Silver Laced Wyandotte Chickens: Features, Temperament..

Silver laced wyandotte chickens are a good dual purpose chickens. They are very hardy and can do well in areas where temperatures plummets just like the Orloff chickens.

They will make good pets that are quiet, calm, docile and not cuddly like the Serama chickens. Having these birds means more meat and eggs.

Wyandotte chickens are a good dual purpose breed that will offer you enough meat and eggs. They allow to be confined or free ranged if you have enough space on your backyard.

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History of the Silver Laced Wyandotte Chickens

The Wyandotte’s are a popular dual purpose breed of chicken in the US. They are famous for their egg laying; excellent meat production, getting broody easily and they make good chicken pets.

This breed originated from the US years following the civil war. It was named after a Native American tribe, the Wendat who used to live at Ontario in Canada and New York.

Silver laced Wyandotte were the first to be developed, but other color varieties like the Blue laced Wyandotte and the Columbian Wyandotte later emerged as a result of breeding. They were originally called the American Sebrights.

Sebright is a bantam breed of chicken that has a silver or golden laced plumage pattern. Wyandotte’s chickens are known to be good egg layers as they can give 200 eggs per year.

The combined genes of Brahma, speckled Hamburg’s and Cochins resulted in the Wyandotte chicken breed.

Characteristics of silver laced Wyandotte chickens

• The Wyandotte chickens are very beautiful in appearance with a fluffy plumage that makes them able to resist cold winter months than any other breed. The bird’s body is round and full.
• Wyandotte hens are excellent egg layers with some varieties laying even during the winter seasons. Their eggs are light colored to almost white, to deep brown although the color can vary with different varieties.
• These birds are known to reach maturity as early as six weeks. At this age, hens start to lay their first eggs while the cocks can be slaughtered for meat.
• Being large in terms of size, Wyandotte chicken when slaughtered can produce large amount of white meat. They will give you 6.5 to 8.5 lbs. of carcass. The weight and quality of meat produced by your birds will be determined by the quality of care given to them.
•  Wyandotte hens easily go broody and once allowed to sett on her eggs, she will hatch well and take care of her chicks as they are good mothers like the Red Hampshire chickens are. I had mine that hatched 18 eggs and successfully raised all the chicks on her own.
• If you are definitely looking for a cold resistant breed of chicken, I would recommend the Wyandotte’s. They have a dense and fluffy plumage that keeps their bodies warm during the cold seasons. They also have flat rose combs that are not affected by frostbites when temperatures drop.
• Female Wyandotte’s weigh about 6.5 pounds while males weigh about 8.5 pounds.
• The silver laced Wyandotte have reddish brown eyes with small combs and wattles that are red in color. Their beaks, feet, skin and legs are yellow in color.

Raising the silver laced Wyandotte chicken

Unlike other other heritage chicken breeds, the silver laced Wyandotte are not hard to raise, in fact they are a hardy breed of chicken that is resistant to diseases.

You may choose to buy chicks from your favorite hatchery like Cackle or use a broody hen to hatch some for you. An egg incubator can also be an alternative.

If given a chance, the hens will raise the chicks as they are known to have a good mothering ability. You can also decide to raise the chicks yourself in a chicken brooder.

Before bringing chicks home, make sure you have a nice and warm place set up for them as they are not able to regulate their own body temperature.

I make my own brooder at home with card boards and it works well for me. Remember to constantly check the brooder temperatures by looking at the chick’s behavior.

When the young birds are huddled together under the heat source, it means they are cold and require more warmth.

When the young birds are far away from the heat source and crowded in corners, the brooder is too hot. Reduce the amount of heat as too much heat may lead to dehydration or death.

When the brooder temperatures are optimum, the young birds are evenly scattered in the brooder and they look happy.

After the first two weeks, start reducing the amount of heat 5 degrees each week to make it easy for the chicks adapt to the normal coop temperatures.

You can also start to deny them heat during the day especially when the weather is hot or warm.

Give a well-balanced feed and clean drinking water every day. Make sure the kind of bedding you use in your brooder is draft free and keeps warmth.

As for me straw is the best of them all and is available chopped and bagged. (You can check my article straw vs. hay as bedding).

After 6 to 8 weeks the birds are fully feathered and are now ready to be taken to the coop or allowed outside to free range.

If you intend to let your young flock of Wyandotte’s to free range, remember to have someone herd them just to make sure they are safe from predators like hawks and possums.

Giving your Wyandotte flock a chance to go outside means they will forage freely and supplement their diet with insects and worms they find on your backyard.

At 6 months old, the silver laced Wyandotte hens are mature and begin to lay their first eggs. At this time, the wattles and combs turn from pink to deep red in color and the teenage females can be seen visiting the nesting boxes quite often.

Temperament and personality features

The silver laced Wyandotte are famous for being friendly and for their cute appearance. Hence, it is easy to keep them as pets.

Even though they are friendly, they will only get close to you and follow you but will never allow you to hold them.

They can easily be integrated with other breeds of chicken but they tend to bully others by taking advantage of their large sizes and being dominant top on the pecking order.

Silver laced Wyandotte’s are excellent birds for shows because they are not bothered by loud or close quarters and are quite calm.

The silver laced Wyandotte’s are excellent foragers and it would be better if you keep them together with a rooster when outside to help look for predators.

 I would recommend this breed if you are looking for a docile and a strong breed as well.

Common questions people ask about the silver laced Wyandotte chicken

Are silver laced Wyandotte chickens friendly?

Wyandotte’s are known to be docile and calm and get along well with children. They can be kept as pets and will get close to you but will not allow you to cuddle them. They adapt well and are very friendly.

What color eggs do silver laced Wyandotte lay?

The silver laced Wyandotte eggs are light brown, light medium, dark brown and some are almost

How many eggs do silver laced Wyandotte chicken lay in a year?

They lay an average of 150 to 200 eggs a year. If well taken care of, the silver laced Wyandotte chicken can lay not less than 200 eggs per year.