The Silver Laced Wyandotte Thread

[PeakyBeaky]

I'm hoping some breeders could help me out. I'm trying to make a culling decision and learn a bit in the process. I have one cock that is about a year and a half old. I'll include photos for reference. I have him with two hatchery quality hens, and so I bought five chicks from a local lady for replacement hens, and in addition to keep an extra cockerel. I ended up with two pullets and three cockerels, and they are now two months old and growing beautifully. I would like to cull one of the cockerels now, and have a few questions since I know this is extremely early.




Cock, with hen for reference




One of the pullets for reference

My first and main question: Is it acceptable to cull for size at this point? While none of the three are scrawny, two of them have larger frames than the third. Can this be something to base my decision off of, or is size something that can change? I am considering this a good idea because I think that a smaller bird will not become larger than a bigger bodied bird, but I would like to know for sure.


Size difference notable here


Possible cull in the middle


Cull ^


^ The larger of the two in the picture below



^ Cull




Only wing shot I got of the three



Second question: This is in regards to lacing. The largest bodied cockerel has much heavier black lacing than the others, but is the largest in body frame. I am not considering this a culling factor, but would like to see if anyone has prior experience with a bird with this type of lacing. His hackles are also completely black, while the other two seem more of a hen line, if I had to put a name to it.





And a third, slightly unrelated question: At what age have your cocks become unviable? I really like the cock I have, though I am waiting to see how the cockerels mature, and would like to know how many breeding seasons I can get from him with the new stock.


I apologize for the long post, and appreciate any help I can get. Thank you!

 

[forgetful]

I understand it is extremely early, but I'm selling one of these cockerels this week one way or another. I was hoping to gain some insight into a few of my questions, most specifically the size question and if size now will indicate size in the future within a line, or if it is simply another variable thing like color that will be completely different upon maturation.

 

[PeakyBeaky]

I understand it is extremely early, but I'm selling one of these cockerels this week one way or another. I was hoping to gain some insight into a few of my questions, most specifically the size question and if size now will indicate size in the future within a line, or if it is simply another variable thing like color that will be completely different upon maturation.

 

[forgetful]

Would you say size is something that will change, though, or a large two month old could be smaller than another two month old that was smaller beforehand?

 

[PeakyBeaky]

All depends on the bird.

 

[Diannastarr]

my SLW & their new dirt hole right at the side of my back patio ....lol.... theses girls sure do love their dirt baths ,and dug so many holes all over , you would think we have a hole digging dog around.....lol. geee whiz are they looking for china or what..?

so stop already.....lol... well nite nite all , im on chick clean up duty every night until further notice & got to go catch some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

have a good one all

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

I had 4 SLW chicks hatch in the last 12 hrs. So excited! It's been a long road to getting decent hatch numbers as my beginner's learning curve has been steep!

 

[jedimomhg5]

Great! Keep us posted I hope to have some breeding hens in the future. I'll need all the information I can get.

 

[geojerry]

Profile pick of my slw.

 

[CowboysAngel]

One of my EHAL banties has silver lacing!