Wyandotte chicken

The Wyandotte is an American breed of dual-purpose chicken, raised both for its brown eggs and for its yellow-skinned meat.Template:R It was developed in the 1870s, and was named for the indigenous Wyandot people of North America.Template:R It has many color variants,Template:R and is also kept for showing. It was originally known as the American Sebright.Template:R

History

The Wyandotte was created in the United States in the 1870s by four people, H. M. Doubleday, John Ray, L. Whittaker and Fred Houdlette.Template:R The first type was the silver-laced, which was included in the American Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 1883; it was taken to Britain at about the same time.Template:R It had previously been known as the Sebright Cochin or American Sebright.Template:R The origin of the breed is unknown; it is thought derive partly from spangled Hamburgs and dark BrahmasTemplate:R – the Hamburg for the rose comb and the Brahma for the color pattern.Template:R

The gold-laced variant was produced by breeding silver-laced hens with gold-spangled Hamburg and partridge Cochin cocks, the white was a sport of the silver-laced, and the buff variant came from crossing the silver-laced with buff Cochin stock;Template:R the black variant was also a sport, of both the silver-laced and the gold-laced.Template:R The partridge variety came from crossing the gold-laced with Indian Game, partridge Cochin, gold-pencilled Hamburghs, and a strain called "Winnebago".Template:R The Columbian was the result of a chance crossing of white Wyandottes with barred Plymouth Rock birds; it was named for Columbian Exposition and World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois, in 1893.Template:R The first Wyandotte bantams were added to the Standard of Perfection in 1933.Template:R

In 2015 the breed was listed as "recovering" by the American Livestock Conservancy;Template:R in 2016 it was no longer considered to be in danger and was removed from the priority list.Template:R In Germany it is listed in category IV, "alert", on the Rote Liste of the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen.Template:R

Characteristics

File:SLW3.JPG

Silver-laced chick, three days old

File:Golden-Laced Wyandotte hen.jpg

Gold-laced hen

The Wyandotte is a fairly large bird, with weights for adult birds in the range .Template:R The body is of medium length, broad in the back and with a deep, full and well-rounded breast.Template:R It is clean-legged and fairly close-feathered, and has a broad skull with a rose comb.Template:R The skin and shanks are yellow,Template:R and the ear-lobes, face and wattles are red.Template:R

Silver-laced cocks may occasionally display hen feathering.Template:R

In the United States, nine color varieties are recognized by the American Poultry Association: black (1893), blue (1977), buff (1893), Columbian (1905), golden laced (1888), partridge (1893), silver laced (1883), silver penciled (1902) and white (1888).Template:R For bantams, the same nine colors are recognized, with the addition of buff Columbian.Template:R

In Europe, the Entente Européenne lists thirty colors.Template:R The Poultry Club of Great Britain recognizes barred, black, blue, blue-laced, blue partridge, buff, buff-laced, Columbian, gold-laced, partridge, red, silver-laced, silver-pencilled and white.Template:R

Use

It is a dual-purpose breed, raised both for eggs and for meat. It matures moderately rapidly, and hens are good layers of large brown eggs.Template:R It is a popular show bird, particularly in Germany.Template:R