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Breeds
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Wyandottes
The Wyandottes are beautiful chickens from the American
class. The history of the Wyandotte is extensive. The
first type of Wyandotte was created in New York using
silver Sebrights and the white Cochins and was called
Sebright Cochins. They were mixed with a cross of silver
Spangled Hamburg and Buff Cochins.
The resulting chickens were called American Sebrights
and Sebright Wyandottes. Those chickens were bred with
dark Brahma and silver Spangled Hamburgs and the original
Silver Wyandotte was developed. The Golden laced Wyandotte
was developed in Wisconsin using silver-laced Wyandotte's
females and crossbred Partridge Cochin-Brown Leghorn males.
White and Black varieties came from off shoots of the
silver Wyandottes. Partridge Wyandottes was created using
Cochins (and sometimes Cochin/Cornish crosses) with golden
Wyandottes. Columbian Wyandottes was crossings of White
Wyandottes and Barred Rocks.
Wyandottes were first recognized in the Standard of
Perfection in 1883 but the breed was not strictly characterized
until 1925. The American Poultry Association recognizes
Silver Laced, Golden Laced, White, Black, Buff, Columbian,
Partridge and Silver Penciled. Other varieties include
white laced yellow, blue laced gold, blue, blue laced,
buff, buff laced, red, barred, white mottled black, buff
Columbia, Columbia blue, blue partridge, red partridge,
and white partridge.
Wyandottes are good dual/general purpose birds that weigh
six to eight and half pounds. They are birds of curves
with attractive color patterns. Hens lay between 150 and
220 large light brown to brown eggs a year. They mature
quickly and the meat quality is very good. Wyandottes
brood, infrequently or quite easily depending on the variety
and individual hen, and their mothering skills are quite
good.
Wyandottes have low red Rose combs that follow the contour
of the head. Sometimes, due to the many breeds that went
into developing Wyandottes, single combs do show up. The
wattles and oblong earlobes are red and medium in size.
Wyandottes are cleaned-legged, without beards or crests
and have the standard 4 toes. Their skin color is yellow.
They are very hardy birds that do well in cold weather
and their rose combs do not easily freeze. Wyandottes
might need to be kept in a covered run or have their wings
clipped to keep them grounded.
Wyandottes are friendly and generally have a good disposition
but are sometimes aggressive. Some varieties are not as
uniformed as others are and older types are in higher
demand. Wyandottes are great foragers and they bear confinement
well. They are very attractive birds that would make good
pets.
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