The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[vanalpaca]

I've been reading up on chicken genetics and on BROWN EGG COLOR and it says that there are 13 different genes that are responsible for the brown egg shell coloring.

Some if it is kind of interesting......on 'sellers' genetics pages. I found the links deep in the threads over on the ABC Forum (Ameraucana Club) as they are trying to breed OUT all of the brown egg genes, it's why eggs appear greenish instead of blue for them)

So if memory serves me, the spots are linked to the partridge feathering?
What other brown egg links have you experienced breeders found?
Something about the red chest feathers in the male?

 

[Opa]

I think people should accept Welsummers for the beautiful egg color that the breed is known for and not try to turn them into Marans. The egg should be a rich terra cotta with fine speckling or a slightly lighter shade with larger irregular speckles.

Deep dark red or brown isn't TERRA COTTA. Heck if those wanting super dark eggs are so enamored with chocolate why not just buy Cadbury and be done with it.

 

[Tailfeathers]

So am I getting this right, that none of my super dark eggs qualify to you guys as being

"dark red tint"

as even the darkest ones ARE teeny tiny spots.

They are not shells of poured dark red tinted clay, but terra cotta flowerpot with an overlay of the reddish brown pigment.

Is there something wrong with the Whitmore, Grisham, Calicowoods, and Lowell Barber lines that are pure/known that my eggs aren't 'PAINTED SOLID RED" like you all are describing?

Really sounds more like a Marans trait than a Welsummer trait???

Please refer to my photo in the thread above.

Thanks. And I'd like to see a photo of these eggs you are describing, hopefully up close and under bright incubator lighting. I can see that they are SPOTS better once they are in that brighter lighting.

I wouldn't say there is anything wrong with your eggs. The ones I pointed to previously anyways. I wouldn't care for the ones in the upper right corner but there's nothing "wrong" with those darker ones. Just different strokes for different folks.

God Bless,

 

[Tailfeathers]

I think people should accept Welsummers for the beautiful egg color that the breed is known for and not try to turn them into Marans. The egg should be a rich terra cotta with fine speckling or a slightly lighter shade with larger irregular speckles.

Deep dark red or brown isn't TERRA COTTA. Heck if those wanting super dark eggs are so enamored with chocolate why not just buy Cadbury and be done with it.

I would agree the with first part of that statement in that Welsummer eggs should be accepted and known for what they are and there shouldn't be an attempt to turn them into Marans. However, I would take exception to the second sentence.

There are those who like speckles, some like splotches, and some - like me - like the smooth, uniform color of a solid terra cotta colored egg. I have never seen nor read anything anywhere that says a Wellie egg "should be a rich terra cotta with fine speckling or a slightly lighter shade with larger irregular speckles".

We should all be careful not to allow our personal preferences to overshadow that of others or dictate what something is when there is clearly room for some variance.

God Bless,

 

[Happy Chooks]

Opa - my eggs are terra cotta. But one of my hens lays a dark terra cotta with a reddish tint and fine speckling. (like a brick color) That is the color I like the best.

I do not want to turn their eggs into Marans color.

You can see my eggs above in Kim's photo.

 

[Opa]

Opa - my eggs are terra cotta. But one of my hens lays a dark terra cotta with a reddish tint and fine speckling. (like a brick color) That is the color I like the best.

I do not want to turn their eggs into Marans color.

You can see my eggs above in Kim's photo.

That's what I feel is the ideal egg color

 

[EweSheep]

That's what I feel is the ideal egg color

x 2

Our preferences varies from one thing to the next. It is not necessarily WRONG to have speckles but all different shades of terra cotta colors. If you go to different pottery manufactors, you will get different shades, different hues of terra cotta...it could be the light orangey color, up to a deep orange or reddish tint of terra cotta, almost like a light burnt sienna. One thing about Wellies, you never know what kind of eggs they will produce, speckles or none with a different hues of terra cotta colors.

Some speckles are neater than others, and I've seen some BAD paint blobs which makes it a real interesting Picasso painting gone awry!

Cadbury eggs.......I can take them..I EAT them LOL! Gotta love those creme fillings in those chocolate eggs! Yummy! My family would not touch it with a ten foot pole, they said it is nasty!

 

[naturespace]

Can you always tell females from males based on the head triangle? I think i got lucky and hatched 4 females. I was told that some strains of Wellies it's not so cut and dry.

 

[josh44]

I sexed chicks by their breast color, & their Strips on their backs along with vent sexing .
Guess I did it to test out how accurate color sexing was?

In some welsummer chicks I was unable to tell their sex by their stripes,
I found another way to tell their sex was the males had a whiter color fluff in their breast.

 

[josh44]

They managed to sneak a little cockerel in on ya. First photo.....chick smack dab in front that is the only one facing foward.

Congratulations! Can't wait to see all the eggies you are going to get!


Thanks for sharing,
Hope you dont mind youing your post as an EX:
See how in 1st pic CKL has a lighter / whiter color breast vs the pullets