Speckled Sussex Rooster

twsfarm said:

Thanks for the info 3riverschick. I'm just getting started and really haven't studied up on breeding. I had 6 males and picked the 2 I thought were the best. According to the breeder I got these from they are from Reichert and Overton lines but I'm not sure how far removed they are.

Click to expand...

Pretty far removed. I don't think Overton or Reichert would recognize them. I do understand and empathize. Been there multiple times trying to start a flock in another breed. Unless your breeder hand picked a top stud cock for you, or you got a one in a million hatch, it's extremely hard to land a quality stud cock when starting out. The best start is to go and make it a mission to buy one from a top breeder and put it to the hens you have. Make sure the top breeder knows you are searching for a foundation cock to be the fountainhead of your flock. In my case, Walt Boese hatched a Light Sussex male especially for me and raised him up for a year, conditioning him to show condition before he shipped him. I am so grateful. Junior fulfilled all his promise of virtue. I have 2 of his sons here and a plethora of his grandsons growing out. Blood tells.
There are some O and R birds up on the web . I will see if I can find them for you to compare. Ok these are speckled Sussex bantams. http://www.skytopbantams.com/sussex.html
Doesn't matter the size, type is type. Skytop is a judicious blend of Overton, and Mongold bantam strains. See "Lilly"?
She is the classic silhouette Overton is known for. In both large and bantam Speckled Sussex.
From the Skytop website: "
www.skytopbantams.com/sussex.html - Proxy - Highlight
The Speckled Sussex that we started out with (Freckles & Dottie) were purchased
from Rob Mongold .Lilly & Trigger were purchased from Gary Overton."
Here is an online article about a poultry man's visit to Gary Overton's house with pics:
http://www.todaywebsitedesigns.com/files/ffusaexample2.pdf
From what I read online of his 2012 season, Gary was selling
his Speckled Sussex for about 50. each. A very good price.

Walt Reichert has some show pics out there, hang on a sec...
http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/ChickenBreederPublicList.pdf
Nuts, I can't get to the Reichert pic. It's of his SS going reserve English at the Lucasville KY show. It was posted to the poultryconnection website, but that website got hacked and is down forever. I can't get Archive.org to work today to try and bring it back via the Wayback Machine, sigh.

However, I have something even better !!: Here is a stunning
pic of a Speckled Sussex hen going Overall Champion of Show in Canada circa 2013. Just a fab example of proper Sussex breed type. This is what we all want to breed for! http://tinyurl.com/oklaztg The painting below the bird's
photo is a famous one of ideal Sussex breed type and coloring.
Best Regards,
Karen

Hi !,
One other thing. I was feeding my Sussex 16% crumble feed. Various brands. They did ok but just didn't see to have that extra "gleam" to them. Then one of the more experienced breeders opined on BYC that these heritage breeds need more. Like 22 to 24 percent protein. I switched to 22% Purina Flockraiser and they did much better. I got my best results with Agway Meatbird feed. Wow! It was like I had different birds! They filled out and feathers shined. I am having trouble getting more of it, sigh. Right now I have chicks in the coop so everyone is getting unmedicated chick crumbles. hee, hee. But I am staying away from anything under 20 to 22 percent.
Also, buy a bag of black oil sunflower seeds. Throw your birds a 1/2 to 1 cup a day for 6 to 8 birds. It will make their feathers so shiny and bright. The boys will look great! I use Gran-I-Grit granite poultry grit. Mined in North Carolina. Great stuff, super cheap. they have been making it since 1935. At Agway, it's about 8.00 for 50 lbs.
Best,
Karen