- Jan 10, 2010
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To answer some of the questions about Wyandottes, most of my answers come from reference to Wyandotte Bantams that I have dealt with. They take a while to mature fully, not as bad as a cochin or brahma but about the same time as a cornish I would say. Broodyness? Yes mine were very broody but not good mothers. They all would want to set but if you put eggs under them they would give up on them at any time. Definetely different than a cochin. Good foragers and very active if given the chance, but do handle confinement if need be. They were bred for heat and cold tolerance and do extremely well in both.
As for the colors, the cross between and genetic silver(SL, Columbian, SP) and genetic reds(GL,Partridge, Buff Columbian) are interesting. They can be crossed together, I have cross GL and SL together and have crossed SP and Partridge with great success. The male bird crossed with females of the opposing color will produce females of the pattern of the males. IE, SP male crossed onto Partridge females will produce SP females with a certain amount of duskiness in color. The males of this crossing will be SP in basic color but have red in the hackles and the saddle and the barring across the wing. Lots of people toss these to the side but I used these extensively. When crossing them back to a partridge or a SP you will get true partridge or SP offspring. These same principles can be applied to SL/GL crosses and Buff Columbian/Columbian crosses.
The BLR were created at some point by crossing Blue/ GL and White Laced Red in Europe in the last 50 years from what I can tell. Crossing a SL and GL will give you certain offspring depending on the sex of the birds, but getting a BLR from that would not happen.
That makes me think of an interesting point about Wyandotte Genetics that I learned from the master of Wyandottes, Edgar Petty. His statement makes alot of sense when you think about it, or at least it did to me. In Wyandottes all varieties, including the solid colors of white, black, buff, blue, dun, every bird is either a silver or a gold genetically. I didnt understand until you see buffs that have white in their tail or blues and blacks that have red in their hackles and then I understood it alot more. In particular my White Laced Red, I could tell which ones were genetic silvers bc they would have black show up in their feathers at times. The others who were genetic reds would have the most outstanding color of any of them that I would raise.
Anyway, hopefully some of this knowledge helps others to understand Wyandottes a little bit better. I have met some great people along the way and have learned much from them, thought it was selfish to not share some of it with others. However limited my help might be.
As for the colors, the cross between and genetic silver(SL, Columbian, SP) and genetic reds(GL,Partridge, Buff Columbian) are interesting. They can be crossed together, I have cross GL and SL together and have crossed SP and Partridge with great success. The male bird crossed with females of the opposing color will produce females of the pattern of the males. IE, SP male crossed onto Partridge females will produce SP females with a certain amount of duskiness in color. The males of this crossing will be SP in basic color but have red in the hackles and the saddle and the barring across the wing. Lots of people toss these to the side but I used these extensively. When crossing them back to a partridge or a SP you will get true partridge or SP offspring. These same principles can be applied to SL/GL crosses and Buff Columbian/Columbian crosses.
The BLR were created at some point by crossing Blue/ GL and White Laced Red in Europe in the last 50 years from what I can tell. Crossing a SL and GL will give you certain offspring depending on the sex of the birds, but getting a BLR from that would not happen.
That makes me think of an interesting point about Wyandotte Genetics that I learned from the master of Wyandottes, Edgar Petty. His statement makes alot of sense when you think about it, or at least it did to me. In Wyandottes all varieties, including the solid colors of white, black, buff, blue, dun, every bird is either a silver or a gold genetically. I didnt understand until you see buffs that have white in their tail or blues and blacks that have red in their hackles and then I understood it alot more. In particular my White Laced Red, I could tell which ones were genetic silvers bc they would have black show up in their feathers at times. The others who were genetic reds would have the most outstanding color of any of them that I would raise.
Anyway, hopefully some of this knowledge helps others to understand Wyandottes a little bit better. I have met some great people along the way and have learned much from them, thought it was selfish to not share some of it with others. However limited my help might be.
