Blue Laced Red Wyandotte THREAD! - Page 24

You ar egettings from a 6 month old Wyandotte? Mine don't even start till 8 months.. They are very slow to mature

Hey, at least they're not Jersey Giants!  The larger the breed, the longer it takes to mature.  Be patient grasshopper...

Breed quality birds do take longer to get to point of lay; however, the benifit is that they will have a longer productive life.
Hatchery quality birds are bred for higher production and will start much earlier; however, the offset hete is a shorter productive life.

Ofcourse, there are individuals that start at their own time table. Fast producing birds can start a bit before 6 month mark or right at 6 month mark, slower growing birds can range between 8 to 9 months with some individuals taking even longer.

Heritage breeds doesn't mean they are Heritage bred..as the others have said hatchery and hatchery derived chickens lay sooner than one's bred true..a 6 month Wyandotte laying sounds like it came from a hatchery based stock..8-9 months for mine here to begin laying 9-12 to be predictable and reliable then about that time they go broody
Not to discourage hatching egg sales but with BLRW it's much tougher than other breeds since so many are lacking good color or type then the single comb issue..

With my original flock of 8 BLRWs becoming 4 roos and 4 hens, I was looking to add a couple hens. I found a trio at a local sale, maybe a couple weeks younger than what I have. The red is a little deeper than most of my 8 and one appers to be darker blue. They are from Murray McMurry parents, "I was told."  Opinions are welcomed.







Camera Phone pics, allow for that in judging.

A couple pics of my older BLRWs. Around 16 weeks, give or take 1.

You have a large number of what appear to be splash, and very light more golden than red..

You will want to stay away from using any light red, or gold birds in the breeding pen, try to use only thise with darker hackles it will make a big difference as well. But never use a light hackled male if you can avoid it. if your hens are lighter in color so long as you have a good dark red or mahogany male you can start the process of adding color but it takes a great deal of time.

My next thoughts are simple, if you are looking for atractive egg layers you are fine, but not breeder quality and in my opinion should not be reproduced and offered for sale as a true Blue Laced red wyandotte.

One of the new hens is very "Brassy" around her head. The newest rooster is a little darker than some of my older ones. I have one hen that appears to be darker. My best guess is that are all too young to be showing their true potential. Of the first 8, the hens and rooster that they came from were all very light blue, and the red was not real dark. I think two of the newer ones have the darker red that I would like.

Thanks for your honest comments.

Here are my two BLRW  Wasabi the Roo and Sassafrass the hen. They are 26 weeks old now, they came from a breeder but really they are just hatchery quality. Wasabi's chest is very light, I wish that he had a deeper color. Sassafrass's color is much darker, the pictures wash her out a bit.

Guess wat!!!!  Got EGGS!! And I checked and they are growing!!!!