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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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Reactions: Raven1981, Ladybird CA, PioneerChicks and 19 others

Latest reviews

DuckSoup
Nicest bully you'll ever meet
Pros: Cold weather tolerant; extremely friendly toward people; good looks; good egg production.
Cons: Bully each other; strong pecking order; can get noisy.
Beautiful birds. They tend to bully one another, but are extremely friendly toward people. They are plump birds with lots of feathering and have done great in cold weather (Montana). They can get a bit noisy, but are generally quiet. Not as intelligent, good at foraging, or egg production that Dominques were.
Purchase Date
07/2024
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
Read more…

Comments

humphrey farms
Wyandotte's are the best! I have 30 hens of varying ages & colors and 2 roosters. Good layers, free rangers, and friendly. The two roosters get a little high strung during the spring season is upon us. But A+ when caring for the flock. I have never witnessed any bad behavior towards baby chicks hatched under their mothers, and they always make sure the girls get the tastiest of morsels offered from the household scraps.
 
G
From all of the advice on here, that should be MORE than enough hens, what a stud. What are you going to do?
 
chickengeorgeto
When you start receiving longer hours of daylight, both your hens' performance as well as your rooster's performance will spike. This I guarantee.

Without ever being a rooster or a hen myself I fail to see the rational for your first statement?

Since there is no penetration during chicken sex and the hen remains motionless, I fail to see how your hens are becoming fatigued. Maybe a tea spoon full of Geritol for each hen every morning will pep them up.
 
cluckcluckgirl
Gramma Chick- I checked the ingredients list and it lists "plant proteins".

chickengeorgeto- That daylight hours statement would make sense. By "exhausted" I mean that the hens were mated with so many times that they started to look raggy. Each day he mated with each hen at least 3 times. I saw this when I was in the coop.
 
chickengeorgeto
I am often quite the comedian when the subject of chickens comes up.

However, have you thought about the likelihood that your hens are infested with depluming mites? At this time of year all mature hens North of the Tropic of Cancer should be sporting a brand new or almost brand new wardrobe. I don't think that the molt is just beginning for your girls, neither do I believe that their new feathers are already Kaput. I would look for a new answer.
 
cluckcluckgirl
I'm always making sure my chickens are free of mites and lice because of the amount of wild birds surrounding us. A lot of my flock went through a molt about 2 months ago, so they're done with that. The rooster will just rip their feathers out when he mates with them or pecks at them to try and get a hold of them.
 
hellbender
I know Turk very well ..lol While I have never owned a Wyandotte of any stripe, I know that he had a lot of them when he was a very young fella. I tend to agree with him in most cases.

It is indeed important to check the flock for problems but if one is determined to fondle the birds, it's generally best to go into the coop at night where they are generally far more compliant and if one does have to chase a chicken, it won't have the option of leaving the property.

If I really just want to pet an animal, I've got LOTS of dogs and all of them just crave human contact. Can't say the same for most chickens.
 
mymilliefleur
I'm sorry your birds didn't turn out well, I had the oppicite experice with mine, they are very sweet docile birds and good layers.
 
Nutcup
I have one Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet who is VERY active and skitterish, but she will now eat from my hand and is nice and calm and even softer than the others when I do pick her up. She is very pretty and her name is Miss Kitty.
 
SkyWorld
I love my Wyandottes, and yes one of them is a brat, Derpy and the other is my sweetest bird in the lot, Lucy. As they grow their personality changes. Feed them some blueberries, mine love it and run for the blueberry races.
 
tandykins
:/ Sorry about your poor experience with your SLWs. My eldest SLW is 4 years old and still lays 4 or so days a week when she's not broody (which is often but she's very easy to break and is a good mum). My younger bubs are even friendlier and like to be held upside down like babies and stroked on their bellies.

My SLWs do seem to be prone to calcium deficiencies however which can make them stop laying - but offering calcium carbonate and shell grit seems to have fixed this right up.
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
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Views
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Watchers
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Comments
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Reviews
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Last update
Rating
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