Welzumer is a breed of chickens bred in the Netherlands around the same years as Barnevelder, in 1900-1913 of the last century. Partridge-colored chickens were mainly involved in the breeding of the breed: Cochinchins, Wyandots, Leghorns and Barnevelders. Red Rhode Island was also pouring in.
The task of breeders was to get chickens that lay large eggs with colored shells. And this goal has been achieved. The new breed was named after the small village of Welzum in the Eastern Netherlands.
In the late 20s of the last century, these birds came to Great Britain and already in 1930 it was added to the British Standard.
Welsumers were especially valued for their large, beautifully colored eggs. They were bred as a productive meat and egg breed and have remained so to this day. And today, judges and experts at exhibitions first of all pay attention to the productivity of the chicken, and only then to the appearance and color. Later, a dwarf form of Welzumer was bred.
Description
The appearance of the representatives of the Welzumer breed is fully consistent with the ideas of many people about how a laying hen should look in the village. This is a modestly brown-colored bird. Only experts will be able to figure out how the silver color differs from the golden one and they both differ from the red partridge. The rooster is brightly colored. The main color of the feather of the rooster is brick. But as a meat and egg breed, Velzumer is larger than specialized laying hens. An adult chicken weighs 2-2,5 kg. Rooster – 3-3,5 kg. In the dwarf version, the rooster weighs 960 g, the laying hen 850 g.
Standard
In the Netherlands, the Welzumer standard is quite strict, with separate descriptions for laying hens and males. Color in this case, only red partridge is provided.
The general impression of chickens is that they are light, mobile birds. In terms of “light” impressions are deceptive. This is a medium breed. The impression of a light body appears due to a rather “sporty” figure on long legs. Dense plumage also visually reduces volume compared to loose feathers in some other breeds.
Cock
The head is medium in size with a standing large red leaf-shaped crest. Earrings are long, oval, red. The lobes and face are red. Beak of medium length, dark yellow. The eyes are orange-red.
In birds of golden and silver colors, the eyes may be orange.
The neck is of medium length with satisfactory development of the mane. The body is planted horizontally. The body silhouette is an elongated oval.
The back is long, moderately wide. The loin is well feathered. The tail is located at an angle from the vertical, of medium splendor. Black braids of medium length.
The chest is broad, muscular, convex. Shoulders are powerful. The wings are tightly pressed to the body.
Legs of medium length, well muscled. Metatarsus yellow or white-pink, medium length. In the bulk of the livestock, the metatarsus is not feathered, but sometimes the heritage of the Cochinchins can come across: separate bunches of feathers on the metatarsus.
Chicken
The main breed characteristics are the same as those of roosters. The scallop is small, the correct form. The body is large and wide, located horizontally. The back is wide, long. The abdomen is well developed and full. The tail in relation to the body is located at an obtuse angle.
Exterior flaws:
- poorly developed body;
- undeveloped belly;
- too vertical position of the body;
- rough head;
- white lobes;
- squirrel tail;
- a lot of white on the neck;
- too much black in the color of layers.
But with the color there can be different situations, since in the American standards three descriptions of the color of the Welzumer chickens are given at once.
Colors
The most common color is red partridge.
The rooster has a red-brown head and a mane around the neck. There is a black feather on the chest. Shoulders and back with dark red-brown plumage. Flight feathers of the first order are dark brown, those of the second order are black with brown spots at the ends. The long feather on the lower back is the same color as the lancets on the mane. Down gray-black. The tail feathers are black with a green tint.
The head is red-brown, the feathers on the neck are lighter with a golden tint and black in the middle of the feather. The body and wings are brown with black spots. The flight feathers of the first order on the wings are brown, the second order are black. The tail is black. Chest and belly brown without specks.
Silver
In American descriptions of Welzumer chickens, this color is called Silver Duckwing. Like golden, it is most common among Welzumer dwarf chickens, although it is also found in large form.
Roosters of this color completely lack brown in plumage. A white feather took its place.
In laying hens, red feathers are replaced by white only on the neck, but the color of the rest of the body is much paler than that of red. This difference is clearly visible in the photo of chickens of the Velzumer breed of silver color.
Golden
A hen of this color is sometimes difficult to distinguish from a laying hen with a red color. The feather on the neck may be lighter and more “golden” in color than the red ones. The body is slightly lighter, but in general the two colors are very similar in laying hens. Which proves the photo of the Welzumer chicken breed with a golden color.
Roosters are easy to spot. Instead of a red-brown mane, the Golden Duckwing has golden feathers, as in the photo of this Welzumer rooster. The same goes for the back and lower back. Those feathers on the body and shoulders, which should be dark brown in red, are light brown in golden. Flight feathers of the first order are very light, almost white.
According to the American owners of the Welzumer chickens, at their exhibitions, the judges pay attention not so much to the color as to the products, and in the American version of the Welzumer, the types of colors can be mixed.
Eggs
The productivity of the large form of Velzumer is 160 eggs per year. Weight ranges from 60-70 g. The “productivity” of the dwarf version is 180 pcs. per year with an average weight of 47g.
This is the only information on which there are no discrepancies. The Welzumer egg was valued not only for its size, but also for its color. On foreign and advertising sites, descriptions and photos of eggs of Velzumer chickens show products of a beautiful dark brown color with darker spots on the shell. The color of the eggs is so saturated that when removing a still wet egg, some of the paint can be erased.
In addition, American breeders claim that the spots on the eggs are analogous to fingerprints, but for laying hens. A particular hen lays eggs with a strictly defined pattern of spots that does not change during the life of the bird. This moment can facilitate selection, as it makes it possible to select eggs for incubation from specific birds.
In the photo in the top row, white eggs are from Leghorn, in the middle from Araucan and to the left of Delaware chickens.
The dwarf version of the Welzumer chicken breed carries eggs of a less intense color.
The description and photo of eggs of the Welzumer chicken breed from European and breeders is already much sadder. From the “Bratislava” reviews it follows that the photo and description of the eggs of the Welzumer chicken breed do not correspond to reality.
The weight of the Slovak Welzumer eggs corresponds to the declared one, but the color is not brown, but beige. Although the spots are still visible.
The weight of the eggs of the Welzumer dwarf chicken breed is even slightly larger than described, but the color is also far from brown.
According to the owner of these chickens, the point here is that European judges at exhibitions pay attention to the color and exterior of the chickens, and not to the products they produce. But from the reviews of owners it follows that the “” Velzumers carry eggs less than 60 g in weight. But the color matches the standard. The eggs for incubation were purchased from the Gene Pool. But there is an assumption that a rejected egg was sold to a private person.
Chickens
The Welzumer is an autosex breed. It is easy to distinguish a cockerel from a chicken by color. In the photo, chickens of the Welzumer chicken breed.
Chicken on the left, cockerel on the right. The description indicates and it can be seen in the photo that the females of the Welzumer chicken breed have a dark “eyeliner” of the eyes. In males, this stripe is lighter and blurry.
Also, the hens have a darker color of the V-shaped spot on the head and stripes on the back. When comparing chickens of different sexes, as in the photo, this is clearly visible. But if there is only one chicken, you need to focus on the “eyeliner”.
In the video, the owner of Velzumerov clearly shows what is the difference between a chicken and a cockerel. The video is in a foreign language, but the picture shows that he shows the chicken first.
Character
Welzumers are very calm, but at the same time curious birds. They are easily tamed and love to participate in all the adventures that they can find in the courtyard. They recognize people well and stick to the owners in an attempt to beg for an extra piece.
Reviews
Conclusion
Initially, the Welzumer is a high-quality unpretentious and productive breed, very well suited for keeping in private estates. But whether because of inbreeding, or because of mixing with other similar breeds, or because of the bias in the show line, today it is difficult to find a thoroughbred representative who has retained all the original productive qualities. But if it was possible to find such a bird, then in the end the chicken breeder stops at this breed.