Sometimes you would have to work with what you have in your Welsummers, particuarly if they come from a breeder and you would have to keep culling. Mothergoose had a heck of a time with her Welsummers throwing "stubbies" even they were Barber birds but it gave her grief I am sure. Finally last fall, Mothergoose sold all of her Welsummer flock..she has some good ones but you have to cull hard when you have stubbies or any white feather issues which it is so difficult to weed out and it will keep coming back again and again rather than eliminate all of it altogether even they are your favorites. If you had the room, then they can all go into the egg laying pen.
Yes, that is the key, do not give up! Just hold yourself back and take a good hard look at everything in your flock, pick them apart, critique them, take the standard of perfection or make a copy of the section for the Welsummer into the barn with you and sit down and start picking out the ones that follows the standards with a few faults. After you send those "faulty" birds in other pen, sit down again and really, really go hard, picking them apart and you should have a few of the BEST out of the flock. If you got 50, you can get by with maybe three hens and a roo or a quad of pullets and a roo if it is really good. Those are the ones you want to keep.
Pinkchick, be watchful on Len's birds, even they are beautiful but the combs on his roos, I'm not crazy about....maybe it looks alot like the Blue Andalusian and Leghorn type of "beefy" combs. I would keep the girls out of his stock because they do have beautiful colored eggs. It's up to you. Compare with the other roo's combs...see some variations of "beefy" and "leaner" combs on roos. Something tells me some certain lines are responsible for "beefy" combs and it is not desirable in the UK standard of perfection. That is something it is NOT mentioned in the APA standard which I think it should say something about being "beefy" and the points are too "triangler" in shape than "fingerlings". See the picture I'm trying to explain....if not, would someone say something???
Nate and Royce and others that have bigger numbers of Welsummers, they are able to do this more effectively than I would which I would cull hard as well and get one good pullet out of 15. And I have three Nate girls, one CW hen, and four bantams. The bantams on the other hand, I could have done better with getting more but if that is all I have to work with, then I can do it successfully by others, sending them hatching eggs and so forth, keep the standard in mind AND keeping the dark egg shell color.
BTW, I just ate a wonderful homemade egg muffin sandwich this morning with three pieces of bacon and one Dutchie egg....it was delicious!
so I'm just starting to come out of the fog so to speak.
