The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[aart]

Quote: I would open each of those eggs very carefully one at a time in a small dish...might be some stinkers in there.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I would open each of those eggs very carefully one at a time in a small dish...might be some stinkers in there.

I broke 'em up and fed them back to the girls. I truly don't know how long they had been sitting on those eggs....could be a week or more.

 

[MistyMountain]

I got my order from Sandhill four weeks ago with 10 welsummers in it. I marked one as a roo from day one, he was lighter in color than all the others. That turned out to be correct, he now has obvious black and comb/wattle growth the redness. A week ago I would have bet money that I won the chicken lottery with the rest being pullets, salmon colored feathers coming in on all. I guess I am not a good gambler, though, as I am not suspicious of a good number of the rest of them. A bit darker red on the chest, slow to feather, some have solid red feathers on wings, but not the rich deep red. Still no comb coloring like the cockerel, and no black on the chest. Wish me luck on these stragglers!!

 

[jenniferlamar70]

I got my order from Sandhill four weeks ago with 10 welsummers in it. I marked one as a roo from day one, he was lighter in color than all the others. That turned out to be correct, he now has obvious black and comb/wattle growth the redness. A week ago I would have bet money that I won the chicken lottery with the rest being pullets, salmon colored feathers coming in on all. I guess I am not a good gambler, though, as I am not suspicious of a good number of the rest of them. A bit darker red on the chest, slow to feather, some have solid red feathers on wings, but not the rich deep red. Still no comb coloring like the cockerel, and no black on the chest. Wish me luck on these stragglers!!

My guess is the rest are female if they have salmon colored chest. My boys had patches of black from the moment they feathered in.

Rooster at 6 weeks

 

[JulesChicks]

My Welsummer-Blue Wheaten Ameraucana crosses have started laying.
Lovely cross and nice eggs.

Brown (late season Welsummer), Blue (Blue Wheaten Ameraucana pullet), Green (Welsummer-BW Ameraucana pullet)

Just now seeing this Selkie...gorgeous eggs and what a beautiful pullet! I have been toying with the idea of asking Royce if he has any Welsummer cockerels he would care to part with, or pullets if he has any. We only have the 2 Wellie pullets from him and the 2 Ameraucana pullets (1 W and 1 BW). I was wondering what the cross would produce. I have crossed my BCM with my Ams and am happy with them for the most part - I just don't love the personality of the BCM. I think I remember you saying you are happy with the disposition of your Welsummers, both male and female - is that correct?
I notice that the egg size for the greens are between the Wellie and the Ams - that's good I think. My Welsummer eggs from that line are HUGE, the Ams, smallish. In between is good

 

[SeattleSelkie]

Just now seeing this Selkie...gorgeous eggs and what a beautiful pullet! I have been toying with the idea of asking Royce if he has any Welsummer cockerels he would care to part with, or pullets if he has any. We only have the 2 Wellie pullets from him and the 2 Ameraucana pullets (1 W and 1 BW). I was wondering what the cross would produce. I have crossed my BCM with my Ams and am happy with them for the most part - I just don't love the personality of the BCM. I think I remember you saying you are happy with the disposition of your Welsummers, both male and female - is that correct?
I notice that the egg size for the greens are between the Wellie and the Ams - that's good I think. My Welsummer eggs from that line are HUGE, the Ams, smallish. In between is good

Thanks for the kind words. I am enjoying this cross and am very happy with the disposition of both my Welsummers and the cross. The eggs are sizing up more now that they have been laying for a few weeks. Those in the photo above are some of the first eggs, so the size is increasing a bit but not yet as large as the Welsummer eggs. I agree, this line lays big eggs and very productive. I am still getting 5/week from most except for my best Wellie layer who has finally gone into a huge molt.

I did have one of the three cockerels I got from our breeder turn out quite snotty and he ended up culled. So word of caution there. However, the hens have all settled into being the most mellow of my various birds and seem to get along with everyone.

Here is another picture of the two parent lines and the olive egger cross.

 

[room onthebroom]

Thanks for the kind words. I am enjoying this cross and am very happy with the disposition of both my Welsummers and the cross. The eggs are sizing up more now that they have been laying for a few weeks. Those in the photo above are some of the first eggs, so the size is increasing a bit but not yet as large as the Welsummer eggs. I agree, this line lays big eggs and very productive. I am still getting 5/week from most except for my best Wellie layer who has finally gone into a huge molt.

I did have one of the three cockerels I got from our breeder turn out quite snotty and he ended up culled. So word of caution there. However, the hens have all settled into being the most mellow of my various birds and seem to get along with everyone.

Here is another picture of the two parent lines and the olive egger cross.

Beautiful!!!

 

[gonehencrazy]

My Welsummer cross pullets have not started to lay!! They were born around March 23! I'm going crazy. For a while I had some soft weird eggs which I thought may have been them since most of the others had started to lay well...but alas there have been no real eggs that I can attribute to them. I have never seen them in the boxes and I have search the chicken yard again and again for a hidden cache. Nothing!! How much longer do I have to wait?!?

 

[aart]

My Welsummer cross pullets have not started to lay!! They were born around March 23! I'm going crazy. For a while I had some soft weird eggs which I thought may have been them since most of the others had started to lay well...but alas there have been no real eggs that I can attribute to them. I have never seen them in the boxes and I have search the chicken yard again and again for a hidden cache. Nothing!! How much longer do I have to wait?!?

Lock 'em up to be sure they are not laying out in yard.

Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for 3-4 days (or longer) can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[gonehencrazy]

Lock 'em up to be sure they are not laying out in yard.

Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for 3-4 days(or longer) can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests.  Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it...at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

Their yard is fenced in. It has little vegetation and not too many places to hide eggs. There are a couple of golf balls in the nesting boxes. I have six pullets around the same age. 2 leghorns and 2 EE are laying regularly (well one EE is broody...having a hard time breaking her). But the 2 Welsummer crosses don't appear to be laying. I have two gold stars hens, 2 CL hens, 1 black star and a RIR hen that all lay. So there is certainly enough laying in the boxes for them to figure it out