Wyandotte

The Wyandotte is a dual-purpose bird, bred in the United States during the 1870s and 1880s to keep laying through cold spells and to fill out well enough for the table. That combination made it a sound pick for small farms and smallholdings, and it travelled to Ireland and Britain not long after, where the same qualities suit a cool, wet climate just as much as a frozen American winter. The breed sits in the medium range: hens run to roughly 2.7 kg (6 lb), cocks to about 3.6 to 4.1 kg (8 to 9 lb).

A rounded, well-filled body and a low rose comb sitting close to the skull are the breed's calling cards. The rose comb matters here for what it avoids rather than what it survives: with less flesh standing proud of the head, there is less for frost to catch on the rare sharp morning, and less for damp air to sit against day to day. Plumage runs to several patterns, and Silver Laced is the original, and still the one most keepers picture first.

Temperament runs friendly and level-headed. Hens lay brown eggs at a steady, unspectacular rate and keep going through most of the winter, when plenty of other breeds pack it in. That mix of hardiness, dependable laying, and an easy nature is why the Wyandotte still turns up in back gardens and yards the length of the country.

Who it suits

The Wyandotte suits keepers after a calm bird that keeps laying over the winter and does not mind being picked up and looked over. It is a fair choice where there are children about, given its even temper, and it copes well with an Irish yard, thanks to the rose comb and the thick feathering that shrugs off a wet spell. Anyone after a high-volume layer or a bird that will forage half a townland may want to look elsewhere, since the Wyandotte lays at a moderate rate and tends to stay close to the run.

The Wyandotte was put together in the north-eastern United States during the 1870s. A number of breeders working across New York and the neighbouring states set out to produce a hardy farmyard bird that would keep laying in cold weather and still do for meat. The name comes from the Wyandot people, a Native American nation from around the Great Lakes.

Silver Laced came first and remains the variety the breed is built on. Its exact breeding is not fully recorded, but it is generally put down to crosses involving Dark Brahmas, Silver Spangled Hamburgs, and other stock carrying rose combs and laced feathering. The American Poultry Association admitted the Silver Laced Wyandotte to its Standard of Perfection in 1883.

Further colours followed once the original was settled, among them Golden Laced, White, Black, Buff, Partridge, Silver Penciled, Columbian, and Blue, each added to the Standard over the following decades. White became commercially important in the early twentieth century, since a plain white bird dressed out cleanly for market.

Through the first half of the twentieth century the Wyandotte was a common farm breed across North America and made its way to Europe too, where bantam versions and further colour patterns were bred up. Once commercial poultry moved over to specialised high-output hybrids, the Wyandotte fell away as a production bird but held its place with exhibitors and with people keeping a few hens in the garden, a position it still holds today, Ireland included.

The Wyandotte carries a broad, deep, rounded body that gives it a full, curved shape overall. The breast is well rounded, the back short and broad. The head has a low rose comb following the line of the skull and finishing in a small spike, along with red wattles and earlobes. Legs and skin are yellow, and the tail sits at a moderately upright angle.

Feathers and colours

Lacing is the breed's original and defining look, each feather edged in a darker line that frames the base colour. Silver Laced birds are white feathered with black edging, Golden Laced golden bay with black edging. Other recognised patterns take in solid colours such as White, Black, Buff, and Blue, the penciled pattern seen in Silver Penciled and Partridge, and the Columbian pattern of a white body set off by black hackle and tail markings. The feathering is dense and soft, which helps the bird shed off wet weather as much as cold. Bantam Wyandottes come in the same range of colours at around a quarter of standard weight.

The Wyandotte is calm and good-natured as a rule. Hens put up with handling well and stay steady around people, which is why the breed suits households with children and keepers who want a bird they can pick up without a fuss. Most birds are wary of strangers at first but come round quickly with regular handling.

Within a mixed flock the Wyandotte tends to sit in the middle to upper part of the pecking order. It holds its own without being aggressive about it, and gets on fine with other easy-going breeds. The odd hen, or a lively cock, can push more timid birds around, so it pays to keep an eye on how a new group settles.

The breed is moderately active. Wyandottes forage and potter around a run happily enough but are not strong flyers and will not stray far, which suits a fenced garden or a small yard. Hens are quiet to moderately vocal; they give the usual announcement after laying rather than carrying on all day. Broodiness depends on the line, and some hens will sit tight and raise chicks without any help.

Grooming

• Part the feathers around the vent and under the wings every few weeks to check for mites and lice in that dense plumage.
• Give the birds a dry patch for dust bathing, which they will use themselves to keep feathers clean and parasites down.
• Check feet and the underside of the toes for bumblefoot, particularly on the heavier birds.
• Watch the vent area on laying hens for soiling, and trim any matted feathers if it builds up.

Exercise

• Give each bird enough room to walk, scratch, and forage in a run or yard.
• Let them out of the coop daily, somewhere safe from foxes and other predators.
• Put in perches and the odd bit of enrichment, scattered grain or a pecking block, to keep an active bird occupied.

Weather and conditions

The Wyandotte copes well with a damp, changeable climate thanks to the rose comb and thick feathering, no small thing here, where a hard frost is rare but a run turned to muck after a week of rain is not. The coop needs to be dry and free of draughts, with ventilation set above the birds' heads, since damp, stale air does more harm over a winter than the odd cold snap. In a warm spell provide shade, fresh water, and airflow, since the heavy build and dense feathers make heat the tougher test for this breed, even if that test comes round less often than it would elsewhere.

A complete commercial poultry feed should be the bulk of the diet, matched to the bird's stage of life. Chicks want a starter feed, growing birds a grower feed, and laying hens a layer feed that supplies the calcium needed for shell strength. Give insoluble grit whenever birds are eating anything beyond commercial crumble or pellet, since they need it to grind food down in the gizzard. Clean water should be on hand at all times.

Treats and extras

Laying hens do better with free-choice oyster shell or another calcium source offered apart from the main feed, so each hen can take what she needs for strong shells. Treats such as leafy greens, vegetable scraps, and a small amount of grain or mealworms are fine now and again. As a rough guide, keep treats to around ten percent of the daily food so the birds still get their full ration.

The Wyandotte is a robust breed, with few problems bred into it and a lifespan of roughly 6 to 12 years, long for a chicken. The same thick feathering that keeps the cold out makes the bird more prone to heat stress and gives parasites more places to hide, so most day-to-day health concerns come down to housing and parasite control rather than anything genetic. Hens in full lay also carry the reproductive risks common to all heavy layers.

Staying ahead of trouble

• Keep housing dry, clean, and well ventilated to cut down on respiratory and parasite problems.
• Check birds for mites and lice every few weeks and treat the whole flock if you find any.
• Provide a dust-bathing patch for natural parasite control.
• Offer free-choice calcium to laying hens to support shell strength and ease reproductive strain.
• Quarantine new birds before letting them in with the rest of the flock.

Wyandottes live in the standard chicken setup: an enclosed coop for roosting and laying, with a run or yard attached for daytime access. As a heavier, ground-loving breed they are poor flyers, so fencing of moderate height and low, wide perches suit them fine. The main job in housing them is keeping the inside dry and ventilated, since damp in cold weather brings on frostbite and chest trouble faster than the cold itself, and the rose comb already does most of the work against the cold on its own.

Setting up the run

• Dry, draught-free coop with high vents for airflow
• Low, wide roosting bars sized for a heavy breed
• Nest boxes with clean, dry bedding
• A secure run with predator-proof fencing and a covered top where you can manage it
• A patch of dry soil or sand for dust bathing
• Shade and extra water points for the odd warm spell

Wyandotte eggs follow the standard chicken incubation period of about 21 days, whether under a broody hen or in an incubator. Some Wyandotte hens go broody and make attentive mothers, so hatching the natural way is an option for anyone with a willing hen. For incubator hatching, set fertile eggs that are clean and properly shaped, and hold temperature and humidity steady right through the cycle.

Hatching, step by step

1. Pick clean, fertile eggs of a normal shape and store them pointed end down for no more than about a week before setting.
2. Run the incubator empty first to make sure temperature and humidity hold steady.
3. Set the eggs and turn them an odd number of times a day through day 18.
4. On day 18 stop turning and raise humidity to around 65 to 70 percent for the hatch.
5. Leave hatched chicks in the incubator until dry and fluffed out, then move them to a warm brooder with starter feed and water.