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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

T
I have always wanted some blue laced reds and some silver laced Wy's. I love my Orps though!!! They are really sweet birds...even the roos :)
 
clucklandbrenda
Aren't they sweet! We had several Wyandottes at one time but are now down to one. (She is a p/b SLW.) We found them to be very suseptable to stress. (The big beautiful rooster was first to drop dead! ) It was just the regular run of the mill 'coop' chaos but they all died... SO DISAPPOINTING. I do want to get some more and try again next year but THIS time, we will keep them separate from any other breeds. Just giving you a heads up! :)
 
La Casa de Pollo
I do not care for Wyandottes either....their feather patterns are so beautiful but something about their personality is just off-putting to me. Not as much fun as some of the others, and they are just so-so egg layers, as far as size and frequency goes.
 
humphrey farms
My wyandottes are more independant than my cochins who like to be held for a minute or two or three. I can pick them up but they squack about it before settling down. However, they are the first to come running for hand held snacks.
 
diannasunshine
I'm having a heard time finding breeders to get pullets of all LF varieties - it would be so easy to order from a hatchery, but from all the horror stories I have to tell myself NO WAY b/c they are one of the docile breeds and should be very friendly. Makes you wonder what is going on in the chicken mills!!!
 
Mac14
I got mine when she was about 4 weeks and she was always hard to get close to. She is also one big bully. If I could have gotten closer to her when she was young then it might have gone better. I am trying to get closer to her every day. :)
 
trooper
I ordered a Blue Wyandotte and I have never seen one in any wyandotte section.I have seen silver laced and golden laced but no Blue.He is a beautiful bird and a good rooster.I'm just wandering if there is such a bird.
 
Dawna
I have three SLW hens. Due to short daylight hours (here in Texas) I am not getting many eggs.They are really beautiful birds. And with their coloring they are not as visible to predators.
 
HendersonFarm
i have 2 gold laced wy hens and they have layed continuously since they began almost 2 years ago, and they are by far the friendliest girls. now i want a wy roo so i can breed the hens.
 
Trevi70
The last SLW hens I had stopped laying in the winter but these new girls (almost a yr old now) have continued to lay so far. I'm pretty impressed! And SO friendly!!
 
Jayzandra
My SLW is a rescue and I have no idea where she was hatched, but she is not nice to my EE. Everybody else gets along just fine. She doesn't have the best Lacing, so my guess is probably hatchery stock.
 
MIchickens
A little info on Murray McMurray. I received my chick a week ago (27 Jan 13). I ordered 47 total chicks of various breeds. I even went as far as to call my main post office hub and ask them to call me and I would pick them up whenever they got there. I received the call at 11:00pm on a Sunday. I drove the 2 hours round trip to get them faster to reduce the stress....if I had waited to get them from my local post office...who knows how many more would have died. 2 of the chicks were DOA in the box when I opened it. Later that day 3 more died. And the next day 3 more died. 1 day after that I only lost 1. Also, I ordered 4 Golden laced Wyandotte's...they didn't ship them to me. Their was a sticker on the inside of the box that said they said they ran out. Now keep in mind I ordered these chicks 3 months in advance. So there's no excuse for not sending them.

OK, now I have 3 chicks with crossed beaks and 1 with an eye problem. I will probably cull them tomorrow.

I would suggest trying to find a local hatchery around you and buy them from there. I am not happy at all with McMurray. Although their people were very nice on the phone each time I called...I believe their chicks are sub-standard. Be prepared to lose a 1/4 of them due to death or sub standard breeding.

I'm just sayin....lol
 
Michael Apple
Bad experience with McMurray years ago and never went back. Kinky back, runts, and Mareks symptoms were rampant even though they were supposedly vaccinated.
In regard to Wyandottes and the OP review. Wyandottes are a "clannish" breed like many. Too many different breeds in a flock can create much squabbling. I love the breed and will always have a preference for the calm and attractive, rose combed Wyandotte.
 
reinvestment
I'm not sure 2 eggs a day is possible either. What proof can you give that they are all from the Wyandottes? Do you have other chickens?
 
Claye
Wow, I wasnt aware that I made such a sensational claim. Im new to this and had no idea that two eggs a day (on average) from the hens was not possible. There are days when there are less. Im not interested in convincing anyone or proving anything lol. My other hens are not point of lay (about 3 months) and are Araucana's and one Polish, so have distinctive eggs. I apologise for expressing such an silly claim reinvestment, it must be my ignorence. Its just a natural assumption to come to when I pull 3-4 eggs out most days (I check every day with my son). Thank you for the complement Krayfish57.
 
reinvestment
Didn't mean to critizise. Just wondered if mine were laying two a day and I couldn't tell because I have Australorps too. And they aren't all laying yet - I don't think. Just once I have gotten 11 eggs in a day and I have 12 hens. It's hard to tell if some aren't laying or some aren't laying every day.
I would also think if any were laying 2 eggs a day, the nurseries would be touting that!!
 

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Category
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