The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[FaerieChicken]

My 1 year old Welsummer Hen has some gnarly sharp spurs! Is this common of the breed? I also have a Light Brown Leg Horn Hen that is 2 years old that also has some very sharp spurs as well. I am wondering, I aquired the Welsummer from a roosterless flock so I can understand if she took over as the Dominant bird, but the Leg Horn, she came from a well established flock with multiple roosters, well with I guess multiple flocks in that sense.

Would it be ok to to remove the spurs, will they continue to get longer and sharper as time goes on if I don't remove them?

 

[Happy Chooks]

She did it..... My 7 month old welsummer laid her first egg.... But it was not dark.. I will take a picture tomorrow...it had dark spots though...hope it will change... What your experiences

Welsummer eggs are supposed to be terra cotta (clay pot) colored. I have had pullets where their eggs darken over the first week of laying. If your welsummer is from a hatchery, darker eggs may not happen for you. Breeder birds have darker eggs.

These are pullet eggs from the same pullet, and breeder stock. The eggs are a bit darker than they appear in the picture.

YAY! I just got my first egg from my little mama hen! It BEAUTIFUL!! And it's pretty big for a first egg.

Congrats!

My 1 year old Welsummer Hen has some gnarly sharp spurs! Is this common of the breed? I also have a Light Brown Leg Horn Hen that is 2 years old that also has some very sharp spurs as well. I am wondering, I aquired the Welsummer from a roosterless flock so I can understand if she took over as the Dominant bird, but the Leg Horn, she came from a well established flock with multiple roosters, well with I guess multiple flocks in that sense.

Would it be ok to to remove the spurs, will they continue to get longer and sharper as time goes on if I don't remove them?

I've never had a welsummer hen with spurs, but I have had hatchery hens grow spurs of other breeds. I generally don't worry about them, unless they start to grow back into the leg.

 

[meganhundley]

My 1 year old Welsummer Hen has some gnarly sharp spurs! Is this common of the breed? I also have a Light Brown Leg Horn Hen that is 2 years old that also has some very sharp spurs as well. I am wondering, I aquired the Welsummer from a roosterless flock so I can understand if she took over as the Dominant bird, but the Leg Horn, she came from a well established flock with multiple roosters, well with I guess multiple flocks in that sense. 

Would it be ok to to remove the spurs, will they continue to get longer and sharper as time goes on if I don't remove them? 

I just picked up 5 Wellie hens from an established flock and 2 of those have some pretty long spurs too. They aren't sharp cause it looks like they may have been broken at 1 point or blunted somehow but they're still pretty long. 1 of them also has a pretty nasty case of bumblefoot that I didn't notice til after I got her home and saw that her foot was swollen up like a golf ball. She's apparently a bumblefoot frequent flier, shes got multiple scars on the bottom of her feet. Is this also common in Wellies? I know I've heard it's common in the larger breeds but this hen in particular isn't very big or heavy.

 

[firedragon1982]

My ~12-14 week old rooster Kevin has found his crow. Went outside to let them out of the coop and it sounded like a broken squeaker toy. Went back to give some pumpkin after taking the kids to school and it's gaining definition/pattern quickly. He seems to be enjoying himself! I have no good photos of just the boys.Maybe some day when the weather isn't so bad!

 

[aart]

Quote: Bumblefoot is common where there are sharp objects where they put their feet that cut the feet and staph bacteria to infect said cuts.
Really doesn't have much to do with weight of breed.

 

[FaerieChicken]

I just picked up 5 Wellie hens from an established flock and 2 of those have some pretty long spurs too. They aren't sharp cause it looks like they may have been broken at 1 point or blunted somehow but they're still pretty long. 1 of them also has a pretty nasty case of bumblefoot that I didn't notice til after I got her home and saw that her foot was swollen up like a golf ball. She's apparently a bumblefoot frequent flier, shes got multiple scars on the bottom of her feet. Is this also common in Wellies? I know I've heard it's common in the larger breeds but this hen in particular isn't very big or heavy.

Oh no, so sorry to hear that about your new girl. I had "rescued" my Welsummer. She came with 5 other hens, they all had sticktight fleas on their head and face, poor girls. I was successful at treating them onsite prior to bringing them to my home.
All the fleas had died on contact with the Adam's flea & tick spray for cats n dogs, along with a nice slather of Vaseline and some Sevin dust equiv in the feathers and DE to the transport cage, shower curtain in the back of the SUV with DE spread around and the transport cage on that. Same at home, DE & Sevin dust equiv to ground and surrounding area that was aleast several yards away from main enclosure and where my flock roams. Also repeated the treatment for 2 more rounds while on quarantine, and I plucked off the dead fleas that were stuck on them and changed out the straw multiple times.

Happy to say they are all happy and healthy girls now. Molted and I believe some are now laying again.

 

[FaerieChicken]

Quote: Ok, thank you. Perhaps I will file the tips. They are really poky sharp and I am afraid she might actually puncture some one/bird or herself even.

 

[meganhundley]

Oh no, so sorry to hear that about your new girl. I had "rescued" my Welsummer. She came with 5 other hens, they all had sticktight fleas on their head and face, poor girls. I was successful at treating them onsite prior to bringing them to my home.
All the fleas had died on contact with the Adam's flea & tick spray for cats n dogs, along with a nice slather of Vaseline and some Sevin dust equiv in the feathers and DE to the transport cage, shower curtain in the back of the SUV with DE spread around and the transport cage on that. Same at home, DE & Sevin dust equiv to ground and surrounding area that was aleast several yards away from main enclosure and where my flock roams. Also repeated the treatment for 2 more rounds while on quarantine, and I plucked off the dead fleas that were stuck on them and changed out the straw multiple times.

Happy to say they are all happy and healthy girls now. Molted and I believe some are now laying again.

I wonder if the Adam's flea and tick spray would get rid of mites? I've heard of using canine top spot type stuff, I might try the spray in their coop and on them, they don't have mites really bad but there are a few, might as well nip it in the bud before they get out of hand.

 

[stryker]

I use Y-TEX python Livestock Dust. It worked great the first time. I reapplied it 7 days later just because I was fighting them nasty things for 6 months before I found this stuff. I didnt see anything on them when I reapplied the second time.

 

[stryker]

Oh no, so sorry to hear that about your new girl. I had "rescued" my Welsummer. She came with 5 other hens, they all had sticktight fleas on their head and face, poor girls. I was successful at treating them onsite prior to bringing them to my home.
All the fleas had died on contact with the Adam's flea & tick spray for cats n dogs, along with a nice slather of Vaseline and some Sevin dust equiv in the feathers and DE to the transport cage, shower curtain in the back of the SUV with DE spread around and the transport cage on that. Same at home, DE & Sevin dust equiv to ground and surrounding area that was aleast several yards away from main enclosure and where my flock roams. Also repeated the treatment for 2 more rounds while on quarantine, and I plucked off the dead fleas that were stuck on them and changed out the straw multiple times.

Happy to say they are all happy and healthy girls now. Molted and I believe some are now laying again.

That sounds like dedication in your part. Glad to hear that they are in good hands.