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Hi,
If you want show quality large fowl Speckled Sussex you live in the right place
Tony Albritton is also in Washington State.
He has top-winning LF SS.
He did an outcross last year so nothing was available. Read on the Net just recently he has for sale this Spring, F2 offspring from the cross. Should be lovely birds. His contact info is on the Net.
I think he is also a poultry judge and his contact info should be in the Poultry Press.
Happy New Year,
Karen in western PA
P.S. A split is when a bird is heterozygous for a trait. Carries one of each gene. You see the term used a lot when folk are speaking of Light and Coronation Sussex. When bred together, a certain percentage of the chicks are "split" for color. They show up as Light Sussex but carry the gene for Coronation coloring.
This summer or fall I will be looking for Speckled Sussex hatching eggs. Does anyone sell hatching eggs for shipping after may?
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If you want to start with Sussex this year, and want the birds to fufill their historic role as winter layers and producers of quality Spring chicks... then you don't want to buy eggs that late in the year. The best winter layers are hatched in Feb. and March. The best strains usually don't sell eggs. They sell started pullets and cockerels. That way the breeder can cull the Speckled Sussex 2x for quality before offering them...making sure he/she is offering birds which well represent the excellence in his/her flock. Speckled Sussex take longer to make the culls for quality because they're a tri-colored birds. Up to 16-20 weeks for the second cull.
The up side to all this is that late Summer and early Fall is a great time to pick up started birds when the breeders downsize their flocks for the winter. You would get quality birds, raised by the breeder and of a quality he/she felt comfortable selling. They would be Spring hatched, so on the right timetable to give you fine winter layers. Plus, if you wanted show birds, they would be on track to be 6 months old before the Winter show season.
Best Regards,
Karen in western PA