddle and sleep in our hands. She seems to be the sweetest of all my chicks. Just very mild tempered and well, sweet.

It's so fun to watch her feathers grow in now - so beautiful. But I will miss her little fuzzy chipmunk head.

 

[srt4chick]

I am very intrigued in reading these posts. I have Buff Orpingtons that are 7-8 months old and just ordered 25 Welsummers today from Welp. My Orpingtons have a small pen they are in during the day and when I get home I let them out to free range until dark. They are always a little skittish when I let them out but when I come out of the barn with the bucket of scratch grains they ALL come running and it's like a lighbulb goes off and they all think "Oh, yeah....thats the food lady!!" Once I've given them scratch they all want to be right on top of my feet! They will follow me anywhere after that, I think they would even follow me in the house if I would let them!!

I do have a question, when I get my Wellie chicks, when can I start giving them mealworms? Can they eat them right away or do they need to be a bit older? Also, can they eat the "crazy hen treat" meal worms, the freeze dried ones I already give to my Buffs??
I LOVE to spoil these girls. Can't wait to meet my new chicks in a few days!
very egg-cited!

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I started feeding my chicks mealworms (and other treats) at about day 4 along with offering free choice chick grit. They went crazy about the mealworms. since then they have discovered the stinkbugs and are going to town on those, so I stopped giving them mealworms for now, as I don't want to skew their diet too much. I can't control how many stinkbugs they eat, as they just fly into their brooder so I'm assuming they get their good share of protein from that ,as well as the starter crumbles.

 

[Noobchick]

My Welsummer has never been the friendliest of the bunch, even though I routinely handled them and fed them treats from my hand. Not that she was mean, because she wasn't. She just wasn't interested in me as a human and was far more interested in doing her chicken thing. I will say she's been a little more social in the last few weeks. Maybe because I've fed them mealworms??

 

[RedDrgn]

Our wellie has always been a sweety (so far). Now, she never much cared for being picked up (and still doesn't), though she will tolerate it with no more than some minor grumbling when first grabbed. However, she has always been one of the most inquisitive, not spooky in the least, and quite gentle.

Keep handling them regularly, but also put effort into being around them. Just being within site of them will get them more and more used to your presence and they'll quickly come to realize that you're not a threat at all. Hand feeding them treats (or even putting their regular feed in your hand for them) will do wonders for making them approachable without a fuss. We would also reach out and just scratch their heads or stroke their backs periodically (approaching them from the front and at their level, always).

Now, at 12 weeks, you can walk right up to any of them (except for the EE, who is just high strung in general) and they couldn't care less.

 

[SFlChicks]

We have 3 hens and our Welsummer by far and away prefers my husband over me. There are times when, if not given enough of HIS attention, she will cry and carry on until I have to pick her up, bring her in the house, and bring her to my husband. (He works out of our home and he can't always leave what he is doing.) Spoiled? You might say...

We have handled and hand fed our girls since they were little balls of fluff. Our Dominique loves to be held; the BO, not so much. Spend time with them. As they age, you will see their distinct personalities emerge. It's a joy - and lots of laughs!