Wyandotte

One of my daughter's favorite breed of chickens. Never thought I'd have Wyandotte, but some chicks happened to fall into our laps and we fell in love. Very sweet once they finally warm up to you. They get fairly large but are soft and make nice lap chickens. I haven't really had any problems with them wandering off. Great birds if you're looking for a larger chicken that is still friendly and acts like a pet.

At our home, We own four barred wyandottes in our backyard. They are very trusting and friendly with other chickens. Due to their small size they will do good with other small breeds like a silkie. Though I suggest you do wear gloves when giving them treats because they will sometimes bite your skin which really darn hurts, and are a bit greedy too! but despite that this are the sure to be your future best friends!

I have 4 SLW hens which I raised from chicks. All are hatchery quality birds and do not conform to breed standard. They are smaller, less rounded, with incorrect lacing. They are still very pretty and soft and I am not concerned with show quality-ness.

Pros:

• Great egg production
• Good tolerance of Texas hill country winters
• Beautiful to look at
• Pretty friendly, will let you pick them up though they don't like it
• Great foragers

Cons:

• Can be noisy
• Don't appear to be very predator savy
• Seem to overheat easily, though they adapt well
• Completely denuded the yard of plants over winter. Successful regrowth required putting them elsewhere to graze

Overall, I'm very happy with my birds. These have been my first chickens and I purchased 3 more GLW chicks to add to the flock this Spring. Hoping the new chicks turn out just as nice as my Silvers.

I have 3, I bought them when they were a year old so they never really got accustomed to me. They adapted to the coop well, Lay fine eggs, and one in particular is quite vocal and bossy (often)

I may have to try raising some from chicks up to get a better opinion.

I have a particular interest in bantams for eggs, and for that reason I purchased bantam Wyandottes in late April of this year as day-old chicks from a hatchery. I have one golden-laced pullet, and five blue-laced red variations, three pullets and two cockerels.

I have had chickens for only three years, and the Wyandottes are the third bantam breed I have raised. The other two breeds are bantam Easter egger and bantam buff Brahmas. The Wyandottes are the friendliest of the three breeds by far. I did not handle them a great deal as new hatchlings because I ordered a larger number of chicks, and for several weeks I was unsure which ones I would keep. Nonetheless, of the six chicks I kept, all are quite friendly. One of my cockerels is in love with me, and it's adorable. He is always next to me whenever I am out in the yard or the chicken house. Two of the pullets jump in my lap every time I sit down in their presence. When I sit with them, those that don't get right in my lap are always close by, walking over my feet, brushing against my legs, chatting and looking in my eyes. They don't like to be touched, but they like very much to be quite close, and they greet me enthusiastically every time they see me.

They also have a lot of personality. My little cockerel that loves me is a total character, a goof, is very smart, and always the first to figure things out. The two cockerels get along well. He's a little hard on the girls right now, but the Brahmas are larger and older and can deal with him, and the other cockerel helps keep him in line.

The little golden-laced pullet is also a character. She is off in her own world. She flies better than any of the rest, and I find her in high places from time to time, like on top of the chicken run. She also wanders by herself more than the others, going farther away, and coming in last behind everyone else at night. They love to free range, and they stay out late, but they go in the coop every night on their own.

The pullets were a full 27 weeks old before any of them laid an egg. That is slow. I'm sure three of them are laying but the fourth one I'm not so certain of. So far they are good little layers, popping out four or five eggs a week each. It's really too soon to know fully how well they will lay in terms of both frequency and size of egg, but the indicators are quite good. These first eggs are small and I expect the eggs to be larger in the future, and more so after their first molt. Right now the eggs weigh 1-1/4 to 1-3/8 oz, with more of the larger than smaller. That is a respectable egg for a bantam, in keeping with the formula that three bantam eggs equal two large eggs from LF.

I have a single golden laced wyandotte named Bumble, and she never fails to give me eggs. Even with frost all over the coop, she's popping out eggs. I raised her from a chick along with a ton of super friendly chicks, but she's just super skittish. She's a beautiful girl and very motherly to any younger birds in the flock, but she just doesn't like humans.

Absolutely love my Silver Laced Wyandotte. She lays big, almost ball shaped eggs. She loves people and will hang around you if your gardening, loves getting fed worms. I have plenty of hilarious stories about her.

my favorite go-to breed when first time cold weather chicken keepers for my advice on the "best" breed

Wyandottes are friendly, docile and well suited to backyard chicken keeping.
Their eggs are particularly sweet and delicious and their pale shell is well suited for decorating for special occasions, like Easter or birthday parties.
Whilst your Wyandotte may be a moderate producer of eggs and laying will naturally drop off for each year of her life, she will not lay herself to death in a year, like the high egg production birds, so you can enjoy your pet chicken for many years.
Wyandotte feathers are in high demand by milliners and trout fishing lure makers, so you will be able to sell your flock's feathers when they moult.
Wyandottes are a heritage breed. keeping them ensures the breed is kept viable into the future, with as big a gene pool as enthusiastic embracing of all the many colours of both standard and bantam Wyandotte varieties allows.

Maybe the two Wyandottes I purchased from Tractor Supply aren't really Wyandottes? Only one of mine lays eggs and they are small and cream colored. I also just don't like the looks of them, and they are skittish, even though I raised them from chicks and handled them. I was actually only going to get Wyandottes and I'm glad I got a couple other varieties instead.

Dora II went broody, so I got her a fertilized egg to sit on. 21 days later, out pops Lucy! It was amazing to watch Dora care for her baby. She is SO protective. The 2 were inseparable for 10 weeks! Finally, on Lucy's 73rd day, Dora laid an egg. She is my largest hen, Queen of the Coop but never bothers or bullies the others. She is soft and beautiful!

I've had this gold-laced Wyandotte for 6 years now. She's always been the most calm, friendly, and curious of the flock. She always gets along well with all other hens. She's the only one of my flock (the others are Australorps) who will come right up to me. Docile.

She's been a good layer, although at this age, no longer laying. Nice sized eggs.

Gorgeous feathering and a nice rose comb which has never gotten frostbit.

Has never gone broody (pro or con, depending).

Good forager. Stays put. My Australorps fly over my 5-foot fence and Winona doesn't.

Use caution mixing with more aggressive breeds. Although, I had a nasty, agressive Barred Rock once that was best friends with the docile Wyandotte.

Overall a great bird. Good for beginners and experienced owners.

Great rooster!

I have two Wyandotte hens. Based on my experience, the description of the breed and their behavior is almost spot-on. Mine are both very vocal when they see me. They each produce an egg almost every day. They get along very well with my Easter Eggers and were easily integrated. They are very good at tearing up mulch and flower beds and are deadly accurate for taking out insects and spiders. I could watch them for hours. I will continue to have this breed as a small part of my flock.

These are such a wonderful breed to own. They come in a lot of colors, though few of them are actually accepted. My favorite is the blue-laced red, and my personal opinion is that it's by far the most eye appealing.

They are loose feather breed, so they look incredibly puffy. They have great form, and have a pea comb (making this breed really cold hearty, with addition of its feather type). This bird grows to be a good size (my hens average 6-7 lbs).

All of my birds have been friendly, and at least tolerant of being handled. I have yet to find a rooster that has been aggressive.

This breed lays large brown eggs consistently, and make good meat birds.

If you're looking for a great breed to start out with, or even just to add to your current flock, this is a great breed to try out. They're beautiful to look at, great personalities, and lay lots of big eggs. Just great overall dual purpose birds.