“I should have did more research on this breed and now reading reviews I feel silly! Our silver laced Wyandotte isn't friendly, very skittish, and a bully but isn't the flock leader. Not aggressive towards us but our only pullet that won't come when called and won't allow you near her! Skip this breed if you want kid-friendly! (Healthy bird though!)”
“Gotta say, we cannot support the "easy-going" description of this breed. Ours were so mean and bossy, we got rid of them all. They terrorized our other breeds (Welsummer, Barred Rock, and Easter Eggers) even though we got all of them at the same time. While gorgeous, they disrupted the peace and EVERYONE was happier once we gave them away.”
“In February I got 7 chickens. I looked for the most friendly and the reviews at the times on here suggested I would like this breed. They were wrong. She has been a bully from day one. She is always very loud and demanding. She just started laying brown eggs. She isn‚Äôt terrible but I definitely wish I had not gotten her. She is always harassing the other chickens. She‚Äôll run over to them just to pull their feathers out. Luckily a few of my other chickens are bigger than her so she is no longer the HBIC, but she doesn‚Äôt seem to know that. She does tolerate me holding her, which is her only redeeming quality beyond the fact that she is absolutely beautiful.
Not a sweet chicken if that‚Äôs what you‚Äôre looking for.”
“I got our SLW Ruth in November 2020, having fallen in love with the look of the breed and read about their good nature. She was the first of my new flock to lay an egg (we got that egg on the Spring Equinox!) and has been a dependable layer ever since. She's a goofball and chatty and always puts herself forward first for treats, but isn't keen to be handled. She'll let herself be caught easily, but always leaps (and flaps) for freedom the instant it looks like she'll be set down.
I'm not sure if Ruth is just an exception to the description of "easygoing", but I've seen the breed described elsewhere as "assertive", and Ruth is definitely that. In fact, she's turned into a feather-eating bully. She's got balanced nutrition, plenty of space, treats, attention, and persists in pulling and eating feathers of the rest of my flock, who are all much more mellow (Orpingtons, Australorp, Easter Egger). Isolation/bully jail did not help, even when separated for weeks, nor did anti-feather-picking lotions and sprays. I finally had to resort to a bumpa bit to restore peace, because I don't believe in culling and I won't give away a lone hen.
Yes, she's absolutely gorgeous, but I will not be getting a Wyandotte again. My goal is docile and cuddly birds, and Ruth bullies my cuddle bugs.”
“My Silver Laced Wyandotte hatched March 16, and started laying at 21 weeks. She is laying almost daily already, mostly small eggs although she‚Äôs laid 2 large that I suspect are double yolked. Her plumage is eye-catching, and she is near the top of the pecking order but not too aggressive.”
“Cruella, we lost her unexpectedly. She was the dominant bird in our flock and a ok layer. She laid the smallest eggs out of our flock. She was only two years old.”
