The Welsummer or Welsumer is a Dutch

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of domestic

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

. It originates in the small village of Welsum, in the eastern

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was bred at the beginning of the twentieth century from local fowls of mixed origin:

Rhode Island Red The Rhode Island Red is an American breed of domestic chicken. It is the state bird of Rhode Island. It was developed there and in Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century, by cross-breeding birds of Oriental origin such as the Malay with ...

Barnevelder The Barnevelder is a Dutch breed of domestic chicken. It resulted from cross-breeding between local Dutch chickens and various "Shanghai" birds imported from Asia to Europe in the later part of the nineteenth century; these may have been of Brah ...

s, Partridge Leghorns, Cochins, and Wyandottes. In 1922–23, steps were taken to fix a standard after the birds began to show a good deal of uniformity. The eggs were originally exported for the commercial egg trade. Some stock was exported to the United Kingdom, and the breed was added to the British Standard in 1930. In 2001, a number of farms culled their flocks in connection with the outbreak of

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

Characteristics

Three plumage colours are listed for the Welsumer by the

Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...

, of which only one, Red Partridge, is recognised in the Netherlands.

Use

Welsumer hens lay about 160 eggs per year; the eggs are dark brown and weigh about . Bantam Welsumers lay about 180 dark brown eggs per year, with an average weight of

References

{{Chicken breeds of the Netherlands Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in the Netherlands