At what age can you judge a BLRW on type?

[simple farm girl]

I am new to raising chickens, and have just purchased some quality BLRW chicks from two different reputiable breeders. At what age can I start "culling" my young birds on their type and what are some of the things I want to look for? And what age do I "cull" for color and what do I look for? Thank you.

 

[encorepistol]

I rarely let any go until a year old unless they have a single comb or obvious faults. They change a lot the first 6 months and dont fill out till almost 18 months.

 

[Illia]

Quote:
x2 - Though I don't breed Wyandottes, they and any other American type "heritage breed" are known to mature very slowly, and not completely fill out until beyond 1 year old.

 

[simple farm girl]

Thank you for your help! I should be getting my chicks next week.

I want to keep my flock to about 20 (space is an issue) quality chickens. I figured if I am going to raise some chickens, I'd rather breed quality BLRW's rather than just raise hatchery BLRW chicks.

I have heard that Wyandottes are slow to mature just like what you two said. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to feed a bunch of young chickens through the winter. I was hoping to cull them out by Nov or Dec at the latest. Do you think that is reasonable?

 

[encorepistol]

I feed all winter long lol I dont cull until spring or summer other than the ones with obvious faults. Costs a lot but has to be done to see which will be best.

 

[NYREDS]

Frankly I've never seen a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte with particularly good type so I'm not sure.

 

[encorepistol]

Thats a good point as well. All you can do is keep the best of what you have and improve on them. I love seeing the auctions for show quality BLRW when there is no such thing. Ive only seen pics of a few that look good and they are owned by the Top breeders.