The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[te dave]

hey guys i have a question, bought some chicks from estes hatchery, i know, i know, after reading this thread, i probably should have gotten some breeder stock, but it wasn't till after i placed the order that i rreally learned about hatcheries. anyway i digress, the questions i have are: 1)first i culled for any feather legs and live weight (the size is lacking i presume?) roosters ranged from 3.5 to 4.25lbs at 20wks,
the four largest roosters ranged from 3.75 to 4.25lbs, i only plan on keeping 2 at most, what should i cull for next, body type,
comb, tail etc.
2)i did the same for the hens and have approximately 12 hens to choose from after culling for feather legs and live weight.
please keep in mind that i am a newbie (not to chickens, we always had some locally obtained mutts) when it comes to breeding. also i am not really intrested in showing, but just keeping the breed as true as possible. and i was planning on using the albc's method to increase
body size like they did with the buckeyes. am i crazy? or is this obtainable with the welsummers? i really love the way they look and of course the eggs!!!

thanks

dave

 

[vanalpaca]

Happy Chooks, thanks for the photos of Cleo and daughter! I am seeing more shafting on Cleo and more partridge coloring on the daughter. I am assuming the daughter is the better colored bird??

So interesting to see how they grow up!

 

[vanalpaca]

I wanted to update on my bator eggs. Opas are 13 rockin eggs and Harry has the rest and I have 35-40 total that are rockin in the water test. Harry I have details written down on your 4 groups and will give you more details email.

So I marked all the rockers with a 'G' on top for good and put them on the best shelf. This turned out to be the lowest shelf in the bator cause that is where all the most viable eggs showed up and Opas were on the second shelf and must have been in the middle 2 rows and those were also the most viable.

So all the newer and better quality NOT rockin eggs went on the second shelf in the middle. In the past, I have used the water test and cracked open an egg that did not rock and lost a living chick because of it. So I won't be cracking anything open for a few days. We will just let the bator do it's thing.

I went ahead and locked down all my eggs except for the 4 lightest ones. Those were light enough to candle and were clear. I cracked those 4 open. 3 were broken yolks and the 4th had a started chick about the size of a kidney bean or so.

I must say that I water tested at 100 degrees and watched that part carefully. But it was delightful to see an egg really ROCK in the water. Gave me a connection to that little chick in there.

Pulled out all of the egg turners and put my shelf with partitioning in so all the chicks can stay sorted where they belong on hatching.

I have Whitmore, 3/4 Whitmore1/4 Welp, Whitmore/Welp, and Calicowoods. I'm still figuring out harry's marking system, but I think that the underlines are for the pullet eggs and the hens eggs don't have the underlines and all of the 1's are full Whitmore. Guess I will be CALLING Harry soon!

I can't complain 105 eggs started and 40 or so into lockdown. I think that the problem is a lot to do with the new cabinet incubator. It has two fans at the back top and two light bulbs at the top front. On the fans, one sucks and one blows. But the first shelf is too close to the fans and to the light bulbs and I don't think that the heat is getting all the way down to the hatching drawer. I even went out and got 3 of the aquarium thermometers, have the 3 that came with the egg turners, the one accurite that came nailed to the back of the 'bator and my accurite with a hygrometer that seemed to be about the right temp for hatching in the foam bator.

So from Wildhorsefarm in NC and from Shane (KSF) and from BantamHen66 in AL, and Eggs are Good in TN = I have the 12 Teenage Wellies, another 9 from Helen in VA, 14 from Opa are my couple week old brooder chicks. We will see how many hatch from the bator from Opa and Harry in Michigan!!

The eggs were all so beautiful. But I must say that the cabinet DID have a higher ROCKIN rate that that foam hovabator did. It at least doubled. Let's see what hatches. Today was lockdown, by Sat morning I should have some pipping or cheeping!! Hopefully hatch will be OVER by Sunday night.

Then we'll have chick pics again and a photo of egg parts!

 

[Alugo]

 

[vanalpaca]

25 eggs from Harold made it into ROCKIN eggs Lockdown. I believe 8 of them are full? Whitmore farms. 2 just had 1's on them and 6 had 1's with the date underlined. Am I right that Whitmore started with Channing/Grisham lines?

13 eggs from Opa also made it into ROCKIN eggs Lockdown. Those are from Calicowoods line (Lowell Barber).

Helen's chicks are SUPPOSED to be Lowell Barber line also.

1 of Shane's Calicowoods hen's egg is a teen and 1 of his Whitmore hen's egg is a teen.

Rechecked the humidity and adjusted it. Now at 75% and temps at 100.

Gosh golly gee whiz! Guess I better go scrub out a couple of brooders!

(and go source and buy hay for the alpacas, haul some feed out there, pick up some chick feed at TSC, and catch up alpaca Tallulah and give her some meds.)

Bye

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
I personally like the darker coloring.

 

[EweSheep]

Sadly to say, I candled the eggs. Many of them were quitters around day 12 to 14. Not her fault. Shipping is hard on them or incubating problems. However two eggs seems to be very dark, have chicks in them and one is questionable but it's alive due to the movement it made but not as developed like the others.

Alot of the eggs had broken egg spots or simply just quit developing around that time. At least she got GOOD fertility on ALL of them, that's something!

Now for the trio, hope one or two will make it to the hatching time! Go, chicks, go!

 

[vanalpaca]

I GOTTA LED FLASHLIGHT! It has 9 little lightbulbs in it. Cost $2 at TSC! Imma gonna try it as it just got dark and see what I can see. Lockdown isn't official until TONIGHT anyway!!

Cheerio!
Bonnie

 

[Opa]

I've got 21 Welsummer eggs from McSpin in lockdown and 6 eggs from my flock under a broody Sussex hen and they are due to hatch tomorrow.

 

[vanalpaca]

Quote:
We will want pictures! If you get extra roosters you don't want......It was ONLY a 3 hour drive, maybe 2.5 to your place!

Cheers!
Bonnie