The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[SFIcelandics]

Quote:
So to be on the safe side we shouldn't keep them with the other breeds than?

Personally I would keep them apart. This year when I pulled my hens from the roos, I did some test hatching, and the eggs were still 75% fertile after 3 weeks of no rooster!!! I usually pull all of my roosters from the flock 4-6 weeks before I want to start hatching chicks. In the winter time I run all of the chickens together in the same barn, and then once it comes time to split them up, the roosters go to the back half of the shed, and the hens stay in the front with the bigger run.

Come breeding time the welsummers have had the biggest pen I have(100' x 100'), and do great in there, but during the winter most of the birds get put into my smaller 2 pens attached to the main adult barn.

So just to be safe I would reccomend keeping them seperate.

Nate

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! Way to go Michelle!

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
So to be on the safe side we shouldn't keep them with the other breeds than?

Personally I would keep them apart. This year when I pulled my hens from the roos, I did some test hatching, and the eggs were still 75% fertile after 3 weeks of no rooster!!! I usually pull all of my roosters from the flock 4-6 weeks before I want to start hatching chicks. In the winter time I run all of the chickens together in the same barn, and then once it comes time to split them up, the roosters go to the back half of the shed, and the hens stay in the front with the bigger run.

Come breeding time the welsummers have had the biggest pen I have(100' x 100'), and do great in there, but during the winter most of the birds get put into my smaller 2 pens attached to the main adult barn.

So just to be safe I would reccomend keeping them seperate.

Nate

2x

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
Personally I would keep them apart. This year when I pulled my hens from the roos, I did some test hatching, and the eggs were still 75% fertile after 3 weeks of no rooster!!! I usually pull all of my roosters from the flock 4-6 weeks before I want to start hatching chicks. In the winter time I run all of the chickens together in the same barn, and then once it comes time to split them up, the roosters go to the back half of the shed, and the hens stay in the front with the bigger run.

Come breeding time the welsummers have had the biggest pen I have(100' x 100'), and do great in there, but during the winter most of the birds get put into my smaller 2 pens attached to the main adult barn.

So just to be safe I would reccomend keeping them seperate.

Nate

2x

Okay, so could we at this stage safely put the 2 Wellie boys(almost 3 months old) into the same pen with our older boys(age range almost 9 months to 6 months old) or would they get beat up to much? Any suggestions/recommendations would be great-we are trying to open one pen so we can do a test hatch with DD's Blue Andalusians(we lost 1 of her hens due to impacted crop)and now have just a few girls left.

Here are the 2 eggs our older girls laid today:

 

[SFIcelandics]

Quote:
2x

Okay, so could we at this stage safely put the 2 Wellie boys(almost 3 months old) into the same pen with our older boys(age range almost 9 months to 6 months old) or would they get beat up to much? Any suggestions/recommendations would be great-we are trying to open one pen so we can do a test hatch with DD's Blue Andalusians(we lost 1 of her hens due to impacted crop)and now have just a few girls left.

Here are the 2 eggs our older girls laid today:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/45425_welsummer_eggs_11-3-2010.jpg

Hey there-
I do not see a problem with older roosters with younger ones. I usually always have 2-5 rosoters in a pen, and right now, all of my breeders and young stock are running together, and doing just fine. Welsummers are a pretty calm breed, at least what I have noticed with my line.

Nate

 

[Happy Chooks]

I've noticed the same thing Nate. Of course, I've only had the one welsummer rooster, but he is very tolerant of younger roosters. He still lets them know he's in charge, but there's not any problems.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Okay that might be worth a try and just watch to make the older ones don't pick on them to much.

 

[SFIcelandics]

Quote:
Yes, I would still watch them, every situation is different, but right now I am running about 20 roosters in one pen until spring. I have gone thru and selected the ones that are looking the best, with the best features, and then I do my final cull in the spring. I always let them mature fully until I select what I am going to use for breeding, I know it costs more to feed them over the winter, but to me it is worth it because sometimes they change for the best after a molt.

Nate

 

[SFIcelandics]

Quote:
Some of my roosters have actually help raise chicks, or have taken care of the chicks when I turn them outside. Suring the summer I start putting chicks outside at about 4-6 weeks of age, so that way my brooder shed does not get over crowded.

Nate

 

[Hens and Roos]

So how many problems does anyone have when you separate out chickens from their main group and then put them all back together again? Do you find a bigger area helps to keep fights down to a minimum between the chickens? I ask this because we have a smaller area to work with- our coop is a 10' x 12' divided into 3 sections and we want to make sure all have plenty of space, each pen has a 5' x 10' run too. Since my kids are working with the chickens for 4-H, they are concerned about the younger not getting beat up.