The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[Prairie Fleur]

I got mine from Bwalden here on BYC, here is his hatching egg add: http://new.backyardchickens.com/t/746229/welsummer-hatching-eggs-12-npip-certified
I also got BCM eggs from him, the egg color is SOSOSO dark, very beautiful eggs and friendly personable hens.

Problem is, he only does hatching eggs and I'm not set up for that yet. I need chicks or young birds. Wish he had that because I really like having a recommendation to someone.

 

[Angie16hearts]

she looks like she has white earlobs and thats a laghorn 
she looks to have white ear lobs and i beleave shes a leghorn cross..she may lay a lighter colored egg or even white egg..shes a pretty bird..the idea of waiting till they lay their first egg before starting them on layer feed is a debated practice..i no on the bag of dumars feed says to start them on layer at 20 weeks ..and others tell us not till they start laying feed..calcium like oyster shells should be offered at choice of the birds and not mixed in with their feed..same with grit..as mentioned above..there is suppost to be enough of everything they need in their feed but i think sometimes we get a bag that is lacking once in awhile ..so we need to give them what they need..i no my production birds first started laying right around 20 weeks and the first few eggs were misshaped and some without shells..now thats not a mess you will enjoy reaching into a nest box and finding first thing in the morn..lol

as far as her comb goes, you'll no when it turns real red that shes getting ready to start laying..she'll start to climb in the nest and start moving straw around ..it maybe another week or so after you notice her comb change to red..and it will get red..you'll noticed when it changes..then she should start laying..

 

[Angie16hearts]

we ended up getting it this morning about 10. She was in nesting box but h think the younger chicks bothered her. She came out and laid the egg on the floor of the coop. It's small with a tint of brown. I just cleaned coop and pulled laying food. So like you said I'll divide into different bowls let her choose. Will they get bigger? Or darker ? Also my 3 RIR all are at laying age. Red combs face ect... Now that pepper laid will this help them along? I read your msg again so normal for her egg to be small. My question on the other girls 2/3 of them have also been hanging in nesting boxes a bit more during morning hours. So hopefully soon I'll have a bunch of eggs in fridge. so exciting getting the first egg. Our flock has 11 hens and 1 rooster. They will finally be earning there keep

 

[wny egger]

we ended up getting it this morning about 10. She was in nesting box but h think the younger chicks bothered her. She came out and laid the egg on the floor of the coop. It's small with a tint of brown. I just cleaned coop and pulled laying food. So like you said I'll divide into different bowls let her choose. Will they get bigger? Or darker ? Also my 3 RIR all are at laying age. Red combs face ect... Now that pepper laid will this help them along? I read your msg again so normal for her egg to be small. My question on the other girls 2/3 of them have also been hanging in nesting boxes a bit more during morning hours. So hopefully soon I'll have a bunch of eggs in fridge.

so exciting getting the first egg. Our flock has 11 hens and 1 rooster. They will finally be earning there keep

nice..i figured she was on her way ..lol..if they are in the nest in the morning they are in there for one reason..you should start seeing them pretty fast now ..remember to watch for any mishaped or missing shells..i had one last yr that was real long and skinny ..it had 3 small yokes in it ..they will get bigger in time ..once they get going they will straighten themselves out ..as long as theres nothing wrong with them ..mine would stop laying if there was any kind of preditors around ..it took me a cpl nites before i relised i had coons snooping around the coop at nite ..then a fox showd up ..i also had a hawk hanging around ..you will start to see things like crows are better to have around then to chase off..they will keep the hawks away.but may still get into the garbage on garbage nite ..lol.and bluejays will warn you if theres anything going on in the woods ..if you have woods around ya that is...i like getting the new eggs and seeing whats in them ..sometimes you'll get eggs with 3 yokes or one big one ..i have a bird that lays a huge egg every few weeks ..she laid an egg almost as big as a baseball and it was all yoke ..one huge yoke ..it was delicious..lol


i got my first wellie egg last nite when i was closing them in for the nite..

pretty small but has pretty good color for a first egg.the other 3 are from my production birds...i cleaned out the nest boxes this morning and add new straw..a good cleaning going on today here ..i went to buy more grower finisher yesterday and found they only sold 50lb bags ..and that feed is 15% protein but the grower starter is 20% and i could get it in 25lb bag so i bought that instead..i will start adding a little layer feed to this as the week gets started..i dont think the higher protein will hurt them and i figured a few of the wellies look like they need it ..the layer feed is also 15%protein...

 

[Angie16hearts]

nice..i figured she was on her way ..lol..if they are in the nest in the morning they are in there for one reason..you should start seeing them pretty fast now ..remember to watch for any mishaped or missing shells..i had one last yr that was real long and skinny ..it had 3 small yokes in it ..they will get bigger in time ..once they get going they will straighten themselves out ..as long as theres nothing wrong with them ..mine would stop laying if there was any kind of preditors around ..it took me a cpl nites before i relised i had coons snooping around the coop at nite ..then a fox showd up ..i also had a hawk hanging around ..you will start to see things like crows are better to have around then to chase off..they will keep the hawks away.but may still get into the garbage on garbage nite ..lol.and bluejays will warn you if theres anything going on in the woods ..if you have woods around ya that is...i like getting the new eggs and seeing whats in them ..sometimes you'll get eggs with 3 yokes or one big one ..i have a bird that lays a huge egg every few weeks ..she laid an egg almost as big as a baseball and it was all yoke ..one huge yoke ..it was delicious..lol i got my first wellie egg last nite when i was closing them in for the nite.. pretty small but has pretty good color for a first egg.the other 3 are from my production birds...i cleaned out the nest boxes this morning and add new straw..a good cleaning going on today here ..i went to buy more grower finisher yesterday and found they only sold 50lb bags ..and that feed is 15% protein but the grower starter is 20% and i could get it in 25lb bag so i bought that instead..i will start adding a little layer feed to this as the week gets started..i dont think the higher protein will hurt them and i figured a few of the wellies look like they need it ..the layer feed is also 15%protein...

So fun ! Beautiful brown eggs! I have another question for you or anyone else ? My girls free range everyday but not tell 3-4 then of course they go to bed on there own. On weekends they get the whole day. besides yesterday cause the younger ones bothered her she flew out and laid on coop floor but she had the right idea. The walk way had even been knocked down and she flew up to her box. Should I keep them in coop intel she has layed her egg? Or just let her learn to go back to coop? I have 11 hens all diffrent ages . I don't want eggs all over yard

 

[Angie16hearts]

And yes you were right it's a light light brown. So I'm assuming leghorn welsummer mix. Which has been many peoples guess on her. I just love this sight. I also have the reds nesting so I'm debating letting them loose today cause it's there fun day or waiting. Tell the normal hour. I may not get another egg today anyways right?

 

[Deb B]

So fun ! Beautiful brown eggs! I have another question for you or anyone else ? My girls free range everyday but not tell 3-4 then of course they go to bed on there own. On weekends they get the whole day. besides yesterday cause the younger ones bothered her she flew out and laid on coop floor but she had the right idea. The walk way had even been knocked down and she flew up to her box. Should I keep them in coop intel she has layed her egg? Or just let her learn to go back to coop? I have 11 hens all diffrent ages . I don't want eggs all over yard

I usually let mine out in the afternoon and I prop the door open so they can go back in. Mine have always run back and laid their eggs in the nest box, even after being let out. My Welsummer, in particular, is a twilight layer. I always find her egg in the nest box when I go to lock them up for the evening. However, I do know people who have chickens who make secret nests around the yard to lay in. I'm guessing those hens are going broody, but I have no experience with it. So I'd say go ahead and let them out and watch what they do for a while. If you start finding eggs in weird places then maybe you want to keep them locked up until they lay.

 

[Angie16hearts]

I usually let mine out in the afternoon and I prop the door open so they can go back in.  Mine have always run back and laid their eggs in the nest box, even after being let out.  My Welsummer, in particular, is a twilight layer.  I always find her egg in the nest box when I go to lock them up for the evening.  However, I do know people who have chickens who make secret nests around the yard to lay in.  I'm guessing those hens are going broody, but I have no experience with it.  So I'd say go ahead and let them out and watch what they do for a while.  If you start finding eggs in weird places then maybe you want to keep them locked up until they lay. 

Perfect , I was wanting to go drink my coffee and enjoy watching them. I'm following you now just love your advice!

 

[Deb B]

Aw, Thanks Angie!

 

[birdlady79]

Ok, so I was out of town yesterday and came home to these 3 eggs.... They were all 3 in same box.....

The 1 in question is the darker one on right... It's the darkest egg I've gotten so far and its speckeld on top with dark redish brown . Could it be a Wellie egg that messed up in the coloring process?