show quality speckled sussex ??

[snowbird]

COMB

First thing to keep in mind if you breed SS with Faults and DQs on the comb you can expect young fowl that have the same faults. Just remember one good pair for breeding is better than 10 pair that are mediorce. Breeding for the five point comb I use range between 4-6 points. Remember the blade does not count a a point when counting points. I will not use split comb, side sprig,Crow head, lopped comb, Thumb print comb, or twisted comb in front, Irregular serration of comb with small points in between and on the blade. All of these are either a DQ or a fault. I just do not use any of this with any of my breeds. By using the axe you will not need to raise as many young fowl.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
I will second that twisted combs and thumb prints are heavily passed down to the next generation.....
Like 90% of them will get the fault.....
Statistically, I have not hatched enough to justify the 90% number, but I will tell you that a LOT, MOST, almost ALL will get the fault.
If it is all you have to start with..... you will being using an axe and a lot of prayers for the F1 generation.....

Don, What is CROW HEAD? I don't remember reading about that in the standards....

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
I will second that twisted combs and thumb prints are heavily passed down to the next generation.....
Like 90% of them will get the fault.....
Statistically, I have not hatched enough to justify the 90% number, but I will tell you that a LOT, MOST, almost ALL will get the fault.
If it is all you have to start with..... you will being using an axe and a lot of prayers for the F1 generation.....

Don, What is CROW HEAD? I don't remember reading about that in the standards....

It is on page #18 of SOP figure #23. This shows up in a lot of straight comb Fowl. The head is Narrow, Shallow, over-refined. With SS this is one thing you need to know about.

 

[math ace]

For those without a copy of the apa standard .. . .

I found pictures of the faults and disqualifiers that Don mentioned ( including Crows Head) on a University of Florida web site.
It is a pdf file and I don't seem to be able to save it or copy it right now....

HERE is the link ,

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps027

If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge .

 

[RustyHen]

Quote:
Thanks Math Ace, very interesting and helpful.

 

[lauralou]

Really good info on th heritability of comb faults!

I checked out the comb section in the SOP that Don suggested. I've seen the twisted comb before.

 

[neftaball]

Would I be able to post pictures of Light Sussex, I know that the are supposed to have the same body type, so we could critique them. They are also almost a year old, so more mature. I do have a couple of hatchery Speckled Sussex, but they are both being broody, so it's hard to get a picture.

 

[snowbird]

THE HEAD

The size of the SS is hard to determine until they grow a little, the skull will grow as the bird ages. Until you learn you fowl I would not cull for head size until at least 5-6 months or later if possible. If you have a nice Moderately large head will eliminate the worry of having any crow headed fowl.


THE EYES

We are looking for large , round and prominent. The eyes should be reddish Bay at least by the time they are 9-10 months age. If they are any other cull as it is a waste of time trying to develop eye color. Make sure the eye is round and not distorted as being elongated.

EAR LOBES

We want medium in size, oval, and smooth. Do not keep any young fowl with large rough and out of shape Lobes.

BEAK

Stout, rather short and curved. We want a Horn colored beak and is very important that the beak has a slight curve. If you do not have the curve do not use as a breeder.

 

[lauralou]

Quote:
Speaking of the head. This pullet does appear to have a small head in comparison to the size of her body. (When viewed from the front in this one shot.) Do we think that the head will continue to grow as she matures, eventually coming into better balance?



I'm curious because I've never watched a Sussex mature. My oldest is 5 weeks.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
There is an amazing LACK of show quality breeders out there....
I started this thread after becoming very frustrated in my search for SQ SS.

Welcome aboard shamoman. This thread will help you learn how to spot SQ SS,
so that you will know what you are buying instead of taking someone's word on it.