Silver laced wyandotte: which roosters to keep?

[nicalandia]

Franco

I was sure i was gonna cull him based on the single comb alone, as the breed standard is a rose comb. But his chest coloration is so brilliant, he's the biggest, and he's head to head with Kevin on leading the crowing. But that single comb...

I would like to point out that Single Combs are also found on SQ breeding lines and the Single Comb is entrenched on the Wyandotte breed because Heterozygous Rose comb roosters(R/r+) are indistinguishable from Homozygous Rose comb(R/R).

Homozygous R/R roosters have poor fertility and R/r+ males out-compete them. It's almost certain that your Rose Comb males are R/r+

 

[DarJones]

Actually, rose comb is a bit difficult in the SLW breed. But it is what it is. (if you are curious why I say this, it is because there are several comb modifiers floating around in SLW that prevent a pure rose comb expression) The best of this batch is still Kevin because he has good white color in the hackles and he has reasonable lacing on the breast. He has several flaws which means no way he is good enough for showing. As others stated, it would be far better to start with show grade stock if you are interested in showing. It is worth looking at Jerry Foley's birds to see what a good SLW can look like.

http://www.foleyswaterfowl.com/