This is a smaller sized layer breed. These hens are about the same size as our Ameraucana and Cream Legbar chickens. They will not grow as fast as our dual-purpose Marans, Australorps or Jersey Giants. Please beware of this in mixed group orders.
In 2016 we brought in two unrelated Welsummer show lines and a third line for genetic vigor. I am very pleased with the health and beauty of this breed. These chickens remind me of my grandmother’s hens from long ago. They are pretty, agile and started laying their beautiful large dark chocolate eggs at an early age. Roosters and hens are gentle and prefer not to fight with other breeds. They make excellent foragers as they are fast runners when it comes to avoiding predators or chasing down a bug in the field. They also handle confinement well.
The Welsummer roosters are glorious with their beautiful shades of red and black. The Kelloggs Cereal rooster, Cornelius is none other than the Welsummer. The Welsummer (sometimes spelled Welsumer) is named after the village of Welsum, Holland, and was first imported into this country in 1928. It was bred at the beginning of the 20th century from local fowls of mixed origin: Rhode Island Reds, Barnevelders, Partridge Leghorns, Cochins and Wyandottes. Welsummers are still considered fairly new to North America. They are a rare breed in Canada and the United States. The breed was added to the British Standard in 1930 and into the American Standard of Perfection in 1991.
They are bred towards being good layers of large and extra large dark terracotta-brown spotted eggs along with their beauty. Welsummer chickens are purported to be one of the top free-range foragers of all the layers and lay more eggs than Marans. They are a non sitting breed that lays approximately 180+ eggs per year. Their skin and shanks are yellow. Welsummers are reported to be friendly, intelligent and easily handled birds that love to free range and forage for food but can also be kept in runs quite happily.
Welsummer Pullet – Champion Continental/ Best in Breed
Winter Feather Fancier Show 2019
2017 Canadian National Poultry Show Armstrong, BC
Young Welsummer Cockerels and Pullet
