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Wyandotte

The Wyandotte originated in the U.S. in the 1870's. Wyandottes were made in Massachusetts,...
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General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Rose
Broodiness
Frequent
Climate Tolerance
Cold
Egg Productivity
Medium
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Brown
Breed Temperament
Friendly, easily handled, calm, bears confinement well, quiet and docile
Breed Colors/Varieties
Golden laced, silver laced, colubian, buff, partrige, silver penciled, blue, and blue laced red
Breed Size
Large Fowl
APA/ABA Class
American
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The Wyandotte aka American Sebright, were developed in the United states in the 1870’s, in and around the New York area. The first color developed was the Silver Laced variety and they were originally called American Sebrights. The name was changed to Wyandotte (after the indigenous Wyandot people), when they were admitted into the APA in 1883. They were exported to Europe around the same time.

Wyandottes are a calm breed in general and have very nice temperaments. They are good with people and generally get along well in a mixed flock. They are decent foragers, though they do not tend to wander far and are not good flyers. They are extremely cold hardy. The hens are good layers of light brown eggs, good winter layers, will set, and are good mothers. The cockerels make a good table bird. Today they are an extremely popular dual purpose breed and very popular among small flock owners looking for a colorful winter layer.

They have a flat rose comb and bright red face. Today they come in many feather colors and patterns, with over thirty found in Europe, the beautiful Blue Laced Red and Silver Laced are probably the two most popular colors in general. They are very popular as exhibition birds. Many breeds have been used to produce the Wyandotte we know today, including Brahma, Cochin, Hamburg, and Plymouth Rocks. They are also found in bantam size.

It was removed from The Livestock Conservancy's Priority list in 2016 and is no longer considered endangered.

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Wyandotte egg

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Wyandotte chick

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Wyandotte juvenile

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Wyandotte rooster and hens

For more info on Wyandottes and their owners' and breeders' experiences, see our breed discussion here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-wyandotte.1135563/
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Latest reviews

Fluster Cluck Acres
Fiesty, fun, & noisy
Pros: spunky personality
they keep maturing cockerels in line
healthy
intelligent
eggs have a pinkish bloom
Cons: hens are noisy
they can be bullies to more submissive birds
hard to handle
cute fluffy bums get messy
This review is based off of my 5 Wyandottes compared to other breeds that I have had more than one of (Barnevelders, Marans, Orpingtons, Hybrids, RIRs, & Bielefelders). There does seem to be some variance amongst color varieties. My silver & gold laced birds are most similiar in personality. My blue laced red had some commonalities with them, but my lavender has NOTHING in common with the other 4.

My wyandottes are spunky birds who are always around seeing what you're up to. They are personable, inquisitive, and enjoy being around people. However, they are harder to touch/handle than other breeds.

The hens are LOUD when they are displeased with something (another hen in the nest box or getting fed nonpreffered treats). They make a distinct sound that is different from other breeds I've had. Even the mix-breed offspring of my SLWs make this noise. I find it amusing, but in a residential setting it might be problematic. Interestingly, there egg song is not that loud. It's mostly just when they're complaining.

They are a dominate breed and don't back down in a fight. They can be bullies and are less tolerant of submissive or easily victimized birds (young birds, birds in recovery, molting, etc...). They are a good flock fit if you don't have any particularly "needy" birds in your flock. They also really keep young cockerels in line. They do not put up with hormone driven antics and will defend the other hens from these cockerels. In these situations I find the wyandotte hens to be more protective of the flock than the mature roosters.

My Wynadottes have not had health problems compared to my other breeds. I also believe they are more intelligent than my other breeds. They are intuitive and seem to figure things out that the other birds can't. They are resilient and adaptable birds. Their personalities are so strong that I see it come through in mixed breed birds that are only 1/2 and 1/4 wyandotte.

Lastly, I find the eggs of wyandotte (and mixes) to have the richest yolks. I don't know if this is a breed thing or an indication that they're better foragers, but their yolks are delicous.

*MY BLRW was less personable than the Silver & Gold. She was only loud when singing her egg song. She was such a bully that she is no longer with us. My lavender wyandotte I'm pretty sure is just a lavendar orpington with a shaved down comb, lol. She's 100% different from the laced varieties.*
Purchase Price
$4-$18 as chicks
Purchase Date
I've gotten a few over the years, 2019-2023.
talkinboutchickens
Pros: very sweet, great personality, fantastic with other chickens
Cons: none
My little hen Vicky was so sweet, she had a special bond with my black sexlink Winnie. They did everything together. Vicky had a lot of personality. She was kinda overweight either that or her legs were just far apart at birth.
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I'm not really sure how many eggs she laid because the color of her eggs were the same color as all the rest of the eggs.
Purchase Price
$4.00 at a local breeder
Purchase Date
March 2019
avjudge
Least favorite of my small flock
Pros: Decent enough layer
Cons: Prone to lay outside nest box (dropped from roost or in run)
Strong membrane makes cracking eggs messy
Not particularly friendly (esp. compared to Golden Comet)
Two of our six chickens - our first batch, now reduced to five by a sudden death - are silver-laced Wyandottes. I much prefer our Golden Comets and our Olive Egger. The Wyandottes are “OK” but I only use their eggs when I don’t care about unbroken yolks as they’re likely to break getting the egg out of the shell. I’m also getting tired of checking the run to make sure I didn’t miss an egg there. When we replenish our flock we’ll be getting something else.
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Comments

Paulaaswan
I have 2 Golden Lace, They are so beautiful, soft and friendly. I don't find them noisy at all. I bought them at a auction. I paid $17 for one and $27 for the other one.
 
Chook to chook
Our Silver Laced is a solid layer. She gets along nicely with the other gals and is a good flock member. She isn't full of personality or our best layer but her mellow disposition and ability to tolerate handling makes her a good addition to our well rounded flock.
 
cwren
I have 3; a rooster--gorgeous! 2 hens--one of which has a lighter comb. She is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. We've nicknamed her 'dummy' and we always have to look for her as she is always a few minutes late to the party. Also she seems incapable of figuring out where the door to the run is! It takes forever to get her in there.
 
BrittanyTheYooper
stellaginger said:
I have one Silver Laced in my flock and she really is such an active (bossy) bird. They are so pretty but I don't know about this ones personality. Are they all like this?
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I have six and all of them are butt heads haha I have to chase them back into their coop at night. My orpingtons are alot more easy going
 
RAnst4038
Have 2 Silver from Agway, wild refuse to be tamed. Like to run & fly as fast as they can. I think if they got out of the back yard they would just keep going. 20 weeks no eggs or interest in rooster. Very small comb & waddles but never saw them panting on 100* 100% days. Get on top coop for fun of flying. Lucky my two 5 year old Reds are still laying every other day.
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Wyandotte getting high to fly farther.
 
francel
I have 7 of them 4 golden laced and 3 silver laced . Love them! Gentle, friendly, beautiful. Not laying yet , 18 weeks old
 
Linda Joy
I ordered a hen and a rooster Wyandotte in my chick order and I’m excited to see them mature! What a cool breed and beautiful!!
 
Linda Joy
Paulaaswan said:
I have 2 Golden Lace, They are so beautiful, soft and friendly. I don't find them noisy at all. I bought them at a auction. I paid $17 for one and $27 for the other one.
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How have you liked your Golden Laced over the past year? I just received my chick order and purchased a hen and a rooster. ( along with 16 other chicks ) They sound like such a nice breed.
 
cherylwillard1
I don't know, my wyandottes are flighty and timid. The barred rocks are much calmer and less squirmy when I handle them. But they are still pretty young; they are all a year old this April. Maybe they'll calm down now.
 
cherylwillard1
RAnst4038 said:
Have 2 Silver from Agway, wild refuse to be tamed. Like to run & fly as fast as they can. I think if they got out of the back yard they would just keep going. 20 weeks no eggs or interest in rooster. Very small comb & waddles but never saw them panting on 100* 100% days. Get on top coop for fun of flying. Lucky my two 5 year old Reds are still laying every other day.
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Wyandotte getting high to fly farther.
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My wyandottes took about 24 weeks to lay. Hang in there. Once they start, you should have eggs almost daily. Even after they start laying, they're flighty.
 
cherylwillard1
livinablesdlife said:
are these roosters?
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Most definitely roos. Saddle feathers and long tails. My roo's tail now loops up and back down almost to his "ankles". And he is SO PROTECTIVE of his ladies, but not in an aggressive way; just alert and quick to get them hidden if there's danger.
 

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Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
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Views
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Reviews
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