Dream small BANTAM Flock

[watchdogps]

Well, keep in mind that if you are getting straight run, the decision may be made for you if you end up with too many roos. Are you getting just one of each variety?
I personally dont know enough to know what I would take off, but I do know I want silkies in my bantam flock because I want the hens to hatch eggs for me, even if they arent their own.
I hear sebrights arent very productive, but they are so pretty I must have some.

 

[cottagechick]

Quote:
Actually I am getting bantam welsummers from MPC.

 

[EweSheep]

Uh oh! Not a good thing! LOL!

Watch out for the color and ear lobs and legs and feather patterns....it can tell you if they have been crossed with something else like OEGB's.

 

[cottagechick]

Quote:
What would be the effect if they had been crossed wit h an oegb?

Also, aren't all of the chickens just crosses of other chickens at some point in their history?

 

[EweSheep]

A few of the signs that it was a cross bred are these things:

White or pearl colored or blue earlobes, supposed to be RED
White or slate legs, or green (if it was crossed with EE of some sort)
Lays white, light brown or simply light brown egg instead of a terra cotta color (can range from light to dark, depending on the breeder's stock)
Too upright of a tail, downward wings
Barred or too much penciling or wrong color that isn't partridge colored.
As for the males, too much red....could be crossed with a Red Brown OE or someone didn't do their homework when breeding them.
Nasty disposition, the Welsummers supposed to be of gentle nature, particularly the roos. We do not tolerate bad tempered, nasty, in your face, gung ho roos and hens....that is not what the original breeders were breeding them for and its one of the trademarks of the breed of gentle natured.


Like any other breeds, they were crossed with other breeds but with generation of "focusing" on a breed and be able to breed consisently of that color and type, that is the one you want to keep breeding and passing down. The Welsummers have been bred for almost consisently with a slight variation of differences or minor flaws that has been bred out, culled out if they do pop up for almost a hundred and some years.

Once I can find the source of the breeder that has been "selling" the hatching eggs or chicks to, I would be able to determine whether or not the breeder is of good standing and if he or she is a WCNA breeder, then most of the work has been cut out and you will not have to do so much work than the other hatcheries. At this point of time, I would be leery until I do find out (or probably will not). I know breeders are facing hard times and need some extra income but it is a real dis service to the breed like the bantams as rare they are, to be allowed to be bred when faults are commonplace. The first generation from the original flock from the hatchery is not a bad deal but as time and years go by, those contracted breeders would keep them all rather than cull out as hard as we do. See what happened to the RIR in hatcheries, they were bred for production, not color, not standard. I would hate to see these bantams from MPC go downhilll.

If you choose to buy them, it's buyer's beware. Sooner or later, information will reveal in due time. If it is very good stock, I would be ordering as much as I can.