It was Lowell who at one time claimed we had the "Elliott line," and they were supposed a very superior strain at the time. I tried ascertaining the truth of this claim by contacting Fiona (last name I forgot) in the UK club at that time (1980's), but she didn't know for sure. A gentleman in Oregon also had Welsummers out of the UK at that time, and his birds were as gorgeous as the eggs they laid. I received two roosters from him, the better of which went to Lowell, who used it to infuse new blood into his flock. The Oregon gentleman made me promise never to divulge the origin of his birds, for whatever reason, and I have respected his wishes. He is no longer around.
As for breeding purposes, I have studied material I have come across from the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, and Denmark, as I can read all those languages. There is a decision to be made when it comes to type: German ideal (which would be by far the majority of Welsummers in this world because breeders in many other countries (Denmark, Sweden, etc.) appear to have embraced that type or the Dutch/UK ideal [there is a difference both in body type and color] and then whether or not to breed for eggshell color/shape/size or quantity of eggs.
I studied the standards carefully and decided to go with what we had already, which led to some conflict when it came to the US standard. While we pretty much accepted a standard along the UK lines at first, the Canadian, most of whom have birds out of Germany, lobbied for an adjustment, which I did my best to voice against. The result was a happy/unhappy compromise (the tail angle), especially of the male. I have a total aversion of political meanderings and APA pressure tactics, and my protests were easily shoved aside as the opinions of a nobody (rightfully so) with no powerful allies in the organization. Comparing the German and UK types, one almost gets the impression of two different breeds, which I find regrettable.
Both Lowell and I (along with Ron Nelson in Wisconsin, who passed away last year and is a terrible loss to the poultry world) kept breeding for the UK standard and egg quality; we felt the birds were sufficiently productive so that we did not have to worry too much about that aspect. Over time, some of our birds turned out lower on leg and smaller in size, which is why we added new blood (Oregon) and I tried to set up a strain from Canada/Germany mixed in with ours. I kept that mixed strain going although I found it inferior to our other, pure UK strain (now with new infusion from the Oregon birds). A terrible dog raid followed by racoon problems ended the mixed Canadian/UK line, and my own physical problems (back, and right arm/leg) compounded the bad situation. As I have since retired and my physical situation has improved slightly, I am able to take better care of my birds with less reliance of hired help, yet the passing of Lowell and Ron has left a big vacuum in my feather fancier world and also taken away much of my incentive to be involved. However, I am getting back some of the birds from my own line (maintained by a local hobbyist) to start working with them again. I only wish that I knew who took over the birds from Ron Nelson; it would be a terrible crime if they were simply put down.
These are just some of my worthless musings about the Welsummers, and I hope there may be a couple of bits and pieces in this missive that may shed some more light on the Welsummer history in the US.
