Welsummers

[PattyO]

Has anyone bought Welsummers from the Whitmore farm in Maryland. Do you know that if you go to the farm will they help you sex your chicks or do you have to buy straight run? Thanks

 

[HogbackMtnChickns]

Hi Patty. I bought Wellies and Ameraucana chicks from Whitmore Farm in June. I have 1 wellie rooster and 4 wellie hens, and 2 ameraucanas. They are beautiful. I am waiting for my first eggs. I had my chicks shipped all the way to Colorado. I do not know what their rules are regarding picking up chicks. I was very pleased with Whitmore's customer service, and I love my birds. Here's a picture of my young rooster a few weeks ago.

 

[PattyO]

Thanks. He sure is purty!

 

[HogbackMtnChickns]

Thanks, Patty. We got our first Wellie egg today. It is lovely - dark and speckled.

 

[Dixie's Chick]

What a nice roo - Congrats

 

[janchilds]

Are there certain bloodlines that are more speckled? I really want my eggs to be speckled but so far mine are rather plain... pretty, just plain.

 

[HogbackMtnChickns]

Hi Janet. I have 4 Wellie hens, all from Whitmore Farm. Some of our eggs are dark and unspeckled, some are fairly dark and heavily speckled, and a few are light colored and heavily speckled. I don't know if some lines are more speckle prone - but at least some of the Whitmore Farm hens lay speckled eggs.

 

[janchilds]

That's awesome... I was looking at getting chicks from them in the spring. They are only 40+ minutes from me.

I know that I read that a hen will lay similarly patterned eggs throughout her life. Do you know if the speckling is heritable? Will her daughters most likely produced speckled eggs as well?

 

[HogbackMtnChickns]

Hi Janet. The 10 chickens I have right now are the first chickens I have ever raised, so I can't answer your question from personal experience. I got these girls (and 2 boys) in June.

I saw that you posted on the Wellsummer thread too. Those folks are great - and will fill you in on the heredity of speckles question. Some of the breeders on there love speckles (I think they are cool!), and some prefer the solid color (I like those too). That is one of the friendliest, most supportive breed threads I have read on BYC. They swayed my decision about which breed to buy - because I knew I'd be following the breed thread and that one is a pleasure to read. I don't post there often, but I read a lot.

I have 5 wellies, 2 ameraucana (all from Whitmore) and 3 bantam brahmas from a Colorado source. I am still waiting for my first AM egg. I wish I were so close to Whitmore. I have nothing but good things to say about them. We formed a coalition of wellie seekers in Colorado to meet the minimum order - and filled in the extras with Ameraucanas. I am so glad we did. I love these bearded chickens too.

How many Wellies do you have?

 

[janchilds]

I think we are right 20 plus/minus. We had several terrible attacks from a mother raccoon in the late summer so I am still trying to get accurate head counts on all the breeds. We have about 150 laying hens, most of which are hatchery bred.

Deciding to breed our own stock and selecting quality stock as our foundation is a rather new adventure. My biggest problem is narrowing down my list of breeds to a reasonable number. Right now we have GoldenComet, RIR, LeghornCrosses, Ameraucanas, EE, Welsummers, BCMs, Black Australorps, and Delawares running around -- and 15 Light Sussex in the incubator.

Oh, and one Cuckoo Marans, two Speckled Sussex and two Golden Laced Wyandottes. We like to support our local 4-H poultry club, so each year at the county fair we get a handful of "other" breeds added to the flock. I am sure they are hatchery pullets but raised with LOTS of love.