The Wyandotte Thread

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
I am using it to improve the type on my blr. that is a big thing that is lacking in many blr.

But isn't the white in the silver family? Wouldn't the gold laced be a better choice to improve size? Just curious.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

Well in Germany they do cross a BLRW roo on a White hen to improve type, it normaly takes about 3 generations to get them looking like BLRW again....its best to breed the F1 to the F1's on the second cross. However I have found white wyandottes here in America to be dominant white....I think what you will find is that you will probably get white pullets and white cockerels with red bleeding through on the shoulders if you use a white roo on a blrw hen, but I am not a genetic guru...however I did make this cross about 5 years ago. IMHO you would be better off to use a BLRW roo on a good type Blue Wyandotte hen....

Jerry

...I thought I was signed in, but I guess Rebecca was logged in....sorry for using your username...

 

[turbo]

Quote:
I am using it to improve the type on my blr. that is a big thing that is lacking in many blr.

But isn't the white in the silver family? Wouldn't the gold laced be a better choice to improve size? Just curious.

Ok I am logged in as me...sorry about that. You could use a GLW...but a true Gold Laced is probably going to hurt your mahogany red...especially in the hackles, you could use a black laced red...but why would you? The point of the cross would be to improve type and size....

Also I have never seen a really good GLW at a show or anywhere else that I would want to use, heck they are in the same boat as the BLRW when it comes to size and type. Colby did just get a good pair from Duane Urch...and they are probably the best I have seen.

Jerry

 

[hoppy]

Quote:
But isn't the white in the silver family? Wouldn't the gold laced be a better choice to improve size? Just curious.

Ok I am logged in as me...sorry about that. You could use a GLW...but a true Gold Laced is probably going to hurt your mahogany red...especially in the hackles, you could use a black laced red...but why would you? The point of the cross would be to improve type and size....

Also I have never seen a really good GLW at a show or anywhere else that I would want to use, heck they are in the same boat as the BLRW when it comes to size and type. Colby did just get a good pair from Duane Urch...and they are probably the best I have seen.

Jerry

well said Jerry, the gold laced are in the same boat as the blr. the size on my whites is huge and I wouldn't say my blr are small birds, just my whites are so much bigger/heavier.

 

[colby318]

Hey Foleys,
See if your TSC still has a copy of the Nov/Dec "The Poultry Magazine". It used to be Practical Poultry but switched names last year. If not, I'll mail you my copy. They have an interesting 8 page article on the UK Wyandotte scene. Especially the side article on partridge bantams.

Colby

 

[PeakyBeaky]

Quote:
We got that one...didn't have time to read it yet.

 

[BCBrian]

It would seem to me that the ultimate cross to improve the type of BLRW's would not be white (either recessive - or dominant) but the best option might well be Silver Laced birds.

I say this for a number of reasons.

One, (and it's huge) is that you are already dealing with laced birds. lacing is a complex set of genes - and going away from laced birds will take many extra years to get back to good true-breeding lacing.
Second, Silver Laced birds with good type are present and available.
Thirdly, White birds have a softer feather, and soft feathering isn't necessarily the best for clearly defined lacing.
Fourth, the lack of the Mahogany gene - is an over-rated problem. For one thing, being a dominant gene, only a single copy of the Mahogany gene need be present for it to express itself.That means, a cross-bred BLRW (of good ground colour) and a SLW will throw young that will show the Mahogany gene in the F1 generation. In the F2 generation, one will get back to 1/4 homozygous (double-dose) Mahogany birds, 1/2 of the birds will be heterozygous Mahogany birds (single-dose - but still showing the effect) and only 1/4 will be birds without the Mahogany gene - therefore easily sorted out and culled, if that is desired.

Therefore, I think using the best type SLW's as a means of improving Wyandotte type in BLRW's, seems to me, to be a better option than using white birds. But, if good GLW's can be found - they'd work well also.

 

[BooBear]

Would crossing the white with a blue cause any issues in breeding blues?
I like that Hoppy's whites have strong type.

 

[americana-chick]

Hi everyone,
Does anyone think its possible to cross a white wyandotte to another breed and get birds that are similar to a BLRW and GLRWs? I have 2 birds from my white wyandotte roo mixing with marans and EEs and look what i got:

Maybe it is just me but i think they look like crosses of those colored wyandottes...

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

the rooster is pretty cool looking....

We ran multiple experimental pens with the BLRWs. We tried the whites, blues, SLWs, and the RIR rose combs. Even with the genetic predictions, you just never know what your final outcome will be until you try it. I did get cranky a few times over the feed bill from growing out so many crosses in one year and we were building a new pen every week as the chicks grew, but the results have been positive in some of the crosses and some were a big waste of time and money. We are done with crosses and have raised 2 generations of BLRWs a year to get to our end result faster, but there’s always room for improvement.
I do agree that the white cross is not a great idea....been there.