Blue Laced Red Wyandotte THREAD!

[lolli1103]

I have a splash and she looked like your lighter one when she was a chick. She started out looking like she was going to be white and orange but as time has gone by she has darkened up to be almost a light blue gray and almost a medium red and she is now 22 weeks. This is a picture of her at about 15 to16 weeks and she has darkened quite a bit since then I am surprised at how much. I have a more recent picture but haven't uploaded it to my computer yet. When I do I'll up date my response so you can see the difference. i tried to update this post but my computer wouldn't let me post another picture here so it is on page 743.

 

[BertandMary]

Have fun playing THAT game!
Seriously, though, it does look like two blues and a splash to me, but it could also be a light blue. They're adorable.

Thanks. We enjoy chicken TV. I was just going to get Buffs but that hatchery had these guys hatched when I went there. I knew my wife wanted them so I couldn't pass them up. We are back up to six chickens. That is about to change too. Mary and I went together to the hatchery and viewed their birds, now we are waiting for the English Blues to hatch.....or the SLWs. HAHA it is so hard to decide. Truth be told, we want them all but are limited to 10 poultry in the city limits. We already have a Peking Duck so we have room for just 3 more. I spoke with the neighbors and they are cool with a roo so I get to keep one or two of them and try hatching chicks then. We have friends in the country so anything we hatch has a place to go.

 

[mydogmolly]

How do you guys like the temperaments of your blue laced red wyandottes? I think they're gorgeous but my normal black and white Wyandotte is the hardest to catch and most skittish of my bunch. Seems somewhat mean to the other chickens too. Is that a breed characteristic or dos the original owners not love her as much? All 6 of my chickens grew up together but they're all different breeds.

I'm looking for a very friendly chicken!

 

[BertandMary]

Our BLRWs are quite skittish but they are born with an instinct to run, especially from anything coming from above. We handle ours a lot so they are getting better. Once I start feeding them treats they will start coming to me and following me around the yard when I do let them out. They might not hop onto my lap and be hand fed, (like the Orps) but they will come. The power of treats and being seen as the source of those treats is not to be underestimated.

If you want a bird that is just friendly a can be from the start, Orpingtons, are usually the best bet. Nearly all can be tamed to a certain degree, depending on the time we want to put into them.

 

[PeakyBeaky]

How do you guys like the temperaments of your blue laced red wyandottes? I think they're gorgeous but my normal black and white Wyandotte is the hardest to catch and most skittish of my bunch. Seems somewhat mean to the other chickens too. Is that a breed characteristic or dos the original owners not love her as much? All 6 of my chickens grew up together but they're all different breeds.

I'm looking for a very friendly chicken!

 

[StarMeKritten]

Two of our BLRW chicks. We are fairly certain the one on the right is a roo and the pullet is on the left. They are a day or two apart in age. I wish he would have stood up more for the photo but they both got camera shy. He is very, "Leggy," as Foley writes in his PDF about the BLRW. It does make him look like an Ostrich when he stands up. They were both about the same size just over a week ago with him being just a little bigger. He displays the aggressiveness of a roo and is growing fast. His comb is also growing much faster. I could be wrong as I don't have a lot of experience with this breed, but my wife agrees with me so that is all that matters for now....LOL.

Cute chicks! I agree, the one on the right is starting to look like a cockerel. I would say that you probably have at least 1 splash. I'm not sure on the other two. They might be a lighter blue or they might be darker splash. It's hard to tell at that age... I have trouble telling my blues from blacks at hatch. My blues always start off pretty dark as chicks and then start to lighten up around 6-8 weeks old.

 

[BlackwoodHollow]

How do you guys like the temperaments of your blue laced red wyandottes? I think they're gorgeous but my normal black and white Wyandotte is the hardest to catch and most skittish of my bunch. Seems somewhat mean to the other chickens too. Is that a breed characteristic or dos the original owners not love her as much? All 6 of my chickens grew up together but they're all different breeds.

I'm looking for a very friendly chicken!

All depends on the bird. We have over 300 wyandottes. Some are more personable than others.

This. We have two groups. One we raised from hatch, the other we purchased as adults. The ones we raised are more personable, but none of them jump on our laps unless we have treats. They are chickens, definitely not cats. lol. I have my favorites, and those are the most personable and inquisitive. None of our Wandottes are aggressive towards us and only slightly peckish towards the rest of the flock. We have never understood why they have a rep for being mean to the other birds. I love them.



One thing I have noticed is that birds of a feather really do hang together. Here are a few of our girls, you can see the Rhodebar pullets in the back.

 

[StarMeKritten]

As far as temperament goes, I've found mine to be pretty docile and friendly. The roosters get along with the hens and each other. The hens are occasionally broody and usually make good mothers.

Of course it will also depend on the source. Hatcheries don't select for temperament to the same degree that a smaller breeder would. At the big hatcheries, the main goal is production rather than type or personality. In these big operations, the most aggressive rooster in the flock is going to fertilize the most eggs...

Hands down, the meanest and nastiest rooster I've ever had was an Orpington. That's not typical of the entire breed though. He was probably just the result of poor breeding. He proved to me how genetic their personalities can be. Every single one of his male offspring was just as nasty. Now I'm careful to only keep friendly and gentle roosters no matter what the breed!

 

[BlackwoodHollow]

As far as temperament goes, I've found mine to be pretty docile and friendly. The roosters get along with the hens and each other. The hens are occasionally broody and usually make good mothers.

Of course it will also depend on the source. Hatcheries don't select for temperament to the same degree that a smaller breeder would. At the big hatcheries, the main goal is production rather than type or personality. In these big operations, the most aggressive rooster in the flock is going to fertilize the most eggs...

Hands down, the meanest and nastiest rooster I've ever had was an Orpington. That's not typical of the entire breed though. He was probably just the result of poor breeding. He proved to me how genetic their personalities can be. Every single one of his male offspring was just as nasty. Now I'm careful to only keep friendly and gentle roosters no matter what the breed!

Yep. We had a Welsummer rooster who was flighty and gave me all kinds of trouble. He would NOT stay out of my garden. We eventually got rid of him, but not before hatching some of his chicks. The cockerels were just like him. I didn't even have a garden this winter, but they would hope the fence just to get to the grass on the other side. Stewpot specials, every one.

About your BLRW cockerels, have you noticed that the males are clumsy breeders or is it just ours? It's almost like they are so big that they can't keep their balance. Do you trim feathers for fertility purposes? I have heard that some do that and am trying to decide if we need to. this is our first year with them.

 

[Pipe Dreaming]

Your birds are beautiful! I want some that look just like that some day