The Wyandotte Thread

[Countrypunk92]

Whatcha think about this Rooster.

 

[Indiana Ima]

Beautiful birds! I am a complete newbie here, trying to decide whether to buy 5 (the maximum allowed in my town) Black Australorps, 5 Silver Laced Wyandottes, or maybe 5 Ameracaunas. I want beautiful hens with a high egg laying capability, acceptable as an eating/meat bird when they are done laying, social and friendly and easy to keep.

In the reading I've done I keep seeing that Silver Laced Wyandottes are really good cold weather chickens. That their combs don't freeze and that they lay even in cold weather. It gets below freezing every night for at least a few months here in Bloomington, Indiana, so that sounds good to me!

Are there other reasons you think I should go with Silver Laced Wyandottes as my final choice? This looks like the right place to discuss the qualities and negatives of that breed!

Thank you,
Indiana Ima

 

[Indiana Ima]

And now I have just been told (in a Bloomington specific chicken group on facebook) that "Wyandottes can sometimes be a bit on the aggressive side." Do y'all agree?

 

[Craig'sHens]

Beautiful birds! I am a complete newbie here, trying to decide whether to buy 5 (the maximum allowed in my town) Black Australorps, 5 Silver Laced Wyandottes, or maybe 5 Ameracaunas. I want beautiful hens with a high egg laying capability, acceptable as an eating/meat bird when they are done laying, social and friendly and easy to keep.

In the reading I've done I keep seeing that Silver Laced Wyandottes are really good cold weather chickens. That their combs don't freeze and that they lay even in cold weather. It gets below freezing every night for at least a few months here in Bloomington, Indiana, so that sounds good to me!

Are there other reasons you think I should go with Silver Laced Wyandottes as my final choice? This looks like the right place to discuss the qualities and negatives of that breed!

Thank you,
Indiana Ima

I may not be the best one to answer your questions but I am fairly new to chickens. I have 11 silver laced Wyandottes pullets that started laying 2 weeks ago and are consistently laying 8 eggs a day. This works out to 265 eggs per hen per year. They are large beautiful birds that are not flighty. Mine come running when I enter their pen and eat out of my hand. I can't comment much on the cold since it rarely drops below freezing here but mine live under roof that is open on 3 sides and in the 7 months I have had them I have yet to see a sick bird other than minor adaptations when I change feed. Mine are great foragers in the yard. My particular strain likes the foraging space or they begin to nibble on each others feathers if they are cooped up too long. However, i understand that there are many other strains and colors of Wyandottes where they are less demanding on space. Best wishes, Craig

 

[DMRippy]

Ok this is my opinion. I have been looking for SLW for awhile so I don't have any YET, but soon. SLW take a long time to start laying. They lay a larger egg than Ameraucanas, I think. I don't believe they are aggressive anymore than other chicken. As with all breeds you MAY get an aggressive roo from time to time. I have lots of breeds, RIR, EE, Rocks, NH, Ameraucanas, Leghorns, Marans, Olive Eggers, Dark Brahmas, and other crosses too. I don't find any to be aggressive. As for egg laying, my EE are the best layers and I get great colors in birds and eggs. My Ameraucanas don't lay as well or as big of an egg as the EE. The EE are hardy, colorful and friendly too. To get pretty pure breed birds, you MAY have to sacrifice egg production some. It really depends on what you want. If you want eggs I would pick Leghorns, if you want pretty eggs, I am going with a leghorn/AM cross for super blue egg layers. NH lay great as do RIR. I picked SLW for pretty birds and pretty good layers. I have pure AM to breed and as a project, not for eating eggs, they lay mostly a med egg.

Do keep in mind EE are VERY Different than Ameraucanas. EE are crosses and they is probably why they lay big eggs and are heartier. If you order sexed pullets from a Hatchery you WILL get EE and not pure Ameraucanas.

 

[Indiana Ima]

Ok this is my opinion. I have been looking for SLW for awhile so I don't have any YET, but soon. SLW take a long time to start laying. They lay a larger egg than Ameraucanas, I think. I don't believe they are aggressive anymore than other chicken. As with all breeds you MAY get an aggressive roo from time to time. I have lots of breeds, RIR, EE, Rocks, NH, Ameraucanas, Leghorns, Marans, Olive Eggers, Dark Brahmas, and other crosses too. I don't find any to be aggressive. As for egg laying, my EE are the best layers and I get great colors in birds and eggs. My Ameraucanas don't lay as well or as big of an egg as the EE. The EE are hardy, colorful and friendly too. To get pretty pure breed birds, you MAY have to sacrifice egg production some. It really depends on what you want. If you want eggs I would pick Leghorns, if you want pretty eggs, I am going with a leghorn/AM cross for super blue egg layers. NH lay great as do RIR. I picked SLW for pretty birds and pretty good layers. I have pure AM to breed and as a project, not for eating eggs, they lay mostly a med egg.

Do keep in mind EE are VERY Different than Ameraucanas. EE are crosses and they is probably why they lay big eggs and are heartier. If you order sexed pullets from a Hatchery you WILL get EE and not pure Ameraucanas.

Sadly, I am too much of a newbie to translate all of your shorthand. Let me check. Is any of this right?
SLW = silver laced wyandotte
roo = rooster
RIR = rhode island red
EE= easter egger
Rocks = ?
NH = new hampshire... something?
AM = Ameracauna?

I've read that Leghorns aren't quite as social or as easy to keep as some of the other breeds I am considering. Are they friendly with children? My youngest child is 7.

Green eggs is a draw, pretty chickens is a draw, but mostly this is about food. Lots of big yummy eggs while they lay (even in the winter), chicken on the table for dinner when they stop. It's also about getting rid of table scraps and teaching three children something about responsibility, work, and where food really comes from. So my three kids really need to be able to get involved without getting pecked. Can a leghorn do all that? Can easter eggers? I think silver laced wyandottes are the prettiest chickens I've seen all through my new found research, but if they take ages to start laying that's a negative. How long is "a long time to start laying," do you think?

Thank you,
Indiana Ima

 

[Indiana Ima]

I am thinking I should maybe be a lot more specific about what I think I want and need:
I want good layers but they don't have to be the best layers ever. They have to be good at laying, VERY good with children, good with me, and a decent dinner* someday when they're done laying! I want a breed that isn't picky, so I can get rid of table and cooking scraps. I want a breed that doesn't blink (or completely stop laying) at a south-central Indiana winter. And if I can have all of that and still have a choice, I want a pretty chicken that lays a large, pretty egg.

*decent dinner means I don't expect to turn them all into big roast chickens on a fancy platter. Casseroles, soup, soup stock, pot pies, it's all good. I just don't want to look at the carcass and wonder what's the point of even trying!

 

[bestpractice]

Hi All,

I got a Columbian Wyandotte as my rare bird in my McMurray order. She is so pretty! I didn't know anything about the breed, and I still don't know much. She is only a few weeks old but I think her personality is much nicer than my other birds. She is always the one who comes up to me, before any of the others -- very curious, checks everything out. I got Delaware, Barred Plymouth and New Hampshire but the Wyandotte seems so gentle -- I thought the other breeds I chose were supposed to be gentle. Does anyone here raise them, or use them for eggs? She looks a little small for meat so I'm assuming everyone raises them for eggs or pets. I was so worried because she was smaller than the others but she is so full of life and just pushes her way through everyone and does what she wants. She's adorable.

Take care,
t

 

[DMRippy]

Sadly, I am too much of a newbie to translate all of your shorthand. Let me check. Is any of this right?
SLW = silver laced wyandotte
roo = rooster
RIR = rhode island red
EE= easter egger
Rocks = ?
NH = new hampshire... something?
AM = Ameracauna?

I've read that Leghorns aren't quite as social or as easy to keep as some of the other breeds I am considering. Are they friendly with children? My youngest child is 7.

Green eggs is a draw, pretty chickens is a draw, but mostly this is about food. Lots of big yummy eggs while they lay (even in the winter), chicken on the table for dinner when they stop. It's also about getting rid of table scraps and teaching three children something about responsibility, work, and where food really comes from. So my three kids really need to be able to get involved without getting pecked. Can a leghorn do all that? Can easter eggers? I think silver laced wyandottes are the prettiest chickens I've seen all through my new found research, but if they take ages to start laying that's a negative. How long is "a long time to start laying," do you think?

Thank you,
Indiana Ima

Sorry Plymouth rocks like Barred Rocks, but you got everything right.

I think they start laying about 8-9 months. Leghorns, no meat really, AMs no meat really. GOOD SLW should be dual purposed (large for meat but good egg layers too) SLW with 5 pullets you will get 3-4 a day for the first year. ALL chickens moult and will stop laying in the winter when they do. How long or hard the moult will last varies by bird not breed. Cold hardy breeds just tolerate the cold better than a Mediterranean breed like AMs. Big eggs, back to leghorns. The last giant egg I weighed was 77 gm (72 is jumbo) from that tiny bird. I don't find my leghorns to be mean or flight. The come up to me more than the other really.

Really you have to figure out what you MUST have and what you can live without. From the breeds I know, for you a SLW might be the best choice. Do you have to have all the same breed? why not try some of each and see what you like and don't? Variety is the spice of life!

 

[bestpractice]

Rocks = ?

I think it is a Barred Plymouth Rock. I got a few in my order, very nice birds, but then I like all of my birds