The Wyandotte Thread

[Chickenhill]

Yes he's a beauty, reminds me of my big guy

ewwww he is handsome!

 

[Chickenhill]

Oh wow, I guess I can come back to this thread! I suggested a year ago on this thread that the super low fertility in SLWs was because of the rose comb and I got super-duper yelled at and told that there was no fertility issue in the breed. I made googly eyes and stopped posting, but I didn't stop reading. Glad the attitude has changed.

I don't think there's any reason you'd have to lose the good type of the SLW to get fertility back. It's not the feathers or the fluff that's the issue, it's the comb. RR males have sperm that don't work very well, and they don't have much of it. The rose comb gene also makes them less willing to mount and breed, and RR hens are seen by the roosters to be scarier and require more courting than Rr hens. So don't abandon the type - just go find single combs. If you breed enough back into the SLW that they start producing single combs semi-regularly, your fertility should be pretty close to normal again.

Well welcome back. So, did you introduce some single combs back into you SLW's?

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

I don't breed Wyandottes, but I have some. I've been following along with this thread. Reading about the fertility issues with Wyandotte roosters, being linked to the rose comb, etc. I breed R.C. HRIR's, and have found no issues with fertility and have heard of none either.

 

[WyandotteTX]

Glad you are back to post again but I will disagree on the point, as I always have. I do not have any fancy genetic speak to persuade you to believe otherwise. All I have is the guidance from Wyandotte breeders in the past and my own experience of raising Wyandottes for most of my life.
I will not use a single comb bird in my breeding pens for several reasons. First off, if it has a single comb it isnt a Wyandotte, it is a cull in my opinion. Secondly, when you cross a single comb into the rose comb breed it changes the rose comb itself. It flattens the comb and changes the morphology of what I would call a Wyandotte rose comb. To me it also lends itself to more "crow headed birds" in appearance.

There are many aspects of Wyandotte fertility:
#1 Being the youth and vigor of the male. IF you are using a male that is two years or older, he will not be fertile until much later in the season. Be it light or cold or whatever the reason may be, do not expect early season fertility from older males. After February? Fertility will increase greatly but you must also control the number of hens he is going to service.

I have never hatched or planned to hatch birds early in the season. I do not start hatching until usually March because that is when I have always gotten the most eggs and most fertile eggs. I raise show birds but I do not show them so there is no deadline for me of when I need to have birds hatched by so they can be ready for the fall shows etc. I do not manipulate their laying with lights or anything extra. I breed my birds to be hardy and survive the Texas heat.

With all of this I am not trying to be contrarian just to argue. If you feel that you need to add or do something to manipulate your breed for it to improve, by all means do so. We all have done things within our breeding programs that we have felt led to the betterment of our strain. If you want to use a single comb, use it, they are your birds to do with as you like. Hopefully it will give you the desired outcome you seek but I doubt the use of a single comb is the panacea that many think it is.
Just my two cents and I say all of this with an absence of malice, only with a differing viewpoint.
Have a great day!
John

 

[Texasmja]

Glad you are back to post again but I will disagree on the point, as I always have. I do not have any fancy genetic speak to persuade you to believe otherwise. All I have is the guidance from Wyandotte breeders in the past and my own experience of raising Wyandottes for most of my life.
I will not use a single comb bird in my breeding pens for several reasons. First off, if it has a single comb it isnt a Wyandotte, it is a cull in my opinion. Secondly, when you cross a single comb into the rose comb breed it changes the rose comb itself. It flattens the comb and changes the morphology of what I would call a Wyandotte rose comb. To me it also lends itself to more "crow headed birds" in appearance.

There are many aspects of Wyandotte fertility:
#1 Being the youth and vigor of the male. IF you are using a male that is two years or older, he will not be fertile until much later in the season. Be it light or cold or whatever the reason may be, do not expect early season fertility from older males. After February? Fertility will increase greatly but you must also control the number of hens he is going to service.

I have never hatched or planned to hatch birds early in the season. I do not start hatching until usually March because that is when I have always gotten the most eggs and most fertile eggs. I raise show birds but I do not show them so there is no deadline for me of when I need to have birds hatched by so they can be ready for the fall shows etc. I do not manipulate their laying with lights or anything extra. I breed my birds to be hardy and survive the Texas heat.

With all of this I am not trying to be contrarian just to argue. If you feel that you need to add or do something to manipulate your breed for it to improve, by all means do so. We all have done things within our breeding programs that we have felt led to the betterment of our strain. If you want to use a single comb, use it, they are your birds to do with as you like. Hopefully it will give you the desired outcome you seek but I doubt the use of a single comb is the panacea that many think it is.
Just my two cents and I say all of this with an absence of malice, only with a differing viewpoint.
Have a great day!
John

I agree John. There is no reason to ever use a single comb and would never suggest doing that. Fertility issues related to the rose comb is only when the male is homozygous (RR), females are not affected either way. Using a heterozygous (Rr) male in the flock is all that is needed. I talked with an old time breeder and he told me that the only time he has fertility issues with his Wyandottes is when it is really cold...but he also advised using plenty of roos - 3 for 10-15 hens.

 

[jockeyeba]

Yes he's a beauty, reminds me of my big guy

ewwww he is handsome!

Thank you

 

[jermoatc]

I know a lot of yall raise wyandottes as pets so I hope I dont offend anybody with this question but how do wyandotte roos work out as table birds? I love my SLW layers and im thinking about ordering straight run next time to get some roos for the freezer too.

 

[Texasmja]

I know a lot of yall raise wyandottes as pets so I hope I dont offend anybody with this question but how do wyandotte roos work out as table birds? I love my SLW layers and im thinking about ordering straight run next time to get some roos for the freezer too.

We have butchered a lot of roos, the Wyandottes have a rich delicious flavor and are leaner in fat. We butchered them at 13 weeks and they averaged 4 pounds dressed.

 

[ki4got]

I know a lot of yall raise wyandottes as pets so I hope I dont offend anybody with this question but how do wyandotte roos work out as table birds? I love my SLW layers and im thinking about ordering straight run next time to get some roos for the freezer too.

IMO, if you're looking for specifically a meat bird, you'd be better off choosing something that grows a bit faster, I think... but if it's simply a side effect of having too many roos, they work out pretty good. 8)

but then again, my main breed are Dorkings, and nothing can compare to the texture and flavor, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[jermoatc]

We have butchered a lot of roos, the Wyandottes have a rich delicious flavor and are leaner in fat. We butchered them at 13 weeks and they averaged 4 pounds dressed.

Ok. Great. Thanks. About when do they start crowing?