The Wyandotte Thread

[ShaggyRay]

Hello all,
My ideal chicks came in overnight apparently. I was not prepared for them to arrive so fast, but the brooder was all set for them. I went and grabbed them and out of 50 sent 11 were dead and 1 was on its way out. I tried to perk it up gave a little water and some food but it was gone by the time I got back for lunch. First wreck I have had ordering chicks.

I have let Ideal know, just waiting on their response.
I have a question for somebody to field if he/she is willing and able. The Columbian cockerels that they sent are indistinguishable from the buff straight run. I have heard that this is normal, but should I be worried?
The varieties I got from Mr. Urch were White, Silver Penciled and Partridge. If you have questions about other breeds though, my fearless poultry club president went in on the order with me. She ordered all kinds of stuff. If this hatch rate keeps up I will be ordering more eggs from him.
My goal is to raise good quality Wyandottes for meat and eggs and eventually exhibition. I am ordering Wyandottes from different sources to blend to make my own lines. Mr. Urch, I hope will make it so I start just ahead of zero.
Thanks again for all the help and advice.

 

[gilavina]

Hello all,
My ideal chicks came in overnight apparently. I was not prepared for them to arrive so fast, but the brooder was all set for them. I went and grabbed them and out of 50 sent 11 were dead and 1 was on its way out. I tried to perk it up gave a little water and some food but it was gone by the time I got back for lunch. First wreck I have had ordering chicks.

I have let Ideal know, just waiting on their response.
I have a question for somebody to field if he/she is willing and able. The Columbian cockerels that they sent are indistinguishable from the buff straight run. I have heard that this is normal, but should I be worried?
The varieties I got from Mr. Urch were White, Silver Penciled and Partridge. If you have questions about other breeds though, my fearless poultry club president went in on the order with me. She ordered all kinds of stuff. If this hatch rate keeps up I will be ordering more eggs from him.
My goal is to raise good quality Wyandottes for meat and eggs and eventually exhibition. I am ordering Wyandottes from different sources to blend to make my own lines. Mr. Urch, I hope will make it so I start just ahead of zero.
Thanks again for all the help and advice.

I'd love to see progress photos on the Silver Pencileds from Urch as they grow out for you. I haven't ordered from him, but he seems about the only one around that has them without them being hatchery stock.

 

[ShaggyRay]

I'll see what I can do to accomodate you Gilavina, as soon as they hatch I plan on snapping some pictures.

 

[primalchick]

Crazy day for weather here! Snowstorm last night and all morning, then it warmed up to 5 C/40 F and was gorgeous and sunny out this afternoon. Made for a fun day for my dog on our walk...mud from nose to tail by the time we got home LOL

Anyhow, since it warmed up my chicks got the boot outside! They will be 8 weeks old this weekend. It is still getting down around -5 C to -12 C (20's and high teens F) at night. Their coop is insulated all the way around, and they have some deep sawdust bedding. Do you guys think I should still hang their heat lamp in there at night? They've been without it for a while now in the porch (which is cooler than the rest of the house).

I took some pics of the 4 I am 99% sure are pullets. Out of 10 I am pretty sure I only got 4 girls LOL My coop is 5x5 though so I could fit a couple more in there after we butcher the boys. I sooo wish I could find some BLRW's up here!!! I've been on the hunt for a couple.

I think I ended up with 2 pullets of each colour (GLW and SLW). Let me know if you see anything that looks like a roo in these pics! The one SLW I still waver a little on.

 

[CowgirlJules]

I don't see anything screaming roo, and at that age, my SLWs are obvious. My BLRWs aren't quite as early, but I should still be able to tell by eight weeks.

Can't help you on the temperature thing. I just can't grasp that scale, having lived in California all of my life!

 

[Chiko]

I can finally be apart of this thread again! I've had 2 BLRW's for about 5 weeks now and think I have 2 boys -_- They're really big but so clueless sometimes lol. They just walk right off the edge of the coop without flying and sometimes have a hard time finding water (

) lol. I'll get some pictures as soon as I can :

 

[primalchick]

I don't see anything screaming roo, and at that age, my SLWs are obvious. My BLRWs aren't quite as early, but I should still be able to tell by eight weeks.
Can't help you on the temperature thing. I just can't grasp that scale, having lived in California all of my life!

Thank you! I love California We drove down it (north to south) last May when we went to Disney Land (long drive for us but a fun road trip!). Beautiful state! I would love to have your winters!

Mine seem fairly obvious right now too, I just wasn't sure about that one SLW for a long time but I'm fairly sure she's a she now. I have 4 SLW's who are definitely roos. Big, bright pink combs and hardly any tail feathers compared to the girls....carry themselves quite upright and a few are jerks...one attacked me today while I was moving them out to the coop LOL!

Can't wait to see pics Chiko! I loooove BLRW's. I really wish I could find some up here in Alberta for sale!

 

[fancyfeathers38]

Thanks for the info!

Single combs are recessive, so if you use the single combed pullet for breeding you will continue to have single combs pop up in your lines in the future. For that matter, if these chicks are from the same parent stock you may still have single combs popping up from time to time if any of the rose combed birds are carrying the single comb gene. Some people use single combed birds in their breeding program because they feel that it helps with fertility problems, but I think most people who don't have very large flocks don't have any fertility problems associated with the rose comb. So, if rose combs are your goal, I wouldn't breed a single combed bird.

Although, if there is a market for wyandottes as laying hens in your area most backyard flock keepers don't care much about whether their birds have the correct comb type so you could conceivably use her to test mate your cockerels to see if any of them are carrying the single comb gene. A rose combed male carrying the single comb gene should produce 50% rose combs and 50% single combs if bred to a single combed female. So if any of your boys are carrying the single comb gene, you should get some single combed chicks if they breed with her and you could then decide whether to eliminate them from your breeding program or deal with single combs if/when they pop up in the future. But other than test-mating, I doubt she would be very useful in your breeding program.

 

[Peachesbabychick]

Hi everyone!

Newbie here, I am considering adding 1 or 2 BLRW's to my flock, and to use for 4h..... what do you think? I was wondering what their temperments are like etc? Tips?

Thanks so much,

-Peaches

 

[colby318]

wyandottes are rather similar in temperment to orps if you get them from a breeder. Hatchery birds can be a crap shoot. All mine are very laid back. I've never had an aggressive rooster and the hens don't beat on the younglings when I let everyone free range together in the afternoon.

Hi everyone!

Newbie here, I am considering adding 1 or 2 BLRW's to my flock, and to use for 4h..... what do you think? I was wondering what their temperments are like etc? Tips?

Thanks so much,

-Peaches