Welsummer Chickens
Female
Male
History
The Welsummer is named after the village of Welsum in Holland although the breed was originally developed in the area along the river Ysel to the north of Deventer, Holland at about the same time as the Barnevelders (1900-1913). The Dutch bred it from the partridge Cochin, partridge Wyandotte and partridge Leghorn, the Barnevelder and Rhode Island Red. It was first imported into this country in 1928 for its large brown egg. The Welsummer is a large, upright, active bird with a broad back, full breast and large full tail. They head has a single comb, medium wattles, almond shaped ear lobes and a strong, short beak. They have yellow legs which fade to pale yellow in summer and reddish bay eyes.
Behaviour
Welsummers lay lovely large eggs and the dark brown pigment can actually be rubbed off as it is added at the end of the egg laying sequence. They do go broody but not usually until late Spring but are not particularly good mothers. Chicks are strong and are easily sexed as females have much darker head and back markings than males. They lay fewer eggs during the winter. They are friendly, easily handled birds which love to free range and forage for food but can also be kept in runs quite happily. They are productive for 3 years of their 9 year lifespan.
Varieties
Silver Duckwing, gold and black-red partridge.
Status
Fairly common
Your Images
Welsummers For Sale
Please Note: All Chickens listed here are for collection only. They cannot be delivered by the Seller or by Omlet. Once you have purchased the Chickens you will be emailed the Seller's contact address details.
No Feedback!
Collection Only
No Feedback!
Collection Only
Collection Only
Latest Reviews For Welsummers (3 of 20)
- 5 Star: (17)
- 4 Star: (3)
- 3 Star: (0)
- 2 Star: (0)
- 1 Star: (0)
Great all around chicken
- Owen, 25 May 2013
I have one welsummer hen and she is the best chicken i have ever had. she lays usually 6 eggs a week and is the friendliest of friendly chickens. she follows everybody around the yard. When it comes to hardiness, all i can say is she survived a bad philadelphia winter without a nice cozy coop. (this was before i had her) I couldn't be happier with her and i would be delighted to have a flock of welsummers. also, if you have a rabbit problem, order a welsummer. my hen chases the rabbits of the property :)
Great birds
- Hamish, 25 May 2013
Friendly, curious and nice to other birds
Georgeous looking birds.
- Emma, 28 January 2013
I have had welsummers (both red duckwing, otherwise known as partridge and silver duckwing) for the past 2 years. I have also recently started breeding the former. In my experience, both male and female of this breed are among the most stunning for appearance and if you get a good strain, the egg colour is an amazing red/brown colour - quite unique! They lay extremely well from Jan to Sept with eggs being quite large. The cockerels seem to be more friendly than the hens and they don't particularly like cold/wet weather (mine stay in their coop if it's too cold outside!). I've heard they this breed can be flighty but I haven't had this issue unlike the cream legbars! Overall, if you can balance out the lack of autumn eggs with a good winter laying breed or a hybrid, than they are well worth having.
Beautiful Birds
- Vicky, 29 November 2011
Welsummers were my 'starter' birds and I now have a flock of 8, 2 of which I hatched in an incubator. They eat absolutely anything (apart from meat of course) and run flat out down the garden whenever they hear the patio door open! Very funny birds to watch. The cockerel is magnificent in his stature and colour. They don;t like to be handled, but these are chickens - not pets, so you shouldn't really pick them up as it stresses them out. Egg production is hit and miss with my flock; average 4 a week per bird in summer and spring, sometimes nothing for weeks and weeks in winter :(
Love them
- Becky, 22 November 2011
We have Welsummers, Buff Orpingtons, Bantam Bearded Silkies and Golden and Rusted Crested Marans. Our Welsummers are very intelligent, beautiful and their best friend is my Potbellied pig Tally. They eat right out of our hands and they are very cuddly. We have had them for a year now and they continue to amaze us with their learning processes. They are not aggressive towards even our smallest Bantams and are quite friendly with our goose and duck. They are free range as we live on 2 acres. They go into the coop at night and usually pile onto 1 nest together. They enjoy heights and we make sure to clip their wings twice a year, very easy to do takes less than a minute for each bird, at NO pain to them. We are dif. going to get more Welsummers as we have all hens and want to get more hens. Their favorite food is dried meal worms! If you get Welsummers you will love them. They look like little hawks when they raise their neck feathers and they constantly look like they are thinking.
Read all 20 reviews for Welsummers
Breeders Clubs for Welsummers
To view all chicken breed clubs click here.
- Contact Us
- Site Policies
- Technical Help
- © Omlet 2004, 2010