Help chosing a wyandotte rooster

Cuttlefish · Post by **Cuttlefish** » Tue Mar 29, 2016 6:44 pm

It's almost time for another group to get the honeymoon suite, but first I have to choose a rooster! I have 2 half brothers, one black laced one blue laced, but trying not to care too much about color right now... looking for type, but I can't decide. What do you guys think???
Contestant #1: Black Laced. 10 months old, nice size and vigor, not shy. Beak has a slight gap and comb/wattles are a little big + wonky. A few stubby feathers on his shanks.

Contestant #2: Blue Laced. 8 months old, smaller frame size but very wide with better tail spread. Less dominant. Nice beak but his comb points back rather than following the head. This one has wider spacing between the bones in the back end, but his middle toes bow slightly inward.

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Tue Mar 29, 2016 7:05 pm

Even at 8-10 month your cockerels will still develop in leaps and bounds for another 6-8 month.
Type is of course number one consideration ( have you weight them?) that said there are things that will not change.
The comb leader will stay the same, not a big deal if you don't plan to show?
The feather stubs may come to haunt you later, hard to say.
The biggest problem I have seen over the years in Wyandottes is shallow (not deep enough) chest, which really takes away from the typical Wyandotte look. Would you be able to get a breeding from both, to see what they throw?
Here are my "boys" at 9 month and honestly I still don't know which one is better (or worse

and have changed my mind several times in last 2 month.

kenya · Post by **kenya** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:02 am

Don't want to sound mean but number 1 is not breeder quality and I would look elsewhere for a nice male before I would use him. Number 2 could improve with age and if this is all you have to pick from I would use him.

ross · Post by **ross** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:44 am

Cuttlefish · Post by **Cuttlefish** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:28 am

Thanks guys. I can see some good and bad in both and am just trying to learn what features are most important. I know I don't have great birds, so it's a matter of choosing the less bad one. : ) These guys are only one arm of three in my breeding spiral, so can be replaced, but good gold laced are hard to find!
I have no plans to show, but would like to breed to the standard, so someday I will probably have to, to get input from judges in person.

OC, my scale broke, sorry no weights. But I guess I could hatch some from each... hmmmm... I might need more pens... again.

Post by **Killerbunny** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:34 am

I don't know much so not much help BUT the first thing you see with Lucky (splash Wyandotte from OC) is the stance and broadness and depth of chest. That was the first thing I noticed when I went to fetch him as a 1 year old. He has only got prettier to my eyes anyway.

la-chicken · Post by **la-chicken** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:05 am

I am not a Wyandotte Breeder.
But, just looking at the structure of the two birds:
1) looks odd. Not in proportion. Too narrow in the body. And the fact he has feather stubs. I would not use him.
2) He looks more in proportion. You can see he has a wider body. He is still young...he will fill out more. Sounds like the only flaw you pointed out was his comb. That is an easy fix thru selected breeding.

Good luck!

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:59 am

It's a long learning curve, I should know I have travelled a large portion of it with some good hits and some spectacular misses,

It's hard to assess birds by looking at one picture, it's even hard after spending hours staring at them

I would like to complement you on making an effort at impartial assessment of what you have, not everybody is willing to see the faults.
I had a total of 24 Wyandotte cockerels to choose from last fall, and i only came up with one I am truly happy with, although I see his faults, he is pretty good type but by no means show quality, but there is no new blood available, so I work with what I have

Hamish at 7,5 month.....

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 11:07 am

If they were mine I'd choose #2. But it would depend on the hens too, and whether they complimented the rooster.

Cuttlefish · Post by **Cuttlefish** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 4:39 pm

Hamish!
Yeah #2 has the more classic wyandotte short back curviness that I like (his mom was much higher quality). But he is a small boy. Here they are side by side if that helps. I must have taken 50 shots and this was one of the best....