These hens appeared in America in 1860, they are quite productive, but are also considered a decorative breed and delight owners with a good disposition. The breed is divided into two types: ordinary, standards-compliant, and dwarf. About the features of breeding and the difficulties that the breeder may encounter - further in the article.
Characteristics and Description
Chickens Wyandotte belong to the egg-meat direction. The birds are not very large, of moderate severity. They tolerate climate change, including cold winters.
They are standard and dwarf. They live both in small families and in large groups. When creating a family, you should adhere to the ratio of hens and cocks - 10: 1.
The physical structure indicates the productivity of the breed is:
- small but strong bird;
- with a small forehead head, decorated with an original crest adjacent to the head;
- earlobes and earrings of oblong shape, rounded from the bottom, of medium length;
- strong, not long neck with a collar covering the shoulders;
- Metatarsus should be without plumage, yellow;
- the tail is small;
- a characteristic feature is the bordering of the pen on a significant part of the entire plumage.
Standard Wyandots have 16 colors for plumage, and dwarf ones have 28.
Popular colors:
- red with fringes of different colors;
- blue;
- striped;
- golden;
- silvery;
- partridge;
- pure black;
- boiling white.
Fans of this breed say that one-color chickens bring more eggs, and least of all - chickens with blue bordering feathers. Perhaps this has something to do with selection.
Characteristics of standard individuals:
- roosters reach a mass of 3.8 kg;
- chickens - in 3 kg;
- the laying hen begins to lay eggs from 6-9 months;
- productivity per year is up to 140 eggs weighing 48-62 grams.
With good care and proper feeding, you can get up to 200 eggs per year from one individual Wyandotte.
Characteristics of dwarf chickens:
- the cock weighs 1.2 kg;
- chicken - 900 grams;
- begin to lay eggs from 4-5 months;
- chicken brings 120 eggs annually;
- each egg is 45-52 grams.
What Wyandotte looks like in silver colors, as well as the behavior of hens and cocks during walking can be seen in the video below:
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantages of the breed are:
- good egg production, which persists in the cold period;
- high hatchability and viability of chickens;
- fast fattening - chickens quickly gain muscle weight;
- friendliness - get along well with their relatives and other residents of the bird's yard;
- good taste indicators of meat and eggs;
- steady tolerance of cold.
There are also a number of disadvantages:
- inactive, therefore, suffer from obesity;
- easily infected with infectious diseases from other birds;
- rare breed, so it’s expensive.
Dwarf Wyandots are bred more like an egg breed than a meat breed. And its undeniable advantage is the small amount of feed consumed.
Content
Maintenance does not bring much trouble and is not much different from caring for other breeds. Viandot can be kept in a spacious cage in winter, and in summer in an aviary and in a walking yard.
Heating the house in the European winter is not required.
The cage, aviary and paddock must meet the following parameters:
- 1 sq. m area for 10 birds.
- The dwarf formula is suitable - 15 birds per square meter.
- You also need to understand that dwarf Wyandots grow by the age of 4 months, while the standard ones gain 3 kg in weight by half a year. That is, the cage should not be too close to the time of bird maturation.
- When building a cage or aviary, it is worth considering the possibility of organizing ultraviolet baths.
- The house should be well lit. For this, windows are provided.
- In winter, additional lighting with lamps is needed. Lighting directly affects the laying of chickens.
- Nests should be made strong and at a low height from the floor. Place them far enough from each other.
- Perches equip at a height of 60 cm from the floor.
- Rooster rods must be strong to support a bird that is gaining weight quickly.
- The hen house floor is covered with shavings, sawdust, husk, straw or foliage. It needs to be changed every 2 weeks.
- Mandatory the presence of containers with sand and ash for cleaning feathers from parasites.
- If there is the possibility of grazing Wyandotte on grass, then this would have a good effect on the egg laying of layers.
- Standard Wyandots can walk on half a hundred square meters of land, and half of this territory will be enough for the dwarf ones.
- Wyandots are far from flying enthusiasts, but it is better to protect the territory to prevent the penetration of wild animals.
Diet
It is necessary to feed the representatives of this breed with high-quality food, to which to add:
- protein supplements;
- vitamins
- minerals.
Basic rules of feeding:
- Wyandotes are fed 3-4 times a day with grain mixtures.
- Greens are added seasonally. In winter, use dry alfalfa.
- In order for the eggs to have a strong shell, sufficient calcium must be ingested. It can be replenished by adding crushed egg shells and crushed shells to the feed.
- You can improve the quality of meat by introducing vitamin and mineral complexes that are purchased in veterinary stores into the feed.
- Chickens are very fond of strawberries.
- It is important not to overfeed the birds, so the feeders are left for 1 hour, and then cleaned until the next feeding.
- If there is a set of excess weight of chickens, you need to increase their physical activity. To do this, the feeder is installed on the platform, so that the bird had to constantly jump on it.
- In the chicken coop and on the walk, there must be containers with clean, fresh water.
The physical condition of the bird is given out by its metatarsus - they turn pale if the bird does not receive quality food.
Breeding
Learning to breed Wyandotte is not easy. At the same time, the breeder faces a number of problems:
- It is necessary to master the skills of breeding the required colors, in addition, take into account that the selection is fixed on both the paternal and maternal lines. To do this, use the color calculator. But he gives only an approximate direction, since there are so many hybrids of this breed.
- Breeders recommend avoiding the likelihood of inhibitors (crossbreeding within the population), this reduces immunity, egg production and spoils the exterior. This is not easy to do, given that in Russia there are only two lines of the Wyandotes - from Poland and from Germany.
- Purchase of hatching eggs - standard and dwarf eggs do not differ much between themselves and color and size.
- Buying young animals - the color of only hatched chickens can be very diverse. What color will an adult bird be found only after the first molt.
At Wyandotte farms, they are bred to preserve the genetic material for breeding crosses.
Withdrawal methods
Chicks are hatched, both in incubators and in a natural way. In this they are no different from other breeds of chickens, there are no special requirements for the process.
The eggs selected for incubation should weigh at least 55 g and have a flat and undamaged surface. They need to be stored for up to 14 days in a cool place.
During natural incubation, so many eggs are laid under the chicken so that they are completely hidden under it in one layer. The mother hen will hatch them for 20-21 days. And further, he will assume the responsibilities of caring for the chicks. All that remains for the breeder is to provide the necessary food and clean water on time.
When incubator dilution adhere to the following sequence:
- the incubator is heated to 25 ° C (this is considered room temperature);
- eggs are brought into the room in which the incubator is installed so that they warm up to room temperature;
- eggs are laid in an incubator and the temperature is set at 39 ° C;
- on day 12, the temperature is reduced to 38.5 ° C;
- from 19 days to the bite (20-21 days) keep the temperature of 37-38 ° C.
Hatched chickens should be kept in a brooder, controlling the temperature. Or you can put a brood hen, if any (chicken can be of any breed).
From 2 weeks of age, the chickens are carried out for 15-20 minutes on open grass. It is possible to equip a covered aviary protected from drafts especially for young animals. It is important that in the place of walking were both warmed up by the sun, and areas in the shade. Walking time is increasing gradually.
After the plumage, the chickens are transferred to a common chicken coop, but the overnight place needs to be additionally heated with an infrared lamp if the young growth grows without a brood.
Chicks are fed boiled eggs mixed with semolina or starter compound feed up to a month old. After - add greens, dairy products, a mixture of meat and fish waste.
Possible diseases
Birds have good health. Of the most common diseases, there are:
- Parasitic infestations - most often hit the Wyandotte. Therefore, you must not allow contact with other people's animals and birds and regularly carry out disinfection of the house and nests.
- Arthritis - May develop due to dampness in the chicken coop. To prevent, you should monitor the litter, change it in a timely manner, especially damp and equip good ventilation.
- Infectious diseases - most often affect young individuals. Preventive measures should be taken and vaccination should be carried out in a timely manner.
About other diseases of chickens, read here. Chicks are most vulnerable to various diseases for up to 10 days, then their health grows stronger.
Where can I buy? Price
Buy Wyandotte better in specialized nurseries. The following have proven themselves well:
- Moscow region, Mytishchi, st. Border Dead End, house 4. "Oryol Yard".
- Moscow region, Balashikha. The Kingdom of Chickens.
The price of an incubation egg is 40-50 rubles. a piece.
An adult standard size rooster can be bought for 500 rubles.
Adult chicken - about 400 rubles.
Breeding Wyandottes in Russia is not very profitable due to the high price of breeding birds that are brought from abroad, but if you set up activities in this direction, you can get good profit, since chicks and hatching eggs can be sold expensively. In addition, the Wyandots are able to provide the economy with quality meat and eggs.