show quality speckled sussex ?? - Page 137

Have not been following this thread, but did read in the new Poultry Press an ad from Gary Overton, "can deliver large fowl SS to Connersville (Ind.) Show", if that helps anybody.

Yup, posted that a few posts (25 +) back,  might be helpful if people missed it!

 

My pullets from Tony all appear to be laying now at just under 30 weeks  (30 weeks this last weekend).  Two of them started laying at about 22 weeks and the others came on slowly.  These pullets are laying med. eggs.  Our couple of older hatchery girls lay med. to large eggs but they are about 3-4 years of age.  Hoping to weigh them just for a comparison, sometime in the not to distant future.  When /if I have a good roo next year would like to breed to the largest one of those girls as well, she is the best total package from our hatchery chicks. You know, just to see what I get.

 

I think after reading through some other threads that my new goal is that within 5 years I would like to take some birds and attend the Stockton, CA show in Jan.  It sounds huge and some of the local people even talk about going every other year or so.  They take birds to show and birds to sell.  It is a goal to work toward with my orps and eventually the SS too!  Maybe after next year with an infusion of Tony stock only about every 3-5 years???  I've been reading up on line breeding and will be pestering Tony about his program some more.  Plus re-reading what we have already covered here.  I can't believe how much good stuff we have already covered and discovered just online with photos, sharing breeder info and looking up old info!!!

Mathace, do you get the Poultry Press?  If not it might be a good investment.  Maybe Gary Overton will come judge a show in your area and would be willing to bring you some started birds!!!  You never know!

Finally have some eggs from my new Speckled Sussex pullet! Looks like I'll be hatching through the winter! ;)
 

I had talked to Gary Overton last year, and he said he would ship birds also.

Hey all I have a story for you guys you ain't gonna believe...... I don't have show qyuiality stock, just hatchery birds, but I do have the toughest little SS hen that ..... EVER LIVED......SnowFlake the Miracle chicken and here is her story.

October 26th my girl is not in at roost time, she is missing, so I get the flash light and go looking, no sing of her, not even a feather, so I figure maybe she is lost in the corn field that isn't cut yet and pray she makes it through the night and I will look for her in the am.... at daybreak......... Next morning looked everywhere......... no sign of her no feathers no gut pile, nothing at all to tell me what happened to her, so I figure a hawk or eagle took her so quickly she never even had time to squawk. Well I still kept an eye out for a week thinking she would pop up because no sign of fowl...hehe play.
Now comes Tuesday November 6th, my Gf comes over with a movie War Horse, she asks me again what my missing chicken looks like..... I show her a year old picture that's all I have, and say come out to the barn I'll show ya how they molt out with more white....... she asked because she has a chicken she doesn't recognize as hers...........because they change quite a bit after the molt.
So anyway I want to show her peepers and sissy my only remaining SS, well sissy is missing now can't find her start calling and Sue see's a chicken stuck behind the wood pile, ok we found sissy or so we thought, we started tearing down the wood pile which consist of logs 10 or 12 inches in diameter and 13 feet long and as high as my chest, support poles for the new cordwood Chicken coop we will build come spring....... well we pull out my stuck chicken to find it isn't Sissy at all its Snowflake, and she has now been missing almost 3 weeks, stuck under the pile next to the garage with no food and no water all that time. and she is by some miracle alive........ 5 lbs lighter, dehydrated, half frozen its been getting in the 20's at night and she was on concrete and crippled from being stuck with her right leg under her, she spends the next 2 days with a sling holding her up because she can't walk, but she is still alive...

.. she is still recouping in my hospital cage inside my living room, but she is fine, her leg came back and she is gaining weight steadily. How she is even alive I have no idea, but she is the toughest little hen there ever was........ and I'm very grateful to have her back. she is also very sweet as are all my Hatchery SS girls......... I had 4 but 1 had to go she was eating eggs, but I have never seen a more resilient or friendly chicken,................. Kim

Matter of fact she will most likely go back out with the flock tomorrow because she is going stir crazy in the cage, knocking over her food and water every five minutes for the last 2 days.......... feisty girl she is..........as is Sissy who was hiding up on the hay pile laying her egg........

GhostRider65,  What a great save!!!   So glad your girl is doing so well, with your super nursing care.  I've lost birds behind the hay in the barn; so  nice to have a happy ending this time.  Mary

Ghostrider-- such relilience in that little bird!!  I do like my hatchery SS. THey got me hooked on SS. HOpe she continues to recover.

Call me stupid but I decided to show at the Eastern Iowa Poultry show this weekend and what do you think I decided to do? Yup, that's right. I entered one of my Speckled Sussex Pullets. I figured ar least I'd get my feet wet. (My whole body is getting wet, though, washing them). There was one Speckled Sussex there last year. When I taught, I took my students to the Regional Physics Olympics and I told them the first year I didn't care how they did. It was a learning experience. I'm looking at this show as a learning experience as well.

That's VERY exciting!!   I'm too chicken to enter yet, still plucking up the courage!!  Good luck--take lots of pics!!

This is the one I'm taking. She hatched mid May from Alexandra Douglas' eggs.