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COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: America

CATEGORY: Heavy breed: soft feather

EGG COLOUR: Tinted to brown (Sitters)

During the 1860′s and 1870′s several American poultry breeders were independently trying to make a practical utility fowl with the attractive laced plumage pattern then only seen on Sebright Bantams or exotic crested Polish. Each breeder had invented a different name, some were rose combed, others pea combed, and some had feathered shanks and feet. Eventually these details and a name was agreed, and Silver Laced Wyandottes were recognised by the American Poultry Association (A.P.A.) in 1883. Other breeders, notably Joseph McKeen in Wisconsin, were working on Gold Laced, which were accepted by the A.P.A. in 1888. Blue Laced and Buff Laced followed in the 1890s, but didn’t attract much interest in the US, however they were better received by fanciers in the UK and Germany.
White and Black chicks appeared in hatches of Silver Laced, and after some selective breeding to purify plumage colour, Whites were accepted by the A.P.A. in 1888, Blacks in 1893. Blacks were also taken up more enthusiastically by British and German breeders than those in America, probably because these countries had more urban poultry keepers, and black chickens didn’t show the dirt in city yards in the air polluted age of coal and steam.
Partridge and Silver Pencilled Wyandottes were made by several matings, including crossing prototype Gold Laced Wyandottes with Partridge Cochins, and Silver Laced Wyandottes with Dark Brahmas. Two groups of fanciers were initially working independently on both varieties, with Mr McKeen, and E.O.Theim being in one group; and G.H. Brackenbury and Ezra Cornell, both in New York State, being the other. Partridge Wyandottes were accepted by the A.P.A. in 1901, Silver Pencilled in 1902. Mr Theim also made the first Buff Wyandottes, starting from matings of prototype Gold Laced and Partridge Wyandottes with Buff Cochins.
Columbian Wyandottes were so named because they were first exhibited at the Columbian Exposition or World Trade Fair in Chicago in 1893, held to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Chicks from a White Wyandotte x Barred Plymouth Rock mating were then bred with Light Brahmas to improve markings.
Wyandotte Bantams were first made in England by J.F. Entwisle, the son of famous bantam fancier W.F. Entwisle, in the 1890s. He made Partridge and Silver Pencilled varieties first, followed by Whites, Blacks and Columbians.
Other British, American and German fanciers were soon, each independently, making the full range of Wyandotte varieties between them in miniature form.
They generally started by breeding some suitable crossbred bantams with rounded body shape and a rough approximation of the desired colour/pattern, followed by matings of these with undersized examples of large Wyandottes of whichever variety was applicable for each breeding project.

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Amended May 2012