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Wyandotte

The Wyandotte originated in the U.S. in the 1870's. Wyandottes were made in Massachusetts,...
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Rose
Broodiness
Frequent
Climate Tolerance
Cold
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly, easily handled, calm, bears confinement well, quiet and docile
Breed Colors/Varieties
Golden laced, silver laced, colubian, buff, partrige, silver penciled, blue, and blue laced red
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
American
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The Wyandotte aka American Sebright, were developed in the United states in the 1870’s, in and around the New York area. The first color developed was the Silver Laced variety and they were originally called American Sebrights. The name was changed to Wyandotte (after the indigenous Wyandot people), when they were admitted into the APA in 1883. They were exported to Europe around the same time.

Wyandottes are a calm breed in general and have very nice temperaments. They are good with people and generally get along well in a mixed flock. They are decent foragers, though they do not tend to wander far and are not good flyers. They are extremely cold hardy. The hens are good layers of light brown eggs, good winter layers, will set, and are good mothers. The cockerels make a good table bird. Today they are an extremely popular dual purpose breed and very popular among small flock owners looking for a colorful winter layer.

They have a flat rose comb and bright red face. Today they come in many feather colors and patterns, with over thirty found in Europe, the beautiful Blue Laced Red and Silver Laced are probably the two most popular colors in general. They are very popular as exhibition birds. Many breeds have been used to produce the Wyandotte we know today, including Brahma, Cochin, Hamburg, and Plymouth Rocks. They are also found in bantam size.

It was removed from The Livestock Conservancy's Priority list in 2016 and is no longer considered endangered.

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Wyandotte egg

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Wyandotte chick

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Wyandotte juvenile

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Wyandotte rooster and hens

For more info on Wyandottes and their owners' and breeders' experiences, see our breed discussion here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-wyandotte.1135563/
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Latest reviews

Fluster Cluck Acres
Fiesty, fun, & noisy
Pros: spunky personality
they keep maturing cockerels in line
healthy
intelligent
eggs have a pinkish bloom
Cons: hens are noisy
they can be bullies to more submissive birds
hard to handle
cute fluffy bums get messy
This review is based off of my 5 Wyandottes compared to other breeds that I have had more than one of (Barnevelders, Marans, Orpingtons, Hybrids, RIRs, & Bielefelders). There does seem to be some variance amongst color varieties. My silver & gold laced birds are most similiar in personality. My blue laced red had some commonalities with them, but my lavender has NOTHING in common with the other 4.

My wyandottes are spunky birds who are always around seeing what you're up to. They are personable, inquisitive, and enjoy being around people. However, they are harder to touch/handle than other breeds.

The hens are LOUD when they are displeased with something (another hen in the nest box or getting fed nonpreffered treats). They make a distinct sound that is different from other breeds I've had. Even the mix-breed offspring of my SLWs make this noise. I find it amusing, but in a residential setting it might be problematic. Interestingly, there egg song is not that loud. It's mostly just when they're complaining.

They are a dominate breed and don't back down in a fight. They can be bullies and are less tolerant of submissive or easily victimized birds (young birds, birds in recovery, molting, etc...). They are a good flock fit if you don't have any particularly "needy" birds in your flock. They also really keep young cockerels in line. They do not put up with hormone driven antics and will defend the other hens from these cockerels. In these situations I find the wyandotte hens to be more protective of the flock than the mature roosters.

My Wynadottes have not had health problems compared to my other breeds. I also believe they are more intelligent than my other breeds. They are intuitive and seem to figure things out that the other birds can't. They are resilient and adaptable birds. Their personalities are so strong that I see it come through in mixed breed birds that are only 1/2 and 1/4 wyandotte.

Lastly, I find the eggs of wyandotte (and mixes) to have the richest yolks. I don't know if this is a breed thing or an indication that they're better foragers, but their yolks are delicous.

*MY BLRW was less personable than the Silver & Gold. She was only loud when singing her egg song. She was such a bully that she is no longer with us. My lavender wyandotte I'm pretty sure is just a lavendar orpington with a shaved down comb, lol. She's 100% different from the laced varieties.*
Purchase Price
$4-$18 as chicks
Purchase Date
I've gotten a few over the years, 2019-2023.
talkinboutchickens
Pros: very sweet, great personality, fantastic with other chickens
Cons: none
My little hen Vicky was so sweet, she had a special bond with my black sexlink Winnie. They did everything together. Vicky had a lot of personality. She was kinda overweight either that or her legs were just far apart at birth.
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I'm not really sure how many eggs she laid because the color of her eggs were the same color as all the rest of the eggs.
Purchase Price
$4.00 at a local breeder
Purchase Date
March 2019
avjudge
Least favorite of my small flock
Pros: Decent enough layer
Cons: Prone to lay outside nest box (dropped from roost or in run)
Strong membrane makes cracking eggs messy
Not particularly friendly (esp. compared to Golden Comet)
Two of our six chickens - our first batch, now reduced to five by a sudden death - are silver-laced Wyandottes. I much prefer our Golden Comets and our Olive Egger. The Wyandottes are “OK” but I only use their eggs when I don’t care about unbroken yolks as they’re likely to break getting the egg out of the shell. I’m also getting tired of checking the run to make sure I didn’t miss an egg there. When we replenish our flock we’ll be getting something else.
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Comments

yyz0yyz0
I only have SLW and GLW so can't speak to the integration part, but mine aren't gunshy in the least. None of them will come to me to be picked up but if I can corner one in the run and move slow I can pick them up and hold them. I also get them to come to me by yelling "scratch" and shaking the scratch jar, they'll come running from across the yard if I do that. I can also do that and lead them around like the pied piper, its how I keep them away from areas that I don't want them in(until the scratch is consumed at least!)
 
lazy gardener
I have one SLW in this year's batch of chicks. (now 9 weeks old) She's a pretty little bird, never aggressive, always seems to be on a mission. So far, she is not being picked on, probably because she is so busy. I'm looking forward to seeing how her personality develops.
 
tandykins
My SLW is actually the MOST easy going hen in my flock. She's gunshy but we're her second family and she's not very well socialised at the best of times. She's not aggressive at all. Very calm.
 
Linnies ladies
I have gold laced wyandottes and they are in with welsummers. Extremely friendly too. They all get along well. I will be free ranging them with my others. 7 breeds so far.
 
tracytheone
thanks for sticking up for me turk lol, yes was a typo. i sold mine now as had enough, gone to a nice home to a guy with a hudge garden and no neigbours!. wont get any more thats for sure!, my gold laced orpington bantams are much prettier and hardly make any noise, even the large fowl hens i have, are no where nears as noisy as them wynadottes!. x
 
southernfiction
If the laced varieties had any other breeds introduced to get the odd colors and lacing, you won't have the true old Wyandotte character. And as in some people of the same family, there are nice ones and not-so-nice ones.
 
Diannastarr
im so happy to hear all of what you say about whyandotts , I to love whyandotts we have 7 of them , i bought out all the chicks they had at the cal store...! thank goodness they had some ...!!! they are the best ,sooo sweet and smart, I have raised other breeds of chickens , easter eggers , sexlinks & road island reds, plus i have 4, new Hampshire reds right now , i took the last 3 week old from out feed store,they are nice birds to, smart & sweet, but not as beautiful as the whyandotts but the reds like to be picked up , i have 4 barred rocks 10 weeks old they are a bit fresh..?and bits at the hand that feeds them...? so I have been spending extra time with them to tame them down, i have no idea why they act like that..? they were all raised with the silver laced whyandotts as chicks..? but they were a few weeks older thou..? but hands down whyandotts are my favorite birds forever , i just love how beautiful they are & sooo sweet & smart , As 4 week old babies in their play pen in our kitchen i would hold my hand out and say come on and they would walk up and get into my hand , so i could pick them up, they seem to love being held , they were sooo cute , i had to show my friends how they did that. & now ever since they all loved to be picked up , and next i would love to have some golden laced whyandotts & some Colombian whyandotts , for next year...!!! , but we have no one in AZ who breeds those kinds of whyandotts ,I have been looking and cant find anyone who does..? so i guess I will have to special order them at my local feed store next year...?
 
RezChamp
Aw. I truly feel for you. I had a collection of ten different rare breeds and my neighbour's dog killed over 70 birds. Stupid little yappy $1700.00 JackRussel. I was so elated when my cat went over there a cpl weeks later and gave him one doozie of a licking.
May seem crass to some people out there when I say " got hit by the bus on the hiway. Darn good enough."
 
Sourdough1938
You can order them in season from Ideal hatchery in tx. I think next year I will have some! Also Ideal will ship smaller quantities, at higher prices thou.
 
PoultryQueen101
We bought 6 pullets at TSC and sold 5. Decided to keep Lacey and she turned out gorgeous. She's very shy, but loves it when you have food. We were going to sell her after fair, but she's just so cute we aren't sure anymore~
 
Athena116699
I would like to ask what color is the one in the picture. I have chicks and one is of that color...the other is silver laced....thank you
 
Diannastarr
i have to agree I really LOVE MY silver laced Wyandotte they are wonderfully sweet Docile and trusting, sooo easy to tame, i have no cons, they are the best...!!!... such great birds ...!!!! I cant wait to see them every morning...! they greet me with such joy...! and are dependable egg layers, easy going nature, i will be looking for some Columbian wyandotts next year...!
 
Linnies ladies
The picture is of a Gold Laced. They have a good record for the amount of eggs they lay. But stress, among other things could reduce that. The first year they lay almost daily.
 
DuckRaiser
Columbian wyandottes? There are different kinds?:O I think I have a plain black wyandotte but I want to get laced ones, soon. Lucy greets me every morning by jumping on my head:p
 
chix88
ive got just one white wyndotte chick she s my only hatchling from my first incubation attempt 6 weeks old and already a character shes rooming with a couple of same age blue orops
 
chicken110
I've got one partridge Wyandotte bantam hen and she's a SWEETHEART (in fact that's literally her name).
 
Diannastarr
my wyandotts make my day...! sooo cute, like little trusting children, they all know there names when they were very young, they come to me when i call & take an afternoon nap by my kitchen glass doors & after I give them some bird seed for scratch..! i never owned such sweet & happy beautiful birds before , how wonderful god made them, for us to enjoy...! i have no cons, I never saw any Stubborn, hard to tame stage, in mine.?
 
kari_dawn
I get all of my chicks from mypetchicken.com I got some from another hatchery once (I think it was Meyers), and every one arrived sickly and dehydrated. My Pet Chicken always sends me super healthy birds, and they turn into super pretty adults. And, out of the dozens of birds I have ordered from there, I think I have only ended up with two that turned out to be roosters.
 
eaemnc
Love my Wyandotte's as well. They are 6 weeks old now. 2 silver and 3 gold. :)" Silver, Love Lace, Goldie, Sunshine, & Copper. :) Loved by 4 children and their parents. Oh, and our cattle dog think that our 12 chicks are her puppies. She skirts their fence when they are outside. Now that I am letting them free range some she follows them all over the yard. :) GREAT watch dog and momma hen/dog. :)
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
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