The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[pinkchick]

The girls are finally finishing up their molts!!!!!

They almost look like chickens again! WooooooHooot! Maybe soon they will resume laying, that would be a treat.

I miss their eggs!

For the last year I have gone back and forth struggling with this decision, but I have decided to not continue on with my Welsummers. I love them to pieces as they were the first breed I started with, but after the loss of my Odin boy I am having a very difficult time convincing myself to resume raising them. For now I am just going to take some time and work on my Blue Laced Barnie project and continue working with my Marans.

 

[Hens and Roos]

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, that has to be a hard decision, you're still planning to keep the girls for laying eggs right?
Will see about getting a picture of two of the babies up today- behind in end of the month paper work and trying to get it done today

 

[Georgiabreed]

 

[Tailfeathers]

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Sorry to hear that Kim.

God Bless,

 

[Happy Chooks]

I'm also sorry to hear that Kim. If you change your mind, just let me know - those eggs will be on their way in a jiffy.

 

[missydcpc]

Does anyone in Pa or Md breed wellies? I'd. Like to get some chicks in the spring.

 

[EweSheep]

I'm so sorry Pinky! I know you had great experience with them and have positive reviews on them.

I'm slowing down a bit, probably I am sick with colds and priority goes elsewhere. Seems like I am spending less time with the Welsummer club too. Not sure why but maybe lot going on at home, projects to do and trying to get everything established here like the Spitzhaubens. Maybe I am getting OLD LOL! My love for the Welsummers are still going but not as strong as the last two years. Its almost like you have to pick a breed and stick with it for a few years and the hum drum sets in and wanting something exciting, so you get another breed or refocus on the breed you had in the backburner. Last two years I devoted alot in Welsummers and now this year I wanted to do Spitzhaubens but I have to be aware that my Calicowood hen is getting on in her years and I don't have alot of time left and wanted daughters out of her. Or just chalk it up and go assorted egg laying chickens. On top of it, hubby and I are settling down a bit more and thinking about adopting a greyhound. We really have to think long and hard on that decision. Not easy to weigh the pros and cons and trying to find a babysitter for the dog while we go on trips may be one of the pitfalls we will have to take. Next year will be our last year of doing CW reenactments, the price of gas, age of van getting up there and friends and families that we had fun with no longer in the same hobby, moved on or died. I'm a stay at home mom and enjoyed the low cost of not going anywhere but once in a blue moon I would want to GO somewhere. I know a dog is like another kid but this greyhound caught both of our hearts but we have our daughter to consider if it will be a good fit.

 

[EweSheep]

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Try Whitmore Farms or check out the WCNA website.

 

[Tailfeathers]

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This is oh so true. All one has to do is look at the talk that goes on the various BYC thread. I've only been on BYC 3-4 years and, just in that time, I've seen at least that many "fads". It wasn't all that long ago that the "hot talk" was "I just have to have a BCM!" Then there was the Coronation Sussex. Then Lavs in various breeds.

One of the big attactions and a major plus to having poultry is that there is something for everyone and most folks can afford to have 2 ta 4 ta a dozen various breeds and/or varieties. One likely can't do that with horses, dogs, or what-have-you. So, when something comes along that catches someone's eye, they can jump on it without much hesitation.

The downside to this however is that far too many breeds and varieties never get the attention, dedication, and commitment they need to become better. This is one of my pet peeves with the four breeds I have. Especially the WBS Ameraucanas and the Barnevelders in particular. The W & BW Ameraucanas, for example, still need a lot of work and yet, get this, while there's a lot of talk and interest right now about the Lavender which isn't even accepted yet - folks are already raving about a new Chocolate that's being developed. And my understanding (which could be wrong!) is that the Chocolate will never get accepted as a variety because one can't get to slate or blue/black legs! So why so much hoopla over what, IMO, will never be more than an EE????

On that note, let me end with this, I think a lot of the reason folks "move on" to another breed and don't stick with one is because they expect too much in way too short of time. They get discouraged because they don't see the results they want to in a quick enough manner. And then they see some other breed or variety come along and everyone is raving about it so they want to become a part of it. That's natural and perfectly understandable. Others, and we all have probably seen this, are solely in it to make a quick buck. I hate to think about what that will do to our fancy if it keeps up.

Breeding birds to the SOP and striving for perfection when everyone knows that is a goal that can never be accomplished is not an easy thing. Add to that the fact that many, if not most, of us aren't real savvy when it comes to genetics and then couple that with the fact that, for most of us, we get at best two shots at improving our birds a year and then top all that off with having to wait and wait and wait to see what the results of the breeding are - and one can begin to see why it's just easier to move on to something else. Especially when we've been conditioned as a society for immediate gratification.

The fact is, it doesn't appear that most folks are willing to wait 2-3 years just to see one trait improved - especially when you find that while trying to improve one trait you create a problem with another! And, even if that doesn't happen, you know that you've still got maybe 3-4 other traits that need to be worked on. Given that it's best to pick 1 or 2 traits at the most to work on until they're set, it doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that it is going to take a decade or more to get where you want to be.

That's why I tell folks to get their satisfaction from seeing the results of what they are doing and what they are trying to accomplish. At this point in my life it is very unlikely that I'll ever become a Master Breeder or Master Exhibitor. But, while that would be nice, it doesn't curb my excitement nor tempt me to "move on" to some other breed. My greatest satisfaction comes from the personal knowledge of where I took my birds from to what they are now. If someone else recognizes that, appreciates that, and either pays me a compliment or hangs a ribbon on my show cage, that is a plus. But it is not why I continue to breed and stick with my four breeds. I must derive my own satisfaction and contentment from my own efforts, goals, and desires or else I would never stick with anything.

Now, having said that, I paused to go back and read the whole post again and got to thinking. I don't want anyone to think I'm criticizing folks who choose to run after this or that. Or that I think down on them in any way. I'm not and I don't. I'm just trying to say we need folks who fancy a breed or variety enough to want to stick with them. And Kim, if you want to go work on the BL Barnies, I say God Bless ya. I certainly understand, like Robin says, that one can only devote so much time, effort, and attention to anything. (I've said it before, with four breeds, I can usually only work with two of them per year which means I have to rotate the breeds I work with and that lengthens the time for any results.) As far as I know, Kim, you're a good breeder and you'll do well with the BL Barnies. I just hate to see another good breeder leave the Wellies.

God Bless,

 

[pinkchick]

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Kelly~ TRUST ME.......I still want those Moose babies! I need a nice boy to have with these girls so that I can have layer flock full of Wellies and that flock will need a good rooster to protect them.

Maybe sometime in March would be good.

Hens~ I will always have them....just not going to sell the hatching eggs or chicks. Going to build up the laying flock with them and use their eggs for my eating egg customers.

Thanks Everyone for the support, I appreciate you guys and gals!