The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[EweSheep]

Another question about the APA.............

Wouldn't the APA "confer" with the breed clubs to see if the standard would be acceptable? After all, they have to get some sources of information to update or clarify the standard a bit more than what it used to be.

With those quirky "blond" chicks, I would love to know what they look like at maturity. Sure I have seen white tipped or grey tipped chicks in photographs but they should not be shown, or cull out of the breeding stock.

 

[tazcat70]

Well I agree on the original color for the Welsummers. I can't imagine other colors.

 

[faykokoWV]

Quote:
I had a quirky blond chick from Ideal, when it grew up I couldn't really tell it from the others I got at the same time. The trait is apparently recessive and passed on to other generations because someone who bought eggs from me hatch a one as did someone who bought eggs from them.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

I am brand new to Welsummers, except for always thinking they were the most beautiful chickens, bar none, but I'm going to throw in my two cents. To me a white chicken brings a lot of breeds to mind, but never a Welsummer. My goal is to help preserve the heritage breeds of poultry. We have enough people cross breeding, breeding out broodiness and messing with genetics until poultry can't breed naturally, and soon we will all have to get hatchery chickens because they will all be a product of artificial insemination.

If you take the wheels off a car and put on wings so it can fly, it's no longer a car, it's a plane. If you monkey with poultry genetics until the offspring can no longer be identified by feather color, egg color, temperament, etc., then it is no longer a Welsummer, RIR or Barred Rock. It is not a bad thing to come up with a bird which is shaped the same, but is white--they just need to give the new mix of genetics a new name.

 

[All-American-Chick]

oh just wanted to tell all you wellie loving people we had a great hatch with the wellies eggs.
It is day 22 and we have 7 of the 10 hatch.One is pipping too,hope it makes it out.
Not bad for a first hatch.
The naked necks that where in there had a bad hatch as only 2 from 17 hatched.
sad but the 2 we got are so cute.

just wanted to share my happiness over the new birds.

renee

 

[Batty about Banties]

Heres little Winny at about 3 weeks. I got her from Pink.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
That is very true. When we see a Welsummer, first thing popped in my mind is the terra cotta eggs and second thing would be the lovely color of the hens, of light tan-reddish chest with some unique pattern of brown feathers, colored in the right places. It does not have the shape of a Leghorn, that's for sure. And the sweet temperment as well.

These two breeders that has the "White Welsummers" need alot of work and the egg colors are very light terra cotta or plain brown. It was disappointing but interesting to see why someone would want a White Welsummer. They simply look too much like Rocks and it would take them many generations and years to get to the goal they are looking for.

Yes, it would benefit all of us if they can give their "White Welsummers" a new breed name if they want to go that route.

 

[vanalpaca]

I need to see photos of chicks at 10-14 days old showing the feathering, side/back shots. I'm trying to find out if I should cull this whole lot of chicks that hatched with the group with a blonde chick in it.

I have seen chicks with the same feathering on here, so I'm guessing they are ok to keep in my breeding program? I do have some known quality chicks coming in the next couple of months from Calicowoods/Barber origins, but they are not here yet to compare to.

Yeah, and I'll get some chick pics up soon.

OF COURSE we should keep the WELSUMMER BREED STANDARD to the KNOWN COLORS. Germany does have their own color and that's already caused problems in the breeds from the Dutch lines.

As with any group, APA is probably a POLITICAL entity, if you know the folks on the board making these decisions then you can probably get through what you want and it has nothing to do with the breed clubs....maybe the trained judges could express their opinions as well, but that doesn't mean it isn't political....

I will just breed to the current partridge color because Wellies are so rare and hard to find NOW in the US.

Thanks all!
Bonnie in NW Ohio

 

[EweSheep]

We do know that our oldest breeders, most of them are now gone or retired, started the Welsummer standard to the APA. Erhard is one of those men that gave the Welsummer a boost. With so many genetic pop up going on, color variables and so forth, like the fluffs and earlobe colors that are problematic at times, particuarly when the bird is stressed out, we really don't know what will pass down and continue to pass on to future generation that we didn't stop it to begin with.

And they can create their own club if they want to add colored birds in their agenda.

Above all, a Welsummer, as its origin breeders have created, is a red partridge. PERIOD! Gold and Silver Duckwings have been created in the UK but not well received while others are indifferent about it. It was created by the Dutch and let's stick with it. I know the Dutch have made their mistake of selling some Welsummers in England, which improved the dark egg color and the Dutch lost the egg shell color down the line. Now they have to bring it back by importing the English back into the Dutch and a few of them have some of Nate's birds (all females survived) to add new blood as well as darken the Dutch egg lines. At least they do have a goal and the Dutch is very defensive in what they wanted out of their Welsummers in what they SHOULD be having. The Dutch really frowns on folks crossing Welsummers to create a new color because the origin has been lost and all part of the "fad" of today's world.

 

[vanalpaca]

I totally agree to keeping to the current sandard and not adding sports. There are just too few of these birds around to be messing with the sports. They really need to be culled out.