Dwarf Welsumer

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Dwarf Welsumer
BDRG - Standard No.
origin German breeding
year Recognized as a breed in 1947
colour "Rust-partridge-colored", "orange-colored", "silver-colored", "blue-rust partridge colored"
Weight Hahn up to 1300 grams

Hen up to 1000 grams

Laying performance 180 eggs
Eggshell color Dark brown with little sheen and dark spots
Egg weight at least 47 grams
List of breeds of chicken

The dwarf welsumer is a breed of domestic chicken . It was bred in Germany and has developed into the most popular bantam with the greatest distribution.

history

Welsum chickens originated in Holland (including Welsum ) and were recognized as a breed in Holland in 1919 and then introduced to Germany.

As early as 1930 attempts were made in Germany to shred the large Welsumer chicken . In 1934 animals were first presented at the Lipisia in Leipzig. From 1935, the dwarf Welsumers were then systematically bred from animals of the large breed , gold-colored dwarf Italians , dwarf Rhodeländer , partridge-colored dwarf Wyandottes and gold-necked German bantams. A number of breeders were involved in the project, but the lead were probably Max Ansorge (Wedel / Schleswig-Holstein), Paul Wagner (Altenburg / Thuringia) and Karl Meyer (Ratingen / North Rhine-Westphalia). It was only after the war, in 1947, that they were recognized as a breed in the Federal Republic of Germany. The sample description for the color type "rust-partridge colored" for the breed standard was made binding in 1957. Recognition in the GDR took place in 1948.

In 1969, the "orange" dwarf Welsumers were recognized, which initially appeared as a mutation in Albert Pesch's breeding (Reydth / North Rhine-Westphalia) by chance. The breeder liked the appearance of these mutants so much that he started breeding as planned.

Until 1998, Gerhard Beyer (Bennewitz / Saxony) and Manfred Petzold (Falkenhain / Saxony) dedicated themselves to the breeding of the silver-colored dwarf Welsumer. This color scheme was achieved through the targeted mating of rust partridge-colored hens with a silver-necked dwarf Kraienköppe rooster.

The breeders René Budach (Guben / Brandenburg) and René Hammel (Schenkendöbern / Brandenburg) presented the youngest of the four colors in 2008: blue-rust partridge-colored. Dietmar Hammel (Kerkwitz / Brandenburg) was also involved in the first attempts and breeding since the mid-1990s. The first animals were shown and presented in Frankfurt in 2001. This color variant was based on the rust partridge-colored dwarf Welsumers and blue dwarf Lower Rhine peasants , after attempts with blue dwarf Italians were unsuccessful. The recognition was completed in 2009.

Breed characteristics

The breed standard requires the rooster to have a barrel-shaped stretched trunk and a horizontal posture. The neck, back and legs should be of medium length, the chest broad and well rounded, the saddle broad and fully feathered. The wings should be well developed but tightly fitting. The tail should be well developed but moderately long and carried fairly high. It is also required that the deeply cut single crest, the short and rounded wattles, the medium-sized and almond-shaped ear lobes and the featherless face are colored bright red, the legs and beak yellow, the latter may also be light-horn colored. The eye color is orange-red. The chest markings are divided into three parts: Each feather from the upper breast to the belly plumage has three clearly delimited color fields: on the feather base, gray-black or blue-gray, in the middle the respective main color of the animal and at the tip a large black or blue dot.

The hens look a bit more compact because their tails are clearly drawn in. Nevertheless it is closed. You wear a medium-sized standing comb. The plumage of all four recognized colors shows pepper, i.e. fine black dots in the feathers of the mantle and wing plumage.

Roosters should weigh up to 1300 g, hens up to 1000 g. Due to the fact that hens of the large breed are crossed again and again, one sees animals that are larger and heavier. Hatching eggs should weigh at least 47 g.

Utility properties

Hen of the dwarf catfish
Dwarf welsumer eggs

The economy was in the foreground when breeding the breed and should be based on that of the large breed. The laying performance of at least 180 eggs, which are usually significantly heavier than the minimum required 47 g for hatching eggs, is remarkable. Dwarf welsumers start laying after just 5 months.

distribution

According to a breeding animal survey by the Federation of German Pedigree Poultry Breeders from 2013, dwarf welsumers were kept in over 1,400 breeds at the time of the survey. A total of over 15,000 animals were recorded. Of these, 2307 roosters and 11079 hens were rust-partridge-colored. The silver-colored dwarf welsumers were in second place (242.1085). Followed by orange (263.967) and bluish rust partridge (18.77). In terms of breeding stock, they are in second place on the list of the most common bantams. A total of around 34,000 animals were registered in the dwarf Wyandotts (1st place). However, the authors of the survey criticize the poor reporting morale in general. In addition, due to the excellent utility properties, it can be assumed that a number of animals are in the hands of non-breeders and are therefore not included in these statistics.

Web links

Commons : Zwerg-Welsumer  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Proll, Rudi: Pocket Atlas Chickens and Bantams, 182 breeds for garden, house, yard and exhibition . 3. Edition. Ulmer, E, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8001-8285-5 , pp. 187 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Holger Schellschmidt: Zwerg-Welsumer. Between popularity and perfection . In: Hobby and small animal breeders Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co.KG (Ed.): Poultry newspaper . No. 14/2017 . Berlin, S. 4 .
  3. ↑ a b Holger Schellschmidt: Dwarf Welsumer. The four colors in focus . In: Hobby and small animal breeders VerlagsGmbH & Co. KG (Ed.): GeflügelSpezial . Bantams. Berlin 2014, p. 10 .
  4. ↑ Harmeyer, Friedhelm: Welsumer and dwarf Welsumer . 8., revised. and supplementary edition Oertel + Spörer, Reutlingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-88627-559-5 , pp. 29 .
  5. ↑ Holger Schellschmidt: Dwarf Welsumer. The four colors in focus . In: Hobby and Small Animal Breeders VerlagGmbH & Co.KG (Ed.): GeflügelSpezial . Bantams. Berlin 2014, p. 13 .
  6. ↑ a b Holger Schellschmidt: Dwarf Welsumer. The four colors in focus . In: Hobby and small animal breeders VerlagsGmbH & Co. KG (Ed.): GeflügelSpezial . Bantams. Berlin 2014, p. 12 .
  7. ↑ a b Harmeyer, Friedhelm: Welsumer and dwarf Welsumer . 8., revised. and supplementary edition Oertel + Spörer, Reutlingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-88627-559-5 , pp. 30 .
  8. ↑ a b Holger Schellschmidt: Dwarf Welsumer. The four colors in focus . In: Hobby and small animal breeders VerlagsGmbH & Co. KG (Ed.): GeflügelSpezial . Bantams. Berlin 2014, p. 11 .
  9. ↑ Pehle, Tobias., Hackstein, Yara .: Dumont's little lexicon of chickens: rearing, keeping, breeds . Dörfler-Verl, Eggolsheim 2008, ISBN 978-3-89555-463-6 , p. 171 .
  10. ↑ Bund Deutscher Rassegeflügelzüchter eV (Ed.): Zuchttierer registration 2013 . Hasselbachtal 2013, p. 18 .