Scully Poultry · Our Breeds Welsummer Traditional Dutch utility fowl and richly coloured eggs Breed Overview The Welsummer is a traditional Dutch utility breed, developed around the village of Welsum in the early twentieth century from local farm fowl and other productive breeds. It became particularly renowned for its large, richly coloured brown eggs, often marked with darker speckles and mottling, while retaining the active and hardy character expected of a practical farm chicken. Welsummers are medium-large birds, though classed as a light breed by the British Poultry Standards, with a comparatively athletic build, single comb and close-fitting plumage. They should combine laying ability with enough size and substance to remain a genuine dual-purpose fowl, rather than becoming either an exaggerated exhibition bird or a lightweight laying type. Their alert nature and excellent foraging ability make them particularly well suited to free-range conditions. At Scully Poultry we keep Welsummers both for their utility and as an example of the traditional European farm breeds that combined attractive plumage with practical value. Our birds are entirely Silver Duckwing, a much less commonly encountered colour than the familiar Gold Partridge Welsummer. Breed Characteristic The Egg Welsummers are known for rich terracotta-brown eggs, often marked with darker speckles or mottling. We select for good size, shell quality and characteristic colour alongside useful laying ability. Shop Welsummer Hatching Eggs 01 · Variety Silver Duckwing 01 · Variety Silver Duckwing Silver Duckwing replaces the warm red and gold tones of the more familiar Welsummer with a contrasting palette of silver, black and grey. Cocks carry bright silver-white hackles and saddles above a dark breast and body, while hens are more subdued, with finely patterned grey-brown plumage, silver through the neck and a robin-red breast. The colour retains the breed’s characteristic wild-type pattern, with silver replacing the gold expression and producing the strong differences between the sexes typical of duckwing varieties. Silver Duckwing is the only Welsummer variety currently kept at Scully Poultry. We select for sound type, useful size, laying ability, rich brown eggs and clear Silver Duckwing colour, while maintaining the health and productivity of this comparatively uncommon variety in Britain. Silver Duckwing shows the strong sexual contrast typical of the wild-type pattern, with bright silver-white males and much more subtly patterned hens.
