Wonderful Wyandottes

Grant Brereton is one of the leading experts on Wyandottes. Here he extols the virtues of this beautiful breed

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There aren’t many poultry keepers who can resist the charm of the Wyandotte fowl. The silver laced was the original variety of the breed, made from a fusion of different pure breeds. Its white body, surrounded by black edged feathers (known as lacing), makes it one of the most striking plumage patterns available in poultry. And that, coupled with its cobby and curvaceous shape (known as ‘type’), just broadens the Wyandotte’s appeal. It has yellow legs and is finished off with a neatly fitting rose comb. It is described as ‘a bird of curves’ and so should fill the eye - as well as the show pen!

The breed was created for dual-purposes in the form of both meat and eggs, and many lines are still fairly good layers today, although they would be regarded [by many] as too precious too eat. However, some breeders still use the odd male for the table.

VAST ARRAY OF COLOURS

There is a vast array of colour options when it comes to choosing your particular favourite. Mine is the partridge, but I still had to keep all the available varieties before narrowing it down to just one. They all have their charm and many of the plumage patterns are simply striking.

The Wyandotte also comes in miniature form, and many people opt to keep these instead of the large fowl due to space constraints. The breed is reasonably docile by nature and responds well to a bit of human interaction in the growing stages; they soon become very tame.

Broodiness is a quality found in most Wyandottes, but the white and partridge and pencilled bantams are particularly notorious sitters and will seldom let you down.