The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[EweSheep]

pinkchick- is that chick really pink? Here in Iowa, it's illegal to buy or sell dyed animals. Did it stay pink? How the heck is it pink anyways? I've read somewhere that the embryo is dyed while in the egg.

LOL! Photoshop can have that effect on any chicks, quite harmless! do you really believe that chick is really pink????? Or remained pink for the rest of its life????

Most states now say it is illegial to dye chicks but however you can dye your own chicks with poodle dyes. As long those chicks are not to be sold, perfectly legal and I would do the same for my white feathered chickens, including Silkies. A BYCer while back dyed her white Silky girl pink for her friend's wedding and it was the cutest thing!

There are different method of dyeing chicks and chickens and what you mentioned are one of those. Dog dyes are another one. Kool Aid are another. Grape juice or beet juices and on and on.

Rest assured, no harm was done to the chick, photoshopped or really dyed!

 

[faykokoWV]

So wellsummers typically lay a lighter brown egg than marans, right? I'm really wanting a nice color pallete with my eggs. I'd like to add some dark egg hens.

Welsummer eggs are more reddish and a matte/semi gloss finish, marans are glossy and more chocolate in color. As to which is darker, that depends on the quality of the birds. Marans' eggs should be darker, but they aren't always

 

[faykokoWV]

LOL! Photoshop can have that effect on any chicks, quite harmless! do you really believe that chick is really pink????? Or remained pink for the rest of its life????

Most states now say it is illegial to dye chicks but however you can dye your own chicks with poodle dyes. As long those chicks are not to be sold, perfectly legal and I would do the same for my white feathered chickens, including Silkies. A BYCer while back dyed her white Silky girl pink for her friend's wedding and it was the cutest thing!

There are different method of dyeing chicks and chickens and what you mentioned are one of those. Dog dyes are another one. Kool Aid are another. Grape juice or beet juices and on and on.

Rest assured, no harm was done to the chick, photoshopped or really dyed!

a lot of feed store do sell chicks that are dyed in the eggs. I agree that this should be illegal as it is designed as a marketing ploy to get people to buy chicks and all the assorted things they need for a chick. People buy one chick and it inevitably dies because they don't know how to care for it. Also, as the feathers grow out, they get back to their normal color. They are almost always RIR roos.

Now coloring your own birds, that sounds like fun!

 

[missydcpc]

I contemplated dying my ameracaunas (sp? really need to look that up!) to tell them apart from my EE's at the moment I've got zip ties on their legs.

 

[faykokoWV]

Tailfeathers - you are up on chicken genetics, if someone wanted to start a duckwing project, what breed would be a good one to cross with? (anyone with advice chime in)

Ewesheep suggested getting some of the bantam variety and breeding them up in size, but I wanted to see what options might be out there

Not saying I'm going to do this, I'm just "thinking out loud"

 

[EweSheep]

How about some the Silver Duckwing OE's?????????

I dont know if there is such a thing called Silver Duckwing Wynadottes....it is going to be a LOT of work getting up there.

Even in the UK, they are having problems with their Silver Duckwings Welsummers because their egg colors are unpredictable and inconsisent.

 

[EweSheep]

I contemplated dying my ameracaunas (sp? really need to look that up!) to tell them apart from my EE's at the moment I've got zip ties on their legs.

You can dye them, use the food coloring dropper on top of their heads and keep re applying it weekly. Zip ties are better in the long run in case you get side tracked something serious, such as longer work hours, sickness in family or yourself or got side tracked.

 

[missydcpc]

Thanks EweSheep, getting sidetracked was my worry with the zipties..don't want to hurt them if I forget for a 2 or more weeks.

 

[sheeshshe]

what week did your welsummers start laying? just for fun. Mine are still young (7 1/2) weeks only but for fun, I thought I"d ask. it'll be super exciting when they do! It will be a long wait, but worth it since they're my favorite chicks in the bunch

 

[Opa]

The earliest I've had them start was 26 weeks. Some took 30.