Are Wyandottes more of a "grumpy" breed?

[NotTheMomma]

Well I dunno. As you can see in my siggy, I have a variety of breeds. But I don't expect to have lap chickens either. They aren't necessarily afraid of me, or maybe they are, but they all come running for treats, or what they might think will be treats. I don't pick up and handle any of mine though. They don't peck me, or intimidate me, so all is well here.

I have noticed my EEs to be more 'wild' like. As in, they are the only ones that fly out of my 6 ft high run. They spend most of the day in the woods, or tall grasses, and though they come for treats, they stand way back from me. My sex links aren't mean to us, but they give the cats, and my dogs a rough time. If either even come within 10 ft of the hens, they lower that head and charge the dogs/cats! They are mean to my mini dachie, but I figure she can always get away from them, and stop hanging out where they are.

 

[welovechickens]

My SLW has never liked to be held or petted. She has calmed a lot since she started laying, but she still gets nervous when I pick her up. She follows me around though, always looking for treats. She is friendly as long as I don't try to touch her.

She'll eat out of my hand no problem, and has never bitten me at all, thankfully.

 

[chookchick]

As one poster mentioned, it probably has more to do with the "line" of Wyandottes (where they were bred) than anything else. My SLW and GLW were from a hatchery, don't know which one, but they were definitely "grumpy" (got rid of the SLW--she was a witch). The GLW is a good layer and a very sensible bird, gets her way, but not at all friendly or curious.

 

[colby318]

I have about 70 dottes total. Some are absolute lap birds, some won't give me the time of day even though I've handled all of them since they were chicks. I have to say the BLR I bought from Mrs. Turbo are the sweetest tempered of all. The GL I bought from Stromburg's are a crap shoot. Overall, I wouldn't trade my dottes for any other breed. My wellies and EEs think I'm going to kill them if I even look in their direction!

Colby in KY

 

[sotelomary]

I have 2 ameracaunas, 1 rhode island red, 1 silver laced wyandotte, and 1 golden laced wyandotte. Out of all of them, my silver laced wyandotte, is my favorite. She is the most gentle. When she eats out of my hand, she doesn't peck me hard the way the others do. The others peck so hard that it is very painful and I usually don't let them peck out of my hand for more than a couple of times. After that I shoo them away, while my silver laced eats the treats. If I want the others to eat out of my hand, I usually wear a glove.
I did handle all of them as chicks, but they are not very people friendly.

 

[animal_lover03]

I have 3 SLW and one of them is so friendly and always jumps on my back or shoulders and sits with me. The other two are nice but they aren't as friendly.

 

[OutdoorFun4]

My GLW is sweet. She plays well with others and is not flighty. She eats from our hands. That said, she does prefer not to be picked up...so we don't.

She is so beautiful that she gets away with most transgressions:

 

[DragonFeathers]

I have 1 SLW that is really nice to be around, she will eat treats from my hand w/o hurting me, I also have 2 BLRW that are fun to be around, like to be picked up and jump on the bucket while I poop scoop, as for the 2 GLW 1 hen and 1 cockerel the hen is standoffish and the cockerel is a lovie....
all are different and all are loved

 

[augustmomx2]

I have 2 SLWs and they are both bossy. One in particular is the "alpha" of the group and is extremely mean, to everyone. She's always pecking others out of the way to eat, today she kicked one of my BAs out of the fave nest box, even though the BA was there first

They originally were really sweet, and then in the past few months have became little tyrants!