The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[Happy Chooks]

Ruth............I think he's very handsome!

I know Nate has said that he breeds to the Dutch standard, I'd be curious to see how it differs from the American standard.

 

[beesong]

Pay shipping and he's yours! Haven't found a taker yet, and I don't really want to send him to the feed store.

Thanks for your opinion on him!

I'm trying to learn all I can.

Where are you in northern California? I've been looking for a good Welsummer roo.​

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Where are you in northern California? I've been looking for a good Welsummer roo.

I'm near Auburn.

 

[beesong]

Quote:
Where are you in northern California? I've been looking for a good Welsummer roo.

I'm near Auburn.

Oh, rats. I am near Mt. Shasta.

 

[pinkchick]

Okay.....we're going to need some finger crossin' and good shipping vibes to happen, Les' (lwarctic) Wellie eggs are going to be shipped out tomorrow. Hope the girls give up 3 more eggs today...that would be special.

Happy Chooks eggs are being sent out on Monday the 15th...might as well keep the ol' fingers crossed and good vibes coming.

Monique~
He is a great rooster!!!! Your birds are lovely all of them!
It would be great to have you join the WCNA, please do!

 

[Hens and Roos]

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Okay good shipping vibes being sent your way!

How are the new babies doing, Pink, how many did you end up hatching? Sorry if you already said- I've been fighting off step throat, possible bronchitis and a sinus infection and the meds they put me on went against me so I'm just starting to come out of the fog so to speak.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
Okay good shipping vibes being sent your way!

How are the new babies doing, Pink, how many did you end up hatching? Sorry if you already said- I've been fighting off step throat, possible bronchitis and a sinus infection and the meds they put me on went against me so I'm just starting to come out of the fog so to speak.

I hope you feel better soon.

8 hatched
4 boys and 4 girls. They are doing great but I have one cockerel that hatched with a feather stub and a weird wing thing...not sure if it is split/angel wing. He keeps grabbing the primaries on that wing with his beak and going round and round like a dog chasing tail. It folds correctly just sticks out, no missing feather in the elbow area to suggest split.

Will watch him closely as he matures for the freezer.
The feather stub I know about, Loki threw feather stubs and I have eliminated him and his offspring and siblings...or I thought that I had eliminated them all. I know which egg this chick hatched from and which hen laid it and I have removed her from the flock now as well. Was very disappointed when I found that Loki was carrying that......another clue that he was indeed not Odin's son. Good riddins to Loki and his stubby little issues.
I will test mate and hatch some more chicks over the next few weeks to be sure that all is well, or as well as can be expected. I have notified everyone that has got eggs and they are fully aware and will either cull or rehome. It will be eliminated. Last year I almost gave up Welsummers because of the Loki thing....Robin was a great shoulder and friend during that time, I appreciate her. She encouraged me not to give up.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Kim, glad you didn't give up on them! A question I forgot to ask you, what lines are your wellies? Just curious.

 

[pinkchick]

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Kelly~

Thanks, I'm glad I didn't give them up either...I was literally ready to sell them. Stopped myself once, the deal was almost made and I changed my mind. Guy was so miffed at me...but hey..he hadn't given me any money, so I didn't loose any sleep over changing my mind.

Originally, they were Barber lines....I got them (bought the whole flock..bought 3 flocks matter of fact of different breeds) from an elderly man in Central Oregon who had been breeding chickens for years, he got them directly from Lowell...years ago (I saw that paperwork). At first I believed that he had only purchased more birds from Lowell to add to his stock, but after breeding the birds that I had from him, I came to the conclusion that they may have been of lesser quality. I only have one hen left from that lineage and she is a daughter of the original flock and the survivor of the pitbull attack. Odin came from a breeder in California and I can't for the life of me find that paperwork (I can tell you the mans name was Matt, that's all I can remember.), let alone find any of the correspondence on my computer as it has crashed twice since then. He and his brother were the only chicks to hatch from those eggs..... of course....both roosters.
So that is what I can tell you about them.
I guess you could say they are my line at this point...........faults and all!!!

 

[EweSheep]

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!