Quality of BLR Wyandottes

[adubsroit]

At only 4 weeks old there is still much to be said about what these birds could end up looking like mature. However, at only 4 weeks old there seems to be room for wondering if some of them have any traits worth waiting for. The sad thing is that from the pictures of the parents these birds looked like they wouldn't be so bad. Needless to say this will be the last time I trust 1 or 2 pictures of what could be the entire breeding flock of birds.

These pictures will go in order of what I believe to be the better of the flock, I guess on a scale of 1-7. Hoping people out there will be fair in their critique of these birds. This is my set of BLR Wyandottes and am already disappointed enough with the supposedly great stock I hatched. I know I wasn't promised SQ but I didn't think they would be so crappy

Bird 1 has the best traits over all, but has a single comb. Hoping that if I can even get a nice trio or pair out of these that this bird may be viable.

Bird 3 over Bird 4 because of the more solid and even red color on the feathers.

Bird 4 over 5 and for that matter 6 and 7 because though the red in the wings is something to be begged for it only gets worse from here.

What bothers me the most about this bird is that it seems to have red barring.

While Bird 7 has a nice blue going for it, that is all it has going for it. The weird blue barring over the red bothers me and the total lack of lacing seals the deal.

 

[Smoky73]

your right, the first ones are3 the best, after that it just goes downhill unfortunately. When I had BLRW none of mine ever looked like those last pics...I wonder what the heck happened there? I understand getting single combs, as I did not when I had mine and had 0 fertility which is why I stopped that breed.

 

[Katy]

Wyandottes are a slow developing breed so give them some time. I think you have them probably in the right order for what they may end up looking like. If the single comb ends up being a roo I would not use him. I very seldom get a single comb in my BLRs anymore but I don't add them to my breeding flock. One thing to keep in mind in regards to the pictures of the parent stock and your disappointment in the chicks that you hatched. Those of us who are serious about breeding them hatch lots of chicks every year and cull heavily to get down to the ones we keep and add to our breeding flocks. For every chick we hatch that we keep there are generally many more who don't make the cut.

 

[hoppy]

I have raised BLR for a number of years. your chicks are going through what I call the ugly stage. the barring, will go away. don't make any decisions based on what they look like right now- they will change so much you'll have a hard time thinking they were the same birds.
see my page, I think I have some uglys on my page.
if not, i'll find a post of my uglys and what my birds look like grown up.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I'm just getting into Wyandottes but I want to echo what Katie and hoppy said. Our birds at 3-6 weeks old looked horrible! Now at 4-5 months old, they're looking alot better. Give them some time!

Laurie

 

[adubsroit]

Glad to hear from y'all about the barring. I was REALLY worried for a while in there. In regards to bird 7 though: what's that all about? There is almost no lacing at all anywhere on that bird and the red is not very red. Is the desirable red something that comes along, because in that case most of my birds seems to be an intermediate shade of gold and red. I'm hoping that Birds 1, 2 and 3 keep up with the good looks though

 

[hoppy]

Quote:
number 7 appears at this age, to have incomplete lacing (meaning the lacing is just the tip of the feather, not all the way around).
you can still use this one for breeding, just breed to a full laced bird. a large % of her chicks bred with a full laced roo, will be full laced. now if this is a rooster, I probably would not use him.

 

[adubsroit]

Quote:
number 7 appears at this age, to have incomplete lacing (meaning the lacing is just the tip of the feather, not all the way around).
you can still use this one for breeding, just breed to a full laced bird. a large % of her chicks bred with a full laced roo, will be full laced. now if this is a rooster, I probably would not use him.

I'll be sure to keep my eye on that one. I have heard that by 5-6 weeks you can usually get a good ideas as to the sex of the birds. How true is this?