The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[bigtom30648]

I set 15 from McSpin in homemade incubator early May and 3 hatched. Checked some of the eggs and think I may have had humidity too high during lock down. This if first hatch ever, so maybe next batch will do better. The 3 are a week old and grand kids love the heck out of them. Now just waiting to see what I have. 2 not sure of but one has definite markings of a female.

 

[soldier]

I have a question about neck coloring in the Welsummer. I recently purchased some new chicks from a non-hatchery source. They have come recommended as a Welsummer breeder. The chicks are approximately 12 weeks old and feathered out. The female chicks so far look far more bleached out in feather coloring then my birds I got from a local breeder which is thought to originate from Calicowoods breeding.
Attached are photos of the rich coloring I have in my older birds. The younger ones do not have the rich yellow/gold neck feathering and around the top of head and throat latch area they are light brown. Not dark like the pullet pictured. Does this coloring intensify as they age? Or is this group of Welsummers going to have a "washed out" feather appearance?

THANKS

 

[soldier]

Sorry, I can't help ya. I am and have been specifically breeding out any broodiness. I want my gals laying those big BEE-U-TEE-FULL eggs to fill my Sportsman!

God Bless,

Same here, but I got one anyway.

She is on her 2nd chance with a chick that hatched a couple days ago. We'll see how she does this time in segregation.

Oh, I agree. I am not a fan of broody birds. Buffs are terrible. I do have a lot of Welly's so the number of broodies is not large. I am keeping one and culling the others. I do like to have at least a couple of broodies around to sit on eggs. My Buff which I am keeping is a great mom and raising a ton of guineas and chicks. She loves them all and worth her wait in gold.

 

[Cynthia12]

Soldier~your birds are beautiful.
When you say buffs..are you talking BO's? I know they can be great broody moms.
I'm not sure about the lighter neck feathers..anyone else?
I just hatched some, and I am going to keep the two that look like girls to me. I hope they are the darker, I've seen pictures of lighter ones.

 

[DeannaOR]

My one and only lil Welsummer. She looks so gawky right now...but she is very sweet.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I know what you mean Royce about good broodies being worth their weight in gold. I have an olive egger that is a terrific mom and so is my current BR that's raising babies.

I tell you this is a conspiracy now......................now another welsummer is broody.

Pulled her out of the nest last night and put her on the roost. She's back on the nest this morning.

My other wellie hatched 2 chicks, but 1 didn't fully absorb it's yolk sac (and it ruptured) and it died. So she's got one chick and is doing well with it in segregation. Another week and I'll let them out with the flock.

 

[soldier]

Soldier~your birds are beautiful.
When you say buffs..are you talking BO's? I know they can be great broody moms.
I'm not sure about the lighter neck feathers..anyone else?
I just hatched some, and I am going to keep the two that look like girls to me. I hope they are the darker, I've seen pictures of lighter ones.

Thank you Cynthia. I really do love the Welsummer breed. The colors are so striking.

Yes I do mean BO when I say Buffs.

 

[soldier]

Attached are photos of my Broody Welly. The PROUD MAMMA!! My husband said little does she know she is raising a bunch of "Terrorists!!"
I laughed. She has a total of 15. All of her eggs hatched today!

So the lesson of the day is Broody Welly's can be a "dual purpose" bird too. An egg layer of beautiful eggs or an excellent natural "incubator and brooder". She is the natural "GREEN" bird :O))))

 

[soldier]

My one and only lil Welsummer. She looks so gawky right now...but she is very sweet.


She does look very sweet. How did you end up with only one Welsummer? She looks very tame too.

 

[DeannaOR]

Hi Soldier,

I got a turkey poult as a gift.....I didn't want her to be lonely so I bought three chicks to keep her company. The Welsummer, a SLW and a GLW. I originally didn't want chickens...then I only wanted 4-6 chickens..now I have 24! Since I was only going to have a couple chickens..I wanted a mixed flock. It is certainly mixed now! Maybe getting to know the different breeds will help us settle on 1 or 2 that we really really like.
Sunny is very sweet and seems to like attention. My bf says I handle her so much she is actually not tame, just comatose. =)

What are the chicks in your picture? They don't look like Sunny when she was a chick. That is an awesome photo!