Wyandottes
Wyandottes originated in the United States in the 1800s with the first color variety being the Silver Laced Wyandotte. They are very docile and make a great dual purpose bird used for brown eggs and meat. Wyandottes are available in a variety of color patterns to fill your back yard and they are very popular at the local poultry shows. Their rose combs and hardiness make them a great option for colder climates and their gentle nature make them desirable for all poultry enthusiast.
Where did your standard Wyandottes come from??
We worked from the ground up with most of our lines of Wyandottes about 11 years ago, but we do give credit when credit is due.
When we started with the BLRWs & Blues they needed a ton of work. Both the varieties were small in size with bad lacing and color. We collected the best birds we could find at the time and started breeding from there. There really is no comparison to the mix barnyard BLRW fowl we started with to the BLRW that is now in our poultry yard, it took a lot of money, time and hard work to get them there... it is always best to purchase breeders from a top breeder of the variety you want, this will save you many breeding seasons of hard work and expensive feed. You really don't want to build a variety from the ground up like I was forced to do...trust me on this.
There was only one person we could find with Blue Wyandotte eggs for sale and we were lucky to find them before that breeder disappeared for good. I have made some progress with the Blues when it comes to leg color, size and type. I no longer sell Blue Wyandottes to the public, but do keep a breeding trio or two here at the farm for my own enjoyment. We are dedicated to breeding Wyandottes to standard and have been blessed with the skill and mindset to achieve our goal.
We collected SLWs from some of the top breeders in the north and made our own line through stringent breeding and culling. It did take a few years to settle down my line of SLW and keep the look I like stable. Anytime you but different breeding lines of SLW into one breeding pen you going to have to keep your eye on the price and stick with your thoughts on what a good wyandotte should look like. SLW always do well at the shows, but you are competing against White Wyandottes and White Rocks for Champ. American..so it can be tough to win.
Andalusian Blue Breeding Chart
When breeding Blue Lace Red Wyandottes and Blue Wyandottes you can end up with a variety of colors. Both vareities carry the Andalusian Blue gene. This can be a little tricky to work with, below are examples of the three colors you will get when breeding them. You can get Blue, Splash, or Black.
When we started with the BLRWs & Blues they needed a ton of work. Both the varieties were small in size with bad lacing and color. We collected the best birds we could find at the time and started breeding from there. There really is no comparison to the mix barnyard BLRW fowl we started with to the BLRW that is now in our poultry yard, it took a lot of money, time and hard work to get them there... it is always best to purchase breeders from a top breeder of the variety you want, this will save you many breeding seasons of hard work and expensive feed. You really don't want to build a variety from the ground up like I was forced to do...trust me on this.
There was only one person we could find with Blue Wyandotte eggs for sale and we were lucky to find them before that breeder disappeared for good. I have made some progress with the Blues when it comes to leg color, size and type. I no longer sell Blue Wyandottes to the public, but do keep a breeding trio or two here at the farm for my own enjoyment. We are dedicated to breeding Wyandottes to standard and have been blessed with the skill and mindset to achieve our goal.
We collected SLWs from some of the top breeders in the north and made our own line through stringent breeding and culling. It did take a few years to settle down my line of SLW and keep the look I like stable. Anytime you but different breeding lines of SLW into one breeding pen you going to have to keep your eye on the price and stick with your thoughts on what a good wyandotte should look like. SLW always do well at the shows, but you are competing against White Wyandottes and White Rocks for Champ. American..so it can be tough to win.
Andalusian Blue Breeding Chart
When breeding Blue Lace Red Wyandottes and Blue Wyandottes you can end up with a variety of colors. Both vareities carry the Andalusian Blue gene. This can be a little tricky to work with, below are examples of the three colors you will get when breeding them. You can get Blue, Splash, or Black.
Splash
|
Black
|
Blue
|
The Black Laced can be easily confused with a Gold Laced Wyandotte...they are actually very different varieties. When we breed the BLRWs we like to breed Blue to Blue. We found through experience this keeps your blue lacing and under-color pretty consistent instead of all over the place. You will need to breed a black laced rooster on your hens if your Blue color starts to get to light colored to keep the deep blue color that makes the BLRWs truly unique.
The Splash variety is pretty popular because the mahogany really pops against the powder blue/white lacing. The splash variety can loose the lacing in their hackle feathers (neck) fairly easy. This is something that you need to keep an eye on when culling your birds. The hen pictured below has spectacular lacing on her hackles, crisp/even overall lacing, great type, and the desired mahogany color .
The Splash variety is pretty popular because the mahogany really pops against the powder blue/white lacing. The splash variety can loose the lacing in their hackle feathers (neck) fairly easy. This is something that you need to keep an eye on when culling your birds. The hen pictured below has spectacular lacing on her hackles, crisp/even overall lacing, great type, and the desired mahogany color .
The chart below is used for breeding the Blue Laced Red Wyandottes.
Blue X Blue = 50% Blue , 25% Black , 25% Splash
Blue X Splash = 50% Blue , 50% Splash
Blue X Black = 50% Blue, 50% Splash X Black = 100% Blue
Black X Black = 100% Black
Splash X Splash = 100% Splash
**These numbers are based on 100 chicks. Results will vary depending on number of chicks raised.
Blue X Splash = 50% Blue , 50% Splash
Blue X Black = 50% Blue, 50% Splash X Black = 100% Blue
Black X Black = 100% Black
Splash X Splash = 100% Splash
**These numbers are based on 100 chicks. Results will vary depending on number of chicks raised.
Maturity
You will find that a lot of the Large Fowl poultry bred toward the APA standard are slow growers and slow to feather out.
It takes 18 months for a Wyandotte to fully mature so that means a lot of feed goes into growing out a pen of Wyandottes. The pullets will start laying at 7-9 months of age and sometimes it takes a little longer.
It takes 18 months for a Wyandotte to fully mature so that means a lot of feed goes into growing out a pen of Wyandottes. The pullets will start laying at 7-9 months of age and sometimes it takes a little longer.