The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[bwalden]

after seeing these pictures i am starting to think my wellie flock is not as bad as i thought i was realy disappointed with my egg color but mine lay three on one off three on ond take a day or two break and start again i am wanting to get mine to lay five to seven on color chart and i have seen some pictures that convince me this is possible is anyone else working to improve egg color? if so i would love to hear from you! my darkest layer lays a three to four on her first day and never drops below a three my others lay light twos but with lots of speckles if i breed only the darkest layer will i have the chance of getting darker than what she is laying or is this the darkest i can expect from her offspring?

I think we who breed Welsummers are all working on egg color. I'm constantly trying to improve color in my flock. I hatch only my very darkest eggs. My roos came from dark eggs so after a few generations most of my hens should at some point in their laying cycle have a nice dark egg. I also breed Black Copper Marans and my Welsummers are never as dark as the Marans but I love my Welsummers no less because of that. The numbers you are referring to are you talking about the Marans eggs scale? I'd say to date my very darkest Welsummer egg might be a 5-6 on the Marans scale. But the tint of the Welsummers isn't exactly the same. It's got more of the terra cotta look. I would say if you want to breed for darker color, just cull heavily those that you know never produce a dark egg ever. Then keep breeding back roosters from dark eggs to your hens that lay the darkest eggs. You'll get there in time. Heck i'm still working on it and I've had Welsummers several years. But to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the challenge of it!

 

[Piet]

Selecting for just egg color is off course very easy, but you must keep the Welsummer "Model" in mind in order to preserve the breed and not lose the features that make a Welsummers. There is far more to it than just egg color when breeding the Welsummer. I hope you know exactly who lays what egg when you only will hatch that darkest egg and also, you must know how many eggs she will produce on a yearly bases. Egg size and weight of eggs per year should never be conprimised either. Piet

 

[bwalden]

Selecting for just egg color is off course very easy, but you must keep the Welsummer "Model" in mind in order to preserve the breed and not lose the features that make a Welsummers. There is far more to it than just egg color when breeding the Welsummer. I hope you know exactly who lays what egg when you only will hatch that darkest egg and also, you must know how many eggs she will produce on a yearly bases. Egg size and weight of eggs per year should never be conprimised either. Piet

Yes absolutely. I was just speaking of egg color. I breed my flock for all those things not just egg color. But when addressing egg color those are the methods that work best for me. I try and address all the standards for the breed when selecting those to use as breeders. I have seen a lot of people who only breed for egg color while losing perspective on the breed standard. But with that all being said. Let's face it, those beautiful eggs are why most people fall on love the breed.

 

[Amy Foster]

I plan on breeding selected pullets only two to my rooster to see if he improves egg color my pullets lay a three and an airbrushed speckled two i know these birds arent perfect but i have heard stories of feed store birds winning championships so i am optimistic that hatching many and culling strictly for standard will eventually pay off i am hoping that in five years i will have a proper flock i am new to breeding wellies but i think i know what things to do and if i do wrong and make a mistake i will learn from it and experience is PRICELESS!

 

[BrandyJK]

Hello, I recently hatched some Welsummer chicks (my first hatch) and have a Roo that I want to keep. I haven't owned a rooster before, so I am interested in how these boys behave? We plan to handle him a lot while he is still small, so I hope that helps.

 

[bwalden]

Hello, I recently hatched some Welsummer chicks (my first hatch) and have a Roo that I want to keep. I haven't owned a rooster before, so I am interested in how these boys behave? We plan to handle him a lot while he is still small, so I hope that helps.

Welcome to the breed! I've bred Welsummers for several years. I have 2 young sons and have raised lots of hens and roos. I've never had one rooster with a mean temperament. If you handle them a lot they will be just fine. I've got a couple that follow me around the pen looking for treats. I can walk up and pick them up with no fuss. Good luck!

 

[Johnn]

Having one of Lily's eggs for breakfast! (the yolk is actually a really dark orange but the pic has made everything lighter!)

 

[BrandyJK]

Welcome to the breed! I've bred Welsummers for several years. I have 2 young sons and have raised lots of hens and roos. I've never had one rooster with a mean temperament. If you handle them a lot they will be just fine. I've got a couple that follow me around the pen looking for treats. I can walk up and pick them up with no fuss. Good luck!

Thank you for the reply--I just love these chicks and the entire hatching process! So much more exciting than the white Tractor Supply pullets I bought a few years ago.

 

[faykokoWV]

after seeing these pictures i am starting to think my wellie flock is not as bad as i thought i was realy disappointed with my egg color but mine lay three on one off three on ond take a day or two break and start again i am wanting to get mine to lay five to seven on color chart and i have seen some pictures that convince me this is possible is anyone else working to improve egg color? if so i would love to hear from you! my darkest layer lays a three to four on her first day and never drops below a three my others lay light twos but with lots of speckles if i breed only the darkest layer will i have the chance of getting darker than what she is laying or is this the darkest i can expect from her offspring?

I would just like to clarify, the pictures of birds you have seen on this thread lately, for the most part, aren't anywhere near SOP. Egg color is a strong component of the breed, but a mutt chicken can lay a dark egg too, so egg color does not equate quality Welsummers. Now, if you only are concerned about a dark egg, ignore the rest of this post.

The experts on here don't critique a bird unless someone has specifically asked them to and when they do on this site they tend to be very gentle in their feedback. If a bird is really bad they often refrain from saying much at all. I'm not trying to discourage you, I just want you to have a more realistic perspective when comparing your birds. For example, if you compare the hen in this post https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/271757/the-welsummer-thread/9300#post_12664819

to other hens pictured more frequently on this thread you will see a huge difference. The birds in the post are more even in color. Their backs are the correct flat - no raised cushioned area on the back and no curve to them. They are very proportionate in shape and their legs are deep yellow. Most hens you see on this thread have heavy peppering (too much black) on their back, they are not proportionate, their tail angles are too low, the legs are not bright yellow and the hackle coloration is very uneven. Its even rarer to see a good rooster - wing carriage is too low on most, back are not flat at all, they are not proportionate, have pale legs and many have white fluff at the base of the tail. Newer breeders tend to look at the comb first and say "oh the comb is even, that's a good rooster", but this is a minor issue compared to the overall bird.

the WCNA members try to walk a fine line as we want to encourage people to learn about the breed and its very easy to get discouraged if someone really picks apart a bird. If you really want to learn about the breed I would suggest joining the WCNA, but also make a point of finding GOOD examples of the breed.

 

[Amy Foster]

i have been studying welsummers and piet got my attention with true welsummer birds i see the welsummers i have also have many flaws tail carraige on all my hens is low and i see it all over now that i have learned what sop looks like i can identify many flaws now but there is much i still need to learn my best marked bird lays poorly my bird with best type is marked poorly my bird with best egg color lays smaller eggs and so on! i will be culling many birds to get close to sop and that means hatching lots of these lovely birds! i will start in april and try to hatch about eighty to start with. since each bird has sonething to offer i have decided not to breed selectively until i get up a good number of breeders i will be holding all birds one year to judge laying ability and consistency and type and egg size as well and i will separate and tag all breeders and replace my stock with them thats my plan sounds so simple but i have a feelling finding breeders from this flock will be like catching leprechauns! slow and steady right!