The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[Cooptopia]

I am new to chickens and the breed as well. I decided to get them from a local breeder. I was pleased as I could look at all of them and pick out the 5 I liked best based on color.

Here is one of the girls, now 3 weeks old. The feathers are coming in so beautiful and am very pleased so far.

 

[Dr Bjorn Netland]

Don't like her comb and her leg angles (though the latter may be a matter of an accidental pose). Nice breast and leg color, but the rest is not clear enough to judge.

what do you all think of this pullet?

 

[Chick N Mama]

Here are my first chicks ever - May and June. Summer months! I can't wait to see how they turn out - the pictures of the grown hens are so pretty and I chose them for their fine reputation. Are there any drawbacks to the breed?

 

[bamachicks8]

Hi welcome to byc, and welsummers I'm.not sure if there are.any draw backs to the breed but who doesn't love chocolate eggs!

 

[EweSheep]

I don't see any drawback about the breed. they are like any other chicks out there.

 

[bwalden]

I agree. They are a nice dual purpose (meat & egg) bird. Mine are every other day layers, beautifully colored birds and what a great added bonus they lay those beautiful eggs we have all come to love.

l

 

[texasbirdman]

Actually, as far as the tail angle is concerned, these hens look better than most I have seen here (cf. SOP), as they're generally showing too low a tail, more like the German type. I don't know about that cock bird, though; his tail angle appears a bit low (although it may be misleading as they don't always carry their tails in the "normal" position). His color also looks very good, even if it's hard to tell exactly as these pictures are not close-ups.

Here is a closer pic of Chanticleer, my roo. Unfortunately the legs aren't bright yellow on any of them, more like a washed out yellow.

 

[LemonberryMoon]

Our Welsummer babies!







I LOVE their personalities! Click is the noisy one out of all seven chicks we have. She will sit at the door of the kennel (brooder) and peep until I pick her up, where she promptly falls fast asleep in my hands. After 20-30 minutes I put her back and repeat Sparta is less needy, but still a snuggler.

 

[naturespace]

great photos. my Welsummer girls are very talkative too.

 

[EweSheep]

Here is a closer pic of Chanticleer, my roo. Unfortunately the legs aren't bright yellow on any of them, more like a washed out yellow.

Some of us do have that problem in Welsummers, some could be due to the feed or genetics. A judge told me to watch out for the breasts, upper to lower breasts because he sees that alot in Welsummers and it is inherited. The "concave" indentation from the tip of his chest to all the way down to his lower belly. You want a nice curved feature. And the toplines and white fluffs at the tail heads, sometimes you would get grey or white feathers coming out from it, just have to look at it more closely. With a hatchery, and you are not breeding for SOP, it should not matter.


I am not familiar with Germans vs Dutch vs English Welsummers because there are so many variations of colors (Germans, to me, are a bit darker in plumage), Dutchs are working to improve their stock and English are too. What we are all trying to do, is to work with faults that can be overridden in a generation and less faults to work with from the previous generation and continue to improve. Hatcheries are just too much work,IMO, and they don't breed for SOP and sometimes egg colors.One thing I can say two positive things about hatchery wellies are these: Olive Eggers and lots of eggs for eating.

All in all, just enjoy him and the girls if you like them so well. He is pretty for a colorful flock of hens around him!