The Wyandotte is a popular hen. She’s a heavy, beautiful bird that lays brown eggs. This card shows the white plumage, but you can find them in so many pretty coats, including silver laced, partridge, penciled and splash. The Wyandotte has a rose comb, which is a pebbly-looking, low to the head affair, which makes her winter hardy. No risk of frostbite.
In my experience, personality ranges from placid, to lethally dominant over meeker hens. It all depends on the breeder’s line.
Some go broody, some don’t. Tell me about your Wyandottes!
I have a Silver Laced ( i had 2, they were my first 2 hens) and also 1 white and 4 Columbian the white and columbians just started laying. the SLW had a been a good layer going on 4 years now never broody and good temperment.
That’s a good report on the breed.
I have a Silver Laced Wyandotte too, such pretty markings! I wouldn’t call the eggs brown really – unless you say: “Very Pale” in front of the ‘brown’. Perhaps she bleaches the colour out whilst sitting on them? She is broody if I’m late collecting the eggs (anyone’s eggs will do, doesn’t need to be hers) or as soon as the sun shines, or at the drop of a hat in fact! She is bottom of the pecking order of my mixed breed flock but definitely has the loudest (and quite deep) voice.
Anecdotally, it seems as if the British Wyandottes have calm temperaments, but some of the American lines are quite the opposite! Isn’t it funny how hens have unique voices, even within the same breed?
I have 2 glw I keep them in check they are 2nd and 4th of the pecking order in 9 hens. The one , flower is always getting into scrapes with my NHR and trying to pick on the other glw who is higher than her in the pecking order. She’s onery lol like a child to keep an eye on. I have a slw, Blossom, who is so gentle and sweet she hasn’t laid an egg in over a year. During the big storm here last dec when the birds were not able to get out as much, I found onery Flower , eating the feathers off of Blossoms tail and saddle area. It has corrected itself and haven’t seen that behavior again, but Blossom never laid since her last molt last year. She seems to go thru a mini molt every few months. Which I haven’t seen any posts about? But her coloring is so pretty and she is a sweetheart. So I am glad to have her as otherwise I would have thought how agressive the wyandottes could be. Flower also occasionally goes behind a Rosemary my other glw and pecks her and Rosemary will run her. But instead of learning her lesson, every few days I will she her do it again. It’s comical I just make sure they have lots to keep them busy and that they get out. But I have to say that are very prolific layers of nice large eggs!
Ps the gold ones are the good layers. As I said nothing for the silver in a year. but that’s ok. I have 8 others producing.
I have a silver laced hen her name is Grace and she is the head hen of a flock of 11. Although, Grace only gained her rank due to hens above her passing she used to be on the bottom. Grace is not mean and rules by being vocal and rarely pecks to get her way. She’s coming up on 4 years old and still lays beautiful pinkish eggs that only come a few times a week.
I have one Silver-laced Wyandotte. I love her rose comb! She is a very friendly hen, and a good layer.
I have to admit, the laced Wyandottes are probably the hens I find most attractive. I’ve had a gold-laced girl; she wasn’t a particularly great layer but she wasn’t a problem in any way.
I have a couple of columbian Bantam Wyandottes. They are beautiful birds, adept at foraging and fending for themselves (they free range). They fly well. When they aren’t broody, I get about 4 small eggs per week from each. They DO go broody often. I had a rooster, it might not be so bad because they could hatch eggs and raise some chicks. As I don’t have a rooster, it can be frustrating to go weeks without those eggs.
Those are typical bantams. Broody.