The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[Lensters]

Quote:
I think that #1 is a cockerel.

Len

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
I think that #1 is a cockerel.

Len

I think so too.

 

[havi]

Ohh I hope you two are right! That would be great. That would make it where I have two females and a male. That would work out perfect!

 

[Qi Chicken]

I have posted under emergencies and diseases and I think I have kind of exhausted the possibilities with my little welsummer hen but I wanted to check here in case the welsummer people can help me out. PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!!

I have a 22 week old hen, about 3 weeks ago she appeared to be unable to walk on her right leg. This came on suddenly, day before she was fine, maybe slight limp. She could hardly get around so I brought her in and started giving her polyvisol in hard boiled egg yogurt etc. No improvement so I took her to the vet. She laid her first egg about 3 days after coming inside so he thought calcium deficiency and gave her an IV. (Did lay one soft shelled egg and one with dimples. All other eggs normal.)No improvement. They did have oyster shell free choice.

Did research and started giving her one vitamin B complex capsule in honey, yogurt, oats and apple per day. I discontinued the polyvisol. No real improvement, however there was a time when she wouldn't stand up at all and she is definitely better than that. NOW she walks maybe 4 steps and tries to walk on her toenails with her toes curled. Right leg still worse. She has been laying consistently. Her comb sometimes appears pale but is usually ok. She is happy, tries to dustbathe and eats like a horse. She just simply can't walk and she can't live in the coop like that. And she can't live inside. We take her out a few times a day to sit in the grass but the rest of the time she is in a crate.

I just feel terrible. If you have ANY ideas please pm me. I don't think it's mareks, I have once seen her with her foot stretched out but the other one was not behind. They did have cocci maybe 6 weeks ago. She was one of the worst ones, but appeared to recover fine. Her poop has been a little green the last couple of days. One time had a little tiny smear of blood on top of the urates.

One other thing, she is in a rubbermaid container with deep shavings. I just noticed today that she was slipping on the plastic when she tried to get to the food so I put a towel down for her and shavings over it.

Any ideas PM ME!!!!! I don't know when to call it hopeless. I have a hard time putting her down when she seems ok otherwise but I don't know what else to do. What would YOU do?

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
Havi~

Congrats on your babies! I agree with Len and Chooks that #1 looks like a boy.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
Qi~
I'm sorry to hear about your girl.

Is there a chance that she may have jumped off of something that was pretty high? I had 2 hens each break a leg this year that acted the same way you are describing. I rearranged the coop and raised the perches and to my dismay I raised them just a little too high. I think these gals broke their leg when jumping down off the perches. After I figured out what happened and lowered the perches back to where they originally where no other birds have been injured.

What did the vet say about her leg? Anything?

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

I've been corresponding with a Welsummer breeder near the TX/OK border (about 4 hours from me). She's selling out of her Welsummer stock. Per her craigslist post her lines are show quality/nice bloodlines. She has some 11 month old pullets/rooster and some 18 month old hens/rooster. I don't intend to show, but if I can pick up some solid birds for a decent price, I'm all for it. Plus it'll be nice to actually have some eggs now rather than 3-4 months from now.

My husband is going to Fort Worth this weekend, and that'll put us two hours closer to these chickens. What sort of questions should I ask this breeder before I make a 2 hour detour to her farm? What should I look for if/when I get to her place? How can I make sure the chickens don't have any parasites or diseases that I could bring home to my current flock of 8.5 week olds?

How long should I quarantine the chickens if I do decide to bring them home?

She said her 5 pullets are laying about 3 eggs per day. Is this a good production rate for Wellies? Should I insist on pictures of the eggs before I go?

Thanks!!

Rachel

PS Is this an appropriate question for this thread or should I post it somewhere else?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
I'm certainly not an expert, but these are things I would look at/consider.

First off, if you bring any home, I'd quarantine them for 30 days. During this time I would worm them, give them food grade DE and search them over for bugs, scaly leg mites, abnormal poo, etc. It's just not worth risking your existing flock.

Now for things to look for.
Males should have nice black chests. I wouldn't take anything with too much red on his chest. Females should have nice golden hackle feathers with black edging and salmon colored chests. If there are ANY feather stubs on the birds legs/toes DO NOT take them. Feather stubs are bad, bad, bad.

I would definitely ask to see the egg color. No sense paying for dark egg laying birds if you don't get dark eggs. They should be terra cotta (clay pot) color. They can either have speckles or no speckles.

My 2 girls are averaging about 5 eggs/week each. They are going to start slowing down now though due to the shorter days.

Since it's quite a distance from you, I'd ask for pictures of the pullets/cockerals and the egg color before you make the trip.

Edited for clarity.

 

[EweSheep]

I agree with Happy!

If she tells you that the birds came from this person, your best bet is to contact this person to verifiy that it is not a hatchery bred bird. Yes and I do agree with seeing the egg colors on the birds as well.

There is one TX breeder that I would avoid but can not remember where she lives at. It would be buyer's beware if it is her....

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to ask for the original breeder's name/bloodlines and insist on a picture of the eggs. Hopefully I'll get satisfactory answers. Otherwise I'll probably just save myself the trip....

Plus there's that needing a whole another coop and yard for quarantining. Since hubby just finished (mostly) my current coop, he may not appreciate having to build/buy another.

Rachel