The Wyandotte Thread

[towen91]

I would love for someone to post picture comparisons of breed standard/ show quality SLW vs hatchery quality. I got mine from a local man the next county over, so I would love to know how mine stack up!

 

[towen91]

Wyandottes13 how old are your hens?

 

[Wyandottes7]

While your birds are very well conditioned and may make great egg layers and pets, they unfortunately are not what you'd look for in a show-quality Wyandotte bred to the Standard of Perfection. They appear to be hatchery quality, which means they have been bred more for egg production than correct Wyandotte traits and showablity. Hatcheries and feed stores distribute birds that "kind of" look like a certain breed. Your Wyandottes, for example, do have the general Silver-Laced pattern, the cold hardiness, the yellow skin, and the rose combs of the Wyandotte breed. They are perfect for a hobby farmer or backyarder with a desire for excellent egg production and temperament.

However, a purebred show-quality Wyandotte bred to the SOP would be considerable larger. They would also be deeper, more profusely feathered, rounder in appearance, and wider. Your hens' tails are rather rectangular and thin; a show-quality Wyandotte would have a tee-pee like tail with roundness and width as wide as the back. The Wyandotte is a bird of curves, designed to fit in a circle. The head should be round, the body should be round and deep, and the tail should be rounded and blend smoothly into the back. Your birds, in contrast, have a shallower and rectangular shape with harsher angles. They're great egg layers, but not ideal Wyandottes in shape.

Also in color, your birds fail somewhat. The laced color pattern is very hard to get right. It is supposed to be crisp, with even borders around each feather and a pure silver color in the middle of each feather. I see some mossiness in your birds' lacing (black specks in the center of the feather), frosting (black edges fading to a grey around the feather), irregular lacing (uneven over the body), and dark lacing (too much black).

I hope this doesn't come across too harshly, I'm merely giving my own opinion on how similar your birds are to the SOP. There is always room for improvement, in any bird. Your goals will determine whether you breed these birds or not. If you want happy, healthy egg producers, definitely go ahead and breed them. But, if you want to begin showing, I'd suggest finding a Wyandotte breeder and obtaining some new stock. Most likely, if you brought one of these to a show, the judge would mark "Commericial", or "Size" on the cage card, since they are a commercial style Wyandotte instead of show birds.

 

[towen91]

No offense taken whatsoever! I'm just a beginner, and purchased my chickens as a hobby, and of course for the eggs! Until I became a backyard chicken dad, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even know their were different breeds of chickens. AND I LIVE IN KENTUCKY!!! Thank you for the information, and I will refer to this if ever I decide to get into breeding for show quality birds!

 

[Wyandottes7]

No offense taken whatsoever! I'm just a beginner, and purchased my chickens as a hobby, and of course for the eggs! Until I became a backyard chicken dad, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even know their were different breeds of chickens. AND I LIVE IN KENTUCKY!!! Thank you for the information, and I will refer to this if ever I decide to get into breeding for show quality birds!

You're welcome, I'm always happy to help educate people on showing poultry, especially Wyandottes.

 

[towen91]

To be completely honest, I was lucky to have stumbled into this breed. Some friends of mine started a backyard flock last year, and as an extreme lover of all animals, I had to try it. I found these for sale on Craigslist, and have learned everything through trial and error for the most part. Luckily, I only lost 1 and that was a few days after brining them home. I have sense replaced the girl I lost and all seems well so far. I really find the whole pecking order fascinating!!

 

[Wyandottes13]

Wyandottes13 how old are your hens?

They are 7 months old, hatched last February

 

[Wyandottes13]

Wyandottes7, I'm not sure if your post was directed towards me but, if it was I agree with you entirely. The hens fall short in the Wyandotte shape department, and their tails are rather pinched. The lacing is pretty bad, but hens #1 and 2's lacing is better but they are skinnier. Do you think, since they are rather young and not fully mature, that they will fill out? What do you think about their combs and wattles?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Wyandottes7, I'm not sure if your post was directed towards me but, if it was I agree with you entirely. The hens fall short in the Wyandotte shape department, and their tails are rather pinched. The lacing is pretty bad, but hens #1 and 2's lacing is better but they are skinnier. Do you think, since they are rather young and not fully mature, that they will fill out? What do you think about their combs and wattles?

Oops, yeah, it was directed to you. I decided to not quote your post (since it can get long scrolling through photos) but realize it probably would have made more sense to quote it. It looks like I'm getting mixed up with who I'm posting to.

Sorry for any confusion I've caused, everyone!

Yes, your hens will fill out more when they get older. However, they will not fill out to such an extent that they will have proper Wyandotte type/size. Their combs and wattles are decent, though one of the combs is a little hollow in the center. I'm not seeing any comb disqualifications, so that is good.

Your Wyandottes are lovely hatchery quality birds, just not show stock.

 

[dfr1973]

So, I only had one Wyandotte egg hatch. I had set twelve. Now to figure out the "why" on the rest, but the hatchling is bright-eyed and active, and looks to have big feet in comparison to the half-Wyandotte that hatched. Two out of 27 isn't the best hatch rate, but considering it was my first incubator hatch I can say it hasn't been a failure.