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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

liliyfield
I love the pea comb of the Wyandotte, I still have a golden lace left out of 6 wyandottes of my first flock. I started with 2 silver laced one turned out to be a roo, and 4 golden laced. I like the small comb because I have never had one of them get frostbitten out here, like the larger combed birds do.
 
Jacqdiva
I have a pair of white Wyandottes and they are very kind birds, with no problems. The chicks are the same, and don't seem to pick on smaller chicks as other breeds can.
 
Pip4Chirp
We have four Wyandottes - they are so pretty and friendly. At 18 weeks of age, should I be adding oyster shell to their diet? Looks like they could start laying anytime.
 
under the radar
Are they noisy? We are keeping chickens under the radar here and I don't need another Ba-BOCKER!! Like my Australorp.
 
Diannastarr
YES EXACTLY I AGREE...!!! all of my wyandotts are the best , sweet, affectionate, beautiful, gentle happy chickens, BUT ALSO hardy, dual purpose, they are a most wonderful breed of chicken....!!!! & THE BEST FOR ANY ONE NEW TO RAISING CHICKENS..!!
 
Diannastarr
IT COULD BE THE COLOR, that might have something to do with any difference in wyandott temperaments, and the many different colors they now come in..? since we learn in genetics that different breeding for color can also inadvertently change temperament & that can always happen wile breeding for only color , all my wyandotts are the silver laced color, the origional wynadott color in APA standard back in the 1800's, but with each addition , wile breeding for other colors could also change temperament to gain those colors in that exchange. BUT...! its very possible that some HATCHERIES only have the meanest chickens that manage to survive in such conditions long enough to reproduce.....??? im leaning in that direction...!!! since i have heard of different temperaments in chickens bought from different hatcheries....? so i would check on that possibility first, when considering buying for the best temperament & for the best healthy flock. & knowing that bad breeding can destroy any breed of animal in short order ...!
 
RezChamp
I had a mixed flock of 30 GL & SL. These birds were so friendly to all humans. Well not friendly but more unfair aid and easy to get along with. The 6 roosters were alert but gentle and would become aggressive only to new roosters that were agressive and when protecting their hens from whatever. Even the ravens weren't allowed to come in the yard.
Another plus is they were better in cold weather than a great deal of the other varieties.
Kinda slow growing but when filled out made a fine meal.
Really decent egg producer too.
Not greedy like some strains and they sure hustled when they were out on the land(out of the pen)
Yup. Pretty darn good birds.
 
RezChamp
Oooops. Spell check corrected me incorrectly!
Not " unfair aid and easy...."
I meant to say "unafraid and easy..."
 
Turk Raphael
From what I've read, this breed is known and respected for going broody. If one does not want a broody hen, get a different breed that's less inclined to brood...easy enough.
 
jtn42248
I have 5 Columbian Wyandottes and except for the tendancy to go broody they are one of my favorite breeds. They are friendly and fun and, in their own way, affectionate. I have one that, when I bring their food into the run to feed them will jump up on my arm and expect to have the first peck at the food.
 
lja7269
I live in SothbGeorgia. We have several months of hot temps. My Wyandoottes have done very well. They are my favorite birds so far.
 
Bean789
We have a Golden Laced Wyandotte, Hawkeye (It's an Iowa thing), who seems to do fine in this Central Florida heat. She is top of the pecking order in our group of 8 and does a fine job almost as if she were a rooster. When they are all free ranging and it is time to go in the coop, she goes in and some will follow. If they don't all go in after a short bit she 'goes out to get them". It is cute to watch. We have a 'problem child' (buff brahma bantam) in the group who consistently goes after our little Sultan and a lot of times, Hawkeye will 'run interference' between them to settle things about. Chickens are so entertaining to watch.
 
RezChamp
Don't know about long periods of high heat but they worked well where I live.
I had GL & SL. They did well through our -20,-40 winter. they all got an enormous frame by the midsummer .
I fattened the cocks on fruits, greens and grain and they made delicious excellent roasting birds. The hens slowed their lay for second winter to about 1 egg every 3 days but earned their keep for another 4 summers before dogs got them.
Not reall, really broody but some set.
 
Pip4Chirp
Couldn't agree more! I have three SLW hens and they are the sweetest, friendliest birds. We just love them. Great eggs! Hoping they'll keep laying over the winter.
 
RezChamp
Yes. I like Wyandottes too. A few years ago I had GL & SL. They'd ere beautiful to look at and beautiful to be around. They were a very gentle bird. I didn't have any problems at all with the hens or even the roosters being agressive with me or my family. Even the smallest children were safe around these birds.
The roosters were very watchful for anything out of the ordinary and were pretty darn good watchdogs.
Once the hens started laying they were pretty darn consistent about giving me about 6 eggs each a week for about 18 months then they got broody. The roosters took a long time to fill out especially compared to a CornishRockGiant X but they did end up larger. A little tougher but the taste was amazing
Because of their size and small combs they did well in my area too.
It gets really cold here. I think the average 6AM thermometer reading is something like -40 in Jan.
Gee, last winter got -56*C one morning at 6. That's a tad chillier than -60*F.
Didn't have Wyandottes this past winter though.
Should've!
Lost a few combs, wattles and toes this time.
I'm almost positive Wyandottes would've faired better
 

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