What color eggs do Welsummers lay?

**Dark reddish-brown, terracotta-toned eggs, often speckled** — among the darkest brown eggs of any common breed. The color is a surface coating, so eggs are darkest at the start of a laying cycle and fade toward a lighter brown as the season goes on; young hens lay the deepest color.

Are Welsummers good for showing?

Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's **Continental** class, with the **Partridge (Red Partridge)** color the one to breed and show to. Judges want the deep, horizontal utility type and clean partridge markings; dark, uniform eggs are a plus in egg classes.

How hard are Welsummers to hatch?

No harder than any chicken — **99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch**. The only wrinkle is that the dark shell is harder to candle, so use a strong candler and don't wash off the shell coating before setting.

Are Welsummer chicks autosexing?

Largely, yes. Day-old pullets carry **darker head and back markings** (a clearer dorsal stripe) while cockerels are paler and less defined, so you can rough-sex a hatch on down color — a genuine convenience for breeders.

Is the Welsummer the Kellogg's Corn Flakes rooster?

Yes — the striking partridge cockerel long associated with the **Kellogg's Corn Flakes** box is a Welsummer, which is a big reason the breed is so recognizable.

Are Welsummers broody?

Not often — Welsummer hens **rarely go broody**, so plan on an incubator or a broody hen of another breed to hatch their eggs. Bantam Welsummers sit a little more readily than large fowl.

Welsummer: The Dark-Egg Continental Breed

Verified September 2026Dark brown eggs

The short version

The Welsummer is a Dutch dual-purpose breed famous for its dark reddish-brown, often speckled terracotta eggs — one of the darkest brown eggs of any common breed. It sits in the APA's Continental class; the recognized color is Partridge (Red Partridge), and the classic partridge cockerel is the bird on the Kellogg's Corn Flakes box. Hens lay roughly 150–180 eggs a year, rarely go broody, and are largely autosexing at hatch. Because they are a very dark brown layer, Welsummers are a favorite parent for producing olive eggers when crossed onto a blue-egg breed.

APA class: Continental

Egg color: Dark brown–Speckled

Broodiness: Occasionally broody

Varieties: 3

Egg-color genetics

The dark shell is a brown coating — protoporphyrin pigment laid down over a base shell in the last stage of egg formation, so it sits on the surface and can be rubbed or sanded off, unlike blue which goes all the way through. That coating is why a Welsummer egg reads as a rich terracotta-to-reddish-brown, often flecked with darker speckles. It is also why color is not fixed: a hen lays her darkest eggs at the start of a cycle, right after a molt or winter break, and they fade toward a lighter brown as the season runs on and her pigment supply is drawn down. Young first-year hens lay the darkest; color and depth both ease off with age. When breeders talk about a 'dark-egg line' they mean birds selected so the fade stays shallow and the floor color stays high.

Why Welsummer eggs are so dark — and why they fade

The Welsummer's calling card is a deep terracotta-to-reddish-brown egg, frequently freckled with darker speckles. That color is a coating of protoporphyrin pigment applied on top of the shell late in egg formation — it isn't dyed through the shell the way a blue egg is. Because it's a finite pigment 'budget,' the darkest eggs come at the very start of a laying cycle (after a molt or a winter rest) and lighten as the hen keeps laying, while the speckles tend to hold their intensity.

Age matters too: first-year hens generally lay the richest color, and both production and depth of color ease off as a hen gets older and her eggs get larger. This is normal and not a fault — it's why serious dark-egg breeders evaluate a hen at the same point in her cycle and select the lines that fade the least.

Welsummer as an olive-egger parent

Olive eggs are made by stacking a brown coating over a blue base shell. The Welsummer, as one of the darkest common brown layers, brings a heavy brown coating to the cross — pair a Welsummer with a blue-egg breed (such as an Ameraucana or a blue-egg Cream Legbar) and the first-generation daughters lay olive. The deeper the Welsummer parent's own eggs, the greener/olive the cross tends to run. Keep a purebred Welsummer pen separate, though: crosses don't breed true and won't match a purebred's dark terracotta.

Breeding notes

Select hard for shell color, not just plumage. Save hatching eggs only from your darkest, best-speckled layers — color is heritable, and years of picking the deepest eggs is what built the 'dark-egg' Welsummer lines. Judge a hen on the eggs she lays at the start of her cycle, when her color is at its darkest and most representative.
Watch the fade when you evaluate stock. A hen's eggs lighten as the laying season runs on and darken again after a molt, so a mid-summer egg understates her genetics. Compare birds at the same point in their cycle before you cull for color.
The Partridge (Red Partridge) pattern is the type to breed to: rich reddish-brown ground on the male with a lustrous breast, and the classic triple-penciled partridge feather on the hen. Cull off-type males with washed-out or gappy color, and hens whose penciling has broken up into smudging.
Welsummers are largely autosexing — day-old pullets carry darker head and back markings (a fairly clear dorsal 'chipmunk' stripe) while cockerels are paler and less defined — so you can rough-sex a hatch on down color, a real convenience in a breeding program.
As a very dark brown layer, the Welsummer is a go-to olive-egger sire/dam: crossed onto a blue-egg breed (blue base + Welsummer's brown coating) the F1 lays olive. The cross itself won't lay as dark as a purebred Welsummer, so keep a pure pen going if dark brown is the goal.

Showing notes

Exhibited in the APA's Continental class; enter by variety (e.g. 'Partridge Welsummer, large fowl'). Both large fowl and bantam Welsummers are shown.
Judges look for the horizontal, deep-breasted utility type and clean partridge markings — a well-penciled hen and a bright, evenly colored male — on a bird that is alert but not flighty. Condition matters: keep the reddish plumage from sun-bleaching before a show.
Bring your birds' story in the eggs where the show allows an egg class: a plate of uniformly dark, well-shaped Welsummer eggs is a strong entry, and dark shell color is one of the breed's headline traits.

Hatching & incubation

No breed-specific incubation needs — treat Welsummer eggs like any chicken egg: 99.5–100°F forced-air, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch.
The dark shell coating can make candling harder: less light passes through, so give it a stronger candler and don't mistake a dense shell for a bad egg.
Don't scrub the shells before setting — the dark pigment is a surface coating, and heavy washing removes bloom (and color) without helping hatchability.

Recognized varieties

Partridge (Red Partridge)Silver DuckwingGold Duckwing

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Welsummers lay?: Dark reddish-brown, terracotta-toned eggs, often speckled — among the darkest brown eggs of any common breed. The color is a surface coating, so eggs are darkest at the start of a laying cycle and fade toward a lighter brown as the season goes on; young hens lay the deepest color.
Are Welsummers good for showing?: Yes. They're exhibited in the APA's Continental class, with the Partridge (Red Partridge) color the one to breed and show to. Judges want the deep, horizontal utility type and clean partridge markings; dark, uniform eggs are a plus in egg classes.
How hard are Welsummers to hatch?: No harder than any chicken — 99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18, 21-day hatch. The only wrinkle is that the dark shell is harder to candle, so use a strong candler and don't wash off the shell coating before setting.
Are Welsummer chicks autosexing?: Largely, yes. Day-old pullets carry darker head and back markings (a clearer dorsal stripe) while cockerels are paler and less defined, so you can rough-sex a hatch on down color — a genuine convenience for breeders.
Is the Welsummer the Kellogg's Corn Flakes rooster?: Yes — the striking partridge cockerel long associated with the Kellogg's Corn Flakes box is a Welsummer, which is a big reason the breed is so recognizable.
Are Welsummers broody?: Not often — Welsummer hens rarely go broody, so plan on an incubator or a broody hen of another breed to hatch their eggs. Bantam Welsummers sit a little more readily than large fowl.

Sources

Breed Profile: Welsummer Chicken — Backyard Poultry (Countryside) (Reference)
Welsummer (breed overview, origin & egg characteristics) — Wikipedia (Reference)
Welsummer Chickens in the Breed Spotlight — Cackle Hatchery (Hatchery)

More breeds & tools

Browse all Continental breeds.