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One of the most beautiful breeds with striking plumage is the Wyandotte chickens. The breed is named after one of the North American Indian tribes. Although it is not clear what the Indian tribes have to do with it. The breed was bred not by the Indians by the method of folk selection, but by American breeders by complex crossing 6 breeds of chickens at once. From the decorative breed, the Sybrayt Wyandot took his "shirt", which was distinguished by a special color of feathers: each feather is bordered by a contrasting stripe, which makes the feathers seem to be drawn by the artist.
From meat brama rocks and cochinquin Wyandots gained a large body size, Leghorn improved egg production, and meat and egg Orlington and Dorging helped stabilize the breed.
The first Wyandots had only a silvery color. Under the name "Silver Wyandotte", this breed of chickens was registered in 1883 with the American Poultry Association. The work of breeders did not stop there, and new color options appeared in the breed. To date, 9 variations of the "shirt" for large wyandots are officially recognized in America. For the dwarf form of this breed, a 10th color option has been added. 30 different colors are allowed by the European standard for Wyandot. The British Association recognizes 14 types of colors.
After the import of chickens to Russia in 1911, it turned out that the breed perfectly tolerates Russian winters, and farmers became interested in it.
They were known as excelsion, Colombian chickens, sibrites. Other names were also assigned to these chickens.
Description and breed standard of Wyandot chickens
Initially, the chicken was bred not only to please the eye, but also to supply the owners with high quality meat and eggs. The breed coped with its task perfectly. It is enough to see the massive body of birds of this breed in the photo to understand how heavy it is in its group.
Today Wyandot is a breed of chickens that is increasingly becoming a decorative one. In the first place, it is not the productive characteristics that come out, but the appearance suitable for the show.
Breed standard for large variant
Overall impression: massive bird for its size. The head is medium-sized with a small pink ridge. A characteristic round spine stands out on the crest. Earrings and lobes of deep red color. The eyes are orange-red. The neck is strong, of medium length. The color of the metatarsus and beak varies depending on the color and can be light yellow, brown or dark gray. The body of the hen looks more spherical and is located horizontally. The rooster has a more elongated body and is located at a slight angle to the horizon. The back and loin are straight and wide. The chest is well filled. The tail is short and fluffy.
The rooster has long feathers on the mane and loins of the same color as the feathers on the body. The color of the braids depends on the color, but in most cases they are black.
For example, the photo shows that a golden-bordered chicken has a black-bordered cover feather on the body and the tips of the tail feathers are also black.
In the photo with a red-bordered chicken, a cover feather with a white border. The tips of the tail feathers are also white.
The weight of an adult rooster is up to 4 kg, hens - up to 3 kg.
The description of the dwarf wyandotte breed is similar to the description of the large variety. With the only difference that the weight of the dwarf Wyandotte-cockerel is 1.2 kg, the chicken is 1 kg.
Vices:
- a small angular body or vice versa - a ball on legs;
- whitish lobes and earrings;
- lack of a thorn on the ridge;
- narrow body;
- non-standard color.
Vices are a reason for culling Wyandotte from breeding.
Productive characteristics of both varieties
Wyandots grow fast. Chickens weigh 1.2 kg at 1.5 months. Males gain about 3 kg of weight by six months. Further growth slows down and it becomes economically unprofitable to keep extra males. Chickens become sexually mature at 6 months. A young laying hen in a year lays 180 eggs weighing about 55 g. In the second year of life, egg production decreases to 130 - 140 pieces.
Dwarf Wyandotte carries up to 120 eggs weighing 35 g.
Poultry breeders highly appreciate the docile nature of the Wyandot and the well-developed maternal instinct in chickens of this breed.
Wyandot colors
Silver-bordered.
Gold-bordered.
Partridge
White.
The black.
Dark yellow.
Colombian.
Lavender.
Silvery outlined.
And a couple of photos of colors not officially recognized by the American Association of colors.
Lavender-red edged.
Cuckoo.
How Wyandot chicks differ from chicks of other breeds
The variety of colors makes itself felt from the first day of the chick's life. Vyandotik can be born with fluff of almost any color, but it is possible to understand what kind of "shirt" an adult bird will have only after juvenile molt.
3-day wyandotte silver-bordered.
The chick is silvery-bordered at the beginning of juvenile feather fouling.
Chickens are not autosexual. It is possible to divide them by sex only after growing up and the manifestation of obvious signs.
Interesting! Sometimes bettas can start crowing at the age of less than a month.
On a full-fledged "crow" this squeak does not pull, but children try to comply with the time schedule of adult roosters.
Wyandots have a high survival rate and caring for small Wyandotes is no different from caring for any other chickens. Like any other Wyandotik chicks, you should not keep in mud, damp or cold.
Breeding problems
In fact, the problems are not with the breeding of this breed, but with the purchase of a purebred bird. On private farmsteads, purebred Wyandots are practically not found and you should not count on buying high-quality livestock from private hands. In breeding centers, wyandot is preserved as genetic material for breeding new breeds or crosses. If it was possible to get an incubation egg of purebred Wyandots, the cost of its acquisition will quickly pay off in the future. Wyandots have a very high hatchability and survival rate of chickens.
Wyandot owners reviews
Conclusion
In the years when selection work and breeding of any farm animals was the prerogative of the state, these chickens were practically unknown to private owners. Which led to a situation when it became almost impossible to get a thoroughbred Wyandotte. With the opening of the borders, it became possible to bring birds from abroad. And chickens of this breed began to appear in private farms in Russia. Thoroughbred wyandots already exist in the Moscow region. Given the beauty of the breed and the enthusiasm of amateurs, these chickens will soon conquer the hearts of many owners of private farms.
