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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

pab0150
Did you find that your SLW pecked the other chicks? We've got three SLW chicks and three Golden Comets that are about six weeks old and two days ago when I got them out of their run, one of the poor little things (a SLW) looked like she had been pecked the entire night. She was completely barren of feathers on her neck and it was a bloody mess. Of course, we've isolated her, but she is desperate to get back with her buddies. I feel awful for the little thing, but don't want to expose her to more of that! We've had Comets before and didn't have a problem with pecking from them and they are very docile, while the SLW's are very flightish, to say the least!
 
MammaMayI
You know, she WAS a bit peckish with the others to start. I think now, not so much...I didn't see her pecking the newer hens when they came as 8 week old pullets in September, at all. The pullets were perhaps 10 weeks old when they met face to face in the hen house, though... I'm waiting a bit longer to put my four barred rocks in with them, though...they are about seven weeks old, and I would expect that they'd be pecked, and I wouldn't put it past the SLW to do the pecking! She also pecked at me a couple of times until I told her who was boss...strangely she never tried it with my kids! (though she was too fast for them to be very near her!).
 
fettslady
I've been pouring over different breeds for my first flock. Absolutely love the plumage on the Wyandottes and plan on adding golden and silver laced to my mixed flock :)
 
caw6142
I have 4 SLW's that are about 5 wks old. They seem a little more skittish than some of the others as well as the Blk Astrolorps. I think they're very pretty and look forward to haveing them around a long while.
 
Hezz
They are a bit skittish at first, but once they warm up to you they get better.
 
NoZolbitty
Something to think about,
My maternal grandmther did not have SLWs but the small eggs of her pullets became a favored treat at Easter. Your SLW'S eggs are light enough to take a good dye. you might market them at that time.
 
C
I bought my SLWs from McMurray, along with several other Wyandottes in different colors. My SLWs were NUTS! Hated being handled, they were basically wild.
Thankfully, all of the other Wyandottes that I had ordered were the sweetest birds, true to their reputation. Super friendly, almost like dogs. They come up to me (I don't even give them treats) and let me pet them, and when I walk by they all follow me LOL. Needless to say, I sold all of my SLWs right away. I wasn't happy with their lacing either, they were mostly black.
I think it's because the Silver Laced is a mass-produced bird, and the breeders are more focused on quantity rather than personality. Not the case with all my other Wyandottes from McMurray.
Jenne
 
C
Make sure you find some from a good source- My Golden Laced and my Blue Laced Reds are better than I expected as far as personality, but my Silver Laced were horrible. I believe it's because the Silver Laced is a mass-produced bird and the breeders aren't breeding for personality or friendliness. Wherever you get yours from, make sure you get them from a good source!
Jenne
 
CochinBrahmaLover
I love wyandotte's. Good layers, hardy, and wanna know why she has 'gender issues'
Wyandotte's are a domanant breed. They were be on top, so naturally, your hen is on top so think shes a rooster.
Good breed that i reccomend, you just got 2 little sour apples, ours are always SO sweet
 
Xtina
Well that makes sense and a sample size of two isn't fair to the whole breed. But it's my experience and you've sort of validated it by saying they're dominant. Even though I don't have any real drama within my flock, I'm not a fan of the mix of Wyandottes with the Brahma that I have. She's too submissive and they're too dominant. My barred rock on the other hand seems to be the ideal bird.
 
BroodyChknMomma
What hatchery did you get her from? I just ordered 8 of them from McMurray straight run and I'm hoping to get at least a female or two. I think Wyandottes are gorgeous, though, independant.
 
CountryLovin
I have 5 - 5 months old SLW's that I bought from a local farm store. Mine are pretty consistent in size, but did end up with a rooster that was supposed to be a hen. They are all wild. That's one reason I didn't know he was a rooster. Never could catch him without chasing him all over the enclosure. The pretty much stay to themselves, but do interact well with the other flock members. None are laying yet. My leghorns and black stars are very friendly and like to be made over. I recently tried to introduce a young New Hampshire rooster and the whole flock attacked him and almost killed him before I could get him out.
Reminded me of Hitchcock's "The Birds."
 
C
I learned my lesson and I won't EVER get any more SLWs from hatchery stock. The farm stores order their birds from hatcheries in order to "ensure disease-free chicks". I must say that my Golden Laced and my Blue Laced Red Wyandottes have lovely personalities (especially the BLRs, which are the friendliest of all my flock) and they came from a hatchery. I currently have several Blue Laced Red Wyandotte eggs in my incubator that I bought from a breeder. They are not the least bit related to hatchery stock. I'll be sure to come back here and comment on their personality once they hatch!
Jenne
 
freedomrings
. Lol I have found that if you remove the s*** starting chicken to a place off by its self for two or three weeks then introduced it back into the flock. That sometimes this give an attitude adjustment.
 
swga
You know, I thought so too, so I tried that... I went to give Silver a 'timeout', and put her back in her box while the others I left out to run around... and they went crazy! Ninja noticed first that Silver was gone, and she started this panicky clucking and started freaking out and looking for her, and then the other two did too, and they all were SO distressed that she was gone that I just had to go let her out so they would calm down... they musta thought she was chickennapped! Silver, of course, was not at all bothered by her 'timeout'!
What I've taken to doing since is when Silver gets to being really mean, I'll just hold her and pet her... it calms her down and I guess gives her a 'timeout' without the other girls freaking out and having a conniption fit... Maybe she's better behaved afterwards for a bit because she doesn't like to be held and knows I'll pick her up again if she starts up!
I think I'm going to try the 'go to your room' type timeout again though, if she doesn't cut it out- but where the other girls can see her!
 

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