If you want to keep chickens that are great for your backyard, the Colombian Wyandotte chicken breed may be a perfect choice. This chicken breed is friendly, docile, and low-cost to maintain.
With this breed of birds, you will get meat and omelet eggs as they are dual-purpose. Here is a table to give you a general overview of the Colombian Wyandotte chicken.
An overview of the Colombia Wyandotte Chicken
| Lifespan | 6-12 years |
| Skin color | Yellow |
| Purpose | Meat and eggs |
| Weather | Cold-hardy |
| Get along with other breeds | Yes |
| Egg production | 200-250 per year |
| Weight | 6-9 pounds |
| Egg color | Brown |
The appearance and characteristics
The Colombian Wyandotte chickens have pure white feathers with shades of black around their necks and tails. Their wings are white with black feather endings that thrust out of their beautifully fluffy feathered bodies.
This table shows the color of the physical features of the Colombian Wyandotte chicken.
| Colombian Wyandotte Chicken features (colors) | |
| Feature | Color |
| Body skin | Yellow |
| Beak | yellow |
| Comb | Rose |
| Wattles | Red |
| legs | Yellow |
| Feathers | White and black |
| Eyes | Reddish-orange |
The Wyandotte chickens are plump and weighty with relatively short legs that make them appear closer to the ground.
The roosters grow to an average weight of 8-9 pounds, while their hen counterparts average 6-7 pounds.
In this video, a 4th-grade boy displays the beautifully feathered Wyandotte chicken.
If reared in a healthy environment, this fluffy breed has a 6-12 years lifespan.
Their fluffy, feathery body is yellow, and their feet are featherless.
A Colombian Wyandotte chicken could appear big on the outside because of their fluffy wing.
Their backs are long, especially the roosters, with slightly thicker necks.
They have a yellow stunt beak with a rose comb wattle sitting right above their head close to their beak.
How to differentiate Wyandotte roosters and hens
One feature you can use to distinguish hens and roosters is the wattle size. While rosters have bigger, thicker, and spikier wattles, hens have flatter and less spiky wattles.
The table well illustrates their physical differences
| Characteristic | Rooster | Hen |
| Comb & Rattle | Large and bright | Paler and smaller |
| Hackle | Rounded | Pointed |
| Legs | Thicker with spurs | Thinner without spurs (mostly) |
| Sickle | Long and arched | Rounded with no arc |
| Saddle | Narrow and pointed | Rounded and short |
Egg laying and brooding
Colombian Wyandotte hens start to lay eggs by 20 weeks while others from 30 weeks.
They may not be very good layers like the Rhode Island red breed, but they are very consistent and will give you eggs even during winter.
The average number of eggs laid in a year is 200-250.
Wyandotte chickens lay consistently for up to 3 years and may continue laying up to their 6th year of life but with significantly reduced productivity.
When they turn 6 years, you could use them as meat if you want ‘replace’ them with new chickens.
Their eggs are medium-sized and brown.
Brooding and Hatching
Colombian Wyandotte hens go broody at least once a year when they start laying eggs.
These hens make excellent mothers as well as foster mothers.
If you don’t intend for your hens to brood, you should regularly collect eggs from the nest boxes. Otherwise, these fluffy hens will brood with the slightest opportunity to sit on eggs.
It is also at this broody stage that hens are very protective of their chicks and can be temperamental.
Chick appearance
Colombian Wyandotte eggs hatch very beautiful and fluffy chicks that are yellow in color with little black patches on their head and backs.
Here is a video showing day-old Wyandotte baby chicks
Do Colombian Wyandotte Chickens need special care?
The Colombian Wyandotte breed of chicken is one of the least expensive chickens to rear.
Although they thrive well in cold areas, you can successfully keep them in relatively hot regions. Just be sure to shelter them adequately and provide plenty of water on hot and sunny days.
Housing and Structure
If you desire to keep the Colombian Wyandotte breed of chicken, you may ask yourself, do you need a chicken run, a coop, or both? The answer will depend on where you live and how large and less confined your home is.
Should you build a coop, a run, or both for your Colombian Wyandotte chickens?
While chicken coops are a must-have for any aspiring chicken keeper, runs are optional.
A coop will keep your chickens warm and safe at night. It will also provide a secure and secluded place for your Colombian Wyandotte hens to lay eggs and brood when ready.
However, if you have a smaller home that is nicely hedged, you can do without a run. In this case, your breed of Wyandotte will enjoy sunbathing and dustbathing as they forage in the dust.
If, on the other hand, you have a relatively bigger home with no restrains, your birds may wander far away from home if you let them walk freely.
Besides, because of their love for free-ranging, these breeds risk falling prey to hawks and eagles as they get too preoccupied with foraging and forget to keep watch.
They can also wander far from their coops and sometimes forget to come back ‘home,’ so be sure to guide them back into their coops before dusk.
Still, runs are lifesavers since Wyandotte are generally backyard chickens, although they can be destructive by bringing down your entire lawn. That is why a run is a good option, as it keeps your birds nicely confined but with just enough room to scratch dust and play.
Just remember to make the run spacious enough as they could fight when you put them too close together, especially the roosters.
What to consider when making a coop for your Wyandotte chickens
- 4 square feet of space per bird
- Extra 2 feet for bigger birds
- 10-12 inches for each bird to roost
- 8-10 inches of perching space (each)
- Wood is ideal for roosting
- Include space for egg laying and brooding
You could also design the run and the coop close together with an entrance separating them so they can freely walk back and forth. However, you must confine them in their coops to roost at nightfall.
What are the features of an ideal roost spot for your Colombian Wyandotte chicken?
Like other birds, your fluffy chickens will be more inclined to perch in their coops when it’s roosting time. The perching makes them feel safe away from predators.
Of course, in this case, there are no slayers. But you can help fulfill this ingrained bird behavior in your chickens by building them perches.
You can make roosting boxes, perches, or both.
Remember to:
- Position drinkers in the correct spot
- They should be accessible to all the chickens, including chicks
- Design them shallow because chicks can drown in deep drinkers
Here is a video illustrating how you can build a run that allows your birds to free range within a relatively confined area.
How best can you maintain your chicken run and coop?
The Colombian Wyandotte chickens may not require close monitoring, although you must regularly clean the coop. Clean the coop twice a week by removing the droppings and disinfecting the coop, and run.
Also, replace your Colombia Wyandotte chicken bedding after every 6 months. You can do this by scooping out all the dirty wood chipping and replacing them with fresh ones.
What do the Colombian Wyandotte chickens eat?
View this post on Instagram
Colombian Wyandotte loves to free-range and can eat practically anything. This behavior doesn’t mean that they don’t enjoy great treats. You can feed your chickens both commercial foods and your leftovers and treats. Ensure the leftover food you offer them is safe in terms of dietary.
The table below shows how you should administer commercial feeds
| Age | Feed type | Protein (%) |
| 0 – 6 weeks | Starter | 22 – 24 |
| 6 – 20 weeks | Pullet | 14 – 16 |
| 20 weeks and above | Layer | 15 – 18 |
Introduce calcium in the form of crumpled oyster shells among the layers to boost their egg productivity.
When it comes to Colombian Wyandotte chicken, it can be hard to detect how much they eat because you may give them enough food, but they will still appear hungry.
To be sure, serve your chickens food twice daily and create time to empty and clean their feeding boxes daily to identify how much they eat. Besides, they can be so wasteful if you fill their feeders to the brim.
You will be amazed at how much water these fluffy chickens drink, even more than you. Refill their drinkers with clean water at least twice a day.
Do Columbium Wyandotte chickens have any health issues?
Colombian Wyandottes are a breed of normal average chicken that is not prone to specific health complications.
Because of their fluffy nature, the vent area can get infected by their droppings. But don’t worry; you can trim the tail feathers to ensure their vent area is clean and uninfected.
Ensure to inspect and vaccinate regularly as required.
Also, keep their coop nicely ventilated, especially during winter, as their fluffiness makes them retain more heat. The good thing is these spectacular breeds will take shelter under the shed when it gets hot.
Origin of the Colombian Wyandotte Chicken?
The Colombian Wyandotte chicken is classified under the Wyandotte chicken category. This breed of chicken got its name ‘Wyandotte’ from the Wyandot, the indigenous people of North America. However, there is no direct relation between these chickens and the Wyandot people.
The Colombian Wyandotte is the resultant cross-breed of the White Wyandotte and Plymouth Rock chicken breeds.
Are there other Wyandotte chicken breeds?
There are varieties of Wyandotte chicken breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association, including
- White
- Sliver-laced
- Black
- Gold-laced
- Silver-penciled
- Partridge
FAQs
How often do Colombian Wyandotte chickens lay eggs
Colombian Wyandotte hens start laying eggs from 20-30 weeks of life. They consistently lay for 3 years and then drop gradually. However, some hens may continue to lay eggs throughout their lifespan, although once in a while.
Colombian Wyandotte chicken egg color The Colombian Wyandotte hen lays medium-sized eggs that are brown in color.
Summary
If you are looking to venture into poultry and wouldn’t mind chickens that are backyard friendly, docile, and relatively low-cost maintenance, choose the Colombian Wyandotte chicken breed. These chickens are cold-hardy and dual-purpose as they provide both eggs and meat.
