Blue Laced Red Wyandotte THREAD!

[fowlmouthgirls]

Wow! Awesome diagrams ki4got! I was just telling my husband I wish someone would develop an online encyclopedia of poultry of the world, with pictures of the chick colorations and adult colorations!

 

[delisha]

Hello my name is Danny and I am fairly new in Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. We have been blessed to get some nice birds and would like some feedback about the flock we have started.

Hello Dan,
You have a few birds with yellow and orange. They are not breeder quality. Bird one has no chest, perhaps he is really young and might get one as he matures. . The rest are to hard to judge from the pictures. I like some things about some of the birds. You have several that should be pulled from a breeding program. I would like to see more pictures of bird two. More pictures of the two in picture 4. You have pinched tail in your bird in the tree. That is hard to work with and hens with pinched tail are not good layers for the long haul and breed more pinched tails. Her color is off too, but not that bad and could be worked with..if she did not have pinched tail. More pictures o the last bird too.

Any guesses on gender? I'm nervous that I have 4 cockerels and 1 pullet at this point. One (pretty sure it's a cockerel....orange/red band) is a GLW/EE mix. My GLW hen pinked up early, so I'm hoping that's the case with at least 1 of these.....


these are some long wing feathers .I see pink/red wattles they are tiny and it could be a pullet


red wattles



pullet? with this being an EE it is not a fair guess..they do not have wattles

pullet? No wattles are visable in this picture I like the round body on this chick

looks like a big comb picture does not show wattles..big legs..I guess cockerel

I've seen so many questions about peoples' birds, pics, etc...
first, as far as color is concerned, blue laced red Wyandottes are just that... they are blue (but can also be black or splash, since blue does not breed true), they are laced (a complete NARROW band of blue/black/splash around the center color), and they are RED. In this case, red is not just your 'run of the mill' red like you'd see in a black breasted red whatever, but the deep dark mahogany red seen in the old heritage type Rhode Island Reds...
this breed has no place for anything resembling gold, copper or fire-engine red. there is also no place for poor or incomplete lacing, and birds that have wide lacing will not breed true either. over all, the blue is the easiest part to get right on this breed. and also the most insignificant aspect of what makes a bird a BLRW.
and honestly, getting the color right is probably the easiest part of breeding GOOD blrw... it's the type that seems to be lacking 9 times out of 10, IMO... or just flat out ignored in some cases I think. but without type, all you have is a pretty chicken. not a Wyandotte.
so a brief refresher from past discussions regarding Wyandotte type...

One of the most commonly misunderstood (or even flat out ignored) is the proper profile a Wyandotte should have.



The following is from an old text regarding the Wyandotte standards... useful for seeing right and wrong as far as overall body shape (ie, type)





the genetics behind lacing (good and bad):

Pg is the pattern gene, Ml is the melanizing gene, Co is the Columbian gene. Each one is dominant over the wild type (shown with a +). If all 3 mutations are not homozygous (2 copies of the mutation present) then the appearance of the lacing is changed.


the black tip mentioned above - AKA spangling - can be seen in the image below, including proper and improper feather markings in a laced bird.

you always share so much wonderful information. You repeat it for people who do not read and that is so sweet. Thank you.

Wow! Awesome diagrams ki4got! I was just telling my husband I wish someone would develop an online encyclopedia of poultry of the world, with pictures of the chick colorations and adult colorations!

They do have them. *Poultry World* *American Standard of Perfection* *Feather World* *Worlds Poultry Journal*
Just to name a few.

 

[daesee]

typically silver laced are black, so your only options if the roo was blue would be blue and black. if he was splash, then you get all blues.

and no, your chicks are NOT blue laced reds. they are maybe blue laced, but red is doubtful since silver dilutes the red in a cockerel, creating a golden color (but not a gold laced either). the pullets MIGHT be usable as blrw, IF they get the mahogany gene. IF the roo is truly a mahogany red. lots of ifs. but likely it would take a couple generations to get some good blrw that breed true from a cross like this.

Thanks, but maybe you misunderstood... The SLW is not "genetically" the mom of these chicks, just the broody who hatched BLRW eggs I had shipped. All BLRW are so beautiful, but I was hoping these would be would be darker (blue or black) rather than splash. I'm new to Wyandottes, and most of the blue laced reds I've seen appeared lighter in color than mine. I was curious to see of those of you who had blue or black laced red adults felt the chicks started out similar in color these? (I'm just interested in them as pets and for eggs, not breeding or showing!)

On another matter - can you really feather sex blue laced red wyandottes? I've seen mixed opinions on this site, with most saying no. I attempted to look at mine tonight - they all looked the same to me.

 

[fowlmouthgirls]

Actually I said online, not books or magazines you have to subscribe to, but those do look like they are a wealth of information. Thanks for the info!

 

[gladahmae]

Any guesses on gender? I'm nervous that I have 4 cockerels and 1 pullet at this point. One (pretty sure it's a cockerel....orange/red band) is a GLW/EE mix. My GLW hen pinked up early, so I'm hoping that's the case with at least 1 of these.....









The one above is one of the BLR, and right now the best candidate for being a pullet.
The BELOW this is my GLW/EE chick. (and of COURSE it's the roundest one of the bunch.

)

looks like a big comb picture does not show wattles..big legs..I guess cockerel (blue)

I'm pretty sure the one with the blue band is male as well. They're still so terrified of me that they all run around when I go into the run. He's definitely got the biggest comb (and wattles) out of the bunch.

I'd try to get 'face' shots of combs/wattles but then I get them all mixed up when I try to upload.

 

[newtwinmom]

Daesee-my chicks looked very similar to the two on the left of you picture. They are now a dark blue and a black.

The chick in the front is now very black. Can't believe how much they change!

Her/him (wish I knew) now...

And the other is now a blue (rooster I think).
A week or two old...

A week or two later, the blue undercoat showed up...

Blue really coming in and some lacing...

And earlier this week...

 

[parkerchic-chic]

I had said all cockerels and then the one in the middle has never developed the upright feathers and the comb is a V versus a bulging warty type of comb which the others have.  Wishful thinking on my part it sounds like.  Can you guys help me understand why you all clearly see a cockerel for the one I thought may be a pullet?  

Dang it.  McMurray Hatcheries sent me expensive straight run roosters.  I sent them a e-mail about 3 weeks ago telling them I didn't get a single pullet out of them but never have gotten a reply.  I may not get any wyandottes after these roos get processed.  They are HUGE and I'm feeding them organic feed.  Too costly for just laying hens I think.

Thanks for chiming in and teaching this newbie about sexing these wyandottes.

When did you get your chicks? I think the rule is usually 75% roosters out if straight run. I'm asking when you got your chicks because I got mine mid April and I'm pretty sure my mix out of 10 is mostly hens. Maybe we split the same hatch? Just a thought! You never know with straight run.

 

[parkerchic-chic]

Hey everyone! I am wanting a nice dark blue or black rooster with dark red. I live in NE Kansas and would rather not have one shipped. My chicks are currently about 10 weeks so if someone has a similiar aged roo close to me that would be wonderful!! If you do message me with pictures of him and his parents if you have them. I do not want a hatchery rooster. Thank you!!

 

[CountryHen19]

Daesee-my chicks looked very similar to the two on the left of you picture. They are now a dark blue and a black.

The chick in the front is now very black. Can't believe how much they change!

Her/him (wish I knew) now...

And the other, standing in the back, is now a blue (rooster I think).
A week or two old...

A week or two later, the blue undercoat showed up...

Blue really coming in and some lacing...

And earlier this week...

newtwinmom--
my BLRW chicks look majority like the front chick in Picture #1, #3 & #4... I got 7 BLRW chicks and five of them are the "chipmunk" coloring and the other two have much fluffier light blue/splash looking features. I prefer Blue or splash but took a gamble on one or two that might turn out to be black.

I don't have good updated pictures hopefully this weekend. Several of the chipmunk chicks have their wing feathers and the mottled look coming through, and the solid color on their wings are totally black. I know it is way too soon to be determining anything. We are not taking bets on any of them being roos or pullets until they are showing obvious signs.

I had one splay legged and just took off her splint after about 10 days. She is awkward but actually standing to drink which is huge. Im leaving her in her own house brooder with her buddy until she shows that full improvement because I don't want her to be sat on like she used to be (I'm using the she pronoun very loosely- the chick's name is Rocky as in the Stallone character) Rocky also has to fatten up a lot because Rocky is tiny and was a runt-- the others are at least double her size.

I love seeing all the chick pictures and am glad I have lots to compare too with mine.

 

[daesee]

Daesee-my chicks looked very similar to the two on the left of you picture. They are now a dark blue and a black.

The chick in the front is now very black. Can't believe how much they change!

Her/him (wish I knew) now...

And the other is now a blue (rooster I think).
A week or two old...

A week or two later, the blue undercoat showed up...

Blue really coming in and some lacing...

And earlier this week...

Thanks! Theya re so cute - and they change so quickly!