Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Hi there
I am starting a new thread for 2025.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year

Good morning to everyone and Happy New Year!!...I don't get here as much as perhaps I should but Still above the sod so I suppose that's a good thing. I hope all are well and will have to read through a few threads to catch up.
I tried some varieties from Freys the last 2 years and am pretty pleased with the results...BUT, i am having a heck of a time sourcing a new Welsummer roo...my guy died this past autumn...so anyone have any ideas, let me know...
..anyway, back to reading to see what you folks have been up to in my absence..

Happy New Year everyone! My chickens enjoyed being outside during the warm spell, but there's a fox around, so we have to be careful.

Happy new year!

TomK wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 01, 2025 10:26 am

Good morning to everyone and Happy New Year!!...I don't get here as much as perhaps I should but Still above the sod so I suppose that's a good thing. I hope all are well and will have to read through a few threads to catch up.
I tried some varieties from Freys the last 2 years and am pretty pleased with the results...BUT, i am having a heck of a time sourcing a new Welsummer roo...my guy died this past autumn...so anyone have any ideas, let me know...
..anyway, back to reading to see what you folks have been up to in my absence..

Are Welsummer's hard to find? I will ask a friend if she knows. She used to have them.

I don't know much about chickens but reading this makes me think that we have a severe chicken problem...

"Furthermore, there is little incentive for local industry producers to develop systematic breeding practices, and indiscriminate crossbreeding also contributed to the erosion of local genotypes. According to FAO statistics, there are 1641 chicken breeds worldwide and 19% of them are endangered, vulnerable, or already extinct. The proportion of avian breeds of unknown risk status is greater than that for mammals (64% vs. 59%). Many unique specialized experimental poultry lines developed by institutions and universities for fundamental research in biology, biomedicine, and agriculture have been eliminated. Therefore, this genetic diversity crisis in chickens is in wide scope including commercial lines, indigenous breeds, and experimental lines. The primary efforts to curb the loss of genetic resources have been directed to long-term support for live population maintenance (in vivo) and further research on cryopreservation technology (in vitro). Te former still holds a danger of biodiversity loss because of fluctuations and deleterious inbreeding in a small population and the risk of infectious disease outbreaks or environmental disaster. It is imperative that existing germplasm be stored cryogenically in vitro to halt the current drain and rescue extant resources."

lolotsung wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 03, 2025 11:51 pm

TomK wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 01, 2025 10:26 am

Good morning to everyone and Happy New Year!!...I don't get here as much as perhaps I should but Still above the sod so I suppose that's a good thing. I hope all are well and will have to read through a few threads to catch up.
I tried some varieties from Freys the last 2 years and am pretty pleased with the results...BUT, i am having a heck of a time sourcing a new Welsummer roo...my guy died this past autumn...so anyone have any ideas, let me know...
..anyway, back to reading to see what you folks have been up to in my absence..

Are Welsummer's hard to find? I will ask a friend if she knows. She used to have them.

Seems so...I have tried in Eastern Ontario and unless people just don't want to share, Wellies just don't seem to be very common...I have some hens that I could breed to one if I got lucky but all I have found are crossbreeds and thats of no use to me...lotta people putting out a great heap of barnyard mix chickens with no desire to keep pure lines...oh well..my search continues...will have to expand the catchment zone..have to go west I think

The man I bought mine from lived between New Liskeard and Haileybury. He had all sorts of purebred birds. Chickens, ducks, pheasants etc etc. That was in the mid 90's. He was maybe in his 50's then..... Not sure if anyone continued the bird farm. I can try asking around. I asked her if she remembers the breeders name...

Good New Year eh! Wow its been a long time since I checked in here! I'm glad to see this forum is still going! I need to change my avatar - Molly is an old pug now.

I should also say hello to lololutsung and anyone else I haven't met here in the years i haven't checked in. I had a bunch of life setbacks and i got rid of all my birds while I dealt with things. Todayis my birthday and I have decided to do some things i enjoy and I miss birds so here I am.