Sussex

We have a mixed flock and our SS are by far the most inquisitive of the group. Stubby (so named because she has a wry tail) is always the first to greet me when I come outside. This is in part because she is always the first to figure a way our of the run. She might be smarter than me... She, and my other SS peck at the beads on my sandals and the lint on my pants and anything else on my person they are curious about. It's very cute and kinda painful too. Those beaks are sharp! They are always around when I am digging in the garden too.
The curiosity can be both good and bad, but I think even when they are causing trouble I only find it more endearing. I highly recommend them for backyard flocks. They are great pets! Oh, and they get more speckles every time they molt too, so they get prettier each year!

This is the breed I originally wanted to start my chicken rearing adventure with because after researching many breeds I felt they were a good fit due to their gentle and friendly nature. It didn't hurt that they are gorgeous birds as well. We did NOT get to start with them but I'm glad we were able to purchase some earlier this month. They took very little time to tame down in comparison with our RIRs and other than one "Alpha" hen who can be a bit obnoxious when it comes to hogging treats (which I take partial responsibility for) they have been very gentle and have an inquisitive nature. It didn't take them long to adapt to our schedule and my calls to "come get a treat" and "it's time to go to bed."

I bought a rooster from a different breeder and have been thrilled with how gentle he has been both with the hens and with our family. My three year old regularly feeds him by hand and I look forward to letting the first one to go broody hatch out some eggs for us.

Additionally, I have noticed they seem to be more predator wary than our other breeds (SPPR and RIR). They have done great free-ranging and more times than not we get a Jumbo creamy tan egg.

This breed is here to stay in our flock.

While i haven't had chickens for 20 years i kept a flock of Speckled Sussex for about 5 years and i have nothing bad to say about them ( except that they have a tendency to be sidewalk supervisors whenever anything is going on around them ) They were beautiful gentle birds that produced nice eggs and were good meat birds as well ... if i had a place to keep chickes i would definately have this bird again

When we were expanding our pens I had one hen that insisted on being right where you were needing to be. very child friendly. Our 5 yr old nephew would pick this same hen up and carry her like a puppy, she just "talk" to him and never try to get away from him. I didn't really think they did well when penned. Theywould feather pick, not to the point of bleeding, but after trying numerous things to stem the feather picking just decided they had to by totally free rangers, still had some picking but wasn't nearly as bad as when in the breeder runs.

I love the coloration, its just so cool, my sussex, Charlie, is so sweet, she lets me hold her without freaking out every 10 seconds like my barred rock. She is nice to the other chickens too, but sometimes when the other hens peck at her she really dosent do anythimg to fight back, but i love her just the way she is

This is her Picture, Her name is Comet

She is the Tamest of the tame. If anyone wants to get chickens, I'd definetly recommend a Speckled sussex!

Last year I was gifted two Speckled Sussex hens. I was astonished how beautiful and especially unique that this breed is. The color pattern is different between each individual bird! Their legs are a pale white almost. Hens lay brown eggs with dark speckles.

The favorite of our flock. Ours are ultra friendly and will often get in the way of what we're doing. They talk to us and, given the chance, will follow us everywhere.
They are also good for free ranging due to their natural camo.

One of the loveliest birds in the yard! Sussex are so sweet-tempered and friendly and are steady and reliable layers. They tend to be picked on by others, but all in all, a great breed to include in one's flock.

I had a flock of 7 SS. They were a great breed that layed continuously and were people friendly. Hardly broody. Very smart. I had 2 that escaped 5 fox attacks. Those ladies were hardcore. I would definitely recommend them.

In my mixed flock of 16 hens and one roo, my 3 SS girls are the most friendly. They follow me around for treats and are vocal and easy to handle. They bear confinement well, yet happily forage during free-range time. Others have said that in their flock the SS girls get picked on but that hasn't been the case with mine; they interact well with their NH, BR, partridge rock, SLW, GLW and EE "sisters." An excellent breed which will always be a part of my flock.

The Speckled Sussexes I had were personal favorites because of their sweet temperaments. Unfortunately, the three hens I had were all picked on mercilessly by one roo and by the other hens. I came to wonder if something about the markings on the birds was the cause of this problem.

I have one Speckled Sussex hen. She was given to me to replace an EE from the hatchery that we thought wouldn't make it. Thankful the EE made it and in the meantime I got the best chicken ever! Zillah is super friendly and chatty, likes to be held, and is the first one to come when I call. She is absolutely the friendliest of all my chickens and craves attention. She is not laying yet as she is too young but I would keep her if she never laid an egg in her life. I thought maybe her personality was an exception, but it seems that most SS are super friendly. She is a bit greedy and pecks the fire out of me if I'm not looking, but I can overlook those things. I now have a new saying thanks to her tendency to peck: "Keep your friends close and your chickens closer." (As in "Hold your Speckled Sussex if you don't want to be pecked.") I would absolutly get more of this breed.

My speckled sussex is Kevin. She is actually a hen and is the sweetest hen i have. She follows me around and lets me pick her up whenever I want. She is a good layer and is amazing all around

I only have one Sussex but she is a massive bully. She picks on the two lowest birds in the run. The poor hamburg's tail is starting to look tattered. I am actually looking at rehoming her because she is sooo mean to smaller birds. And she has tried to bite my son's toes on the occasions when I have caried him into the run while opening the coop door( he was wearing footy pajamas which she did get a hold of and is just over a year old)

She does give us about four or five eggs a week. And she is a stunner looks wise.

My sussex is beautiful and one of if not the friendliest of the flock. They lay a cream coloured egg which is cool. If you get a good strain they will lay for a long time while laying decent amount of decent sized egg. By far this and the wyandotte and australorp have been the best for the backyard flock. If you are considering this bird you must get it

I love this breed and I've been encouraging everyone else to get them. I would get more but I have a limited amount of space for full size chickens. This breed is smart, friendly, inquisitive, steady layers, and a joy to look at every day. Ginny's inquisitive nature sometimes gets her in trouble, and she's always the first one in the house if I accidentally leave the front door open, but she's just such a love I don't care. My nephews delight in making her do tricks for treats, but she's a bit of a greedy guts, snatching up foods that aren't necessarily meant for her and tearing up the garden.

Get this breed. They are delightful!

We got a mixed flock and our speckled sussex hen has easily become ours and the entire neighborhood's favorite. While I read that they were a docile and quiet breed (I thought she'd be a little boring to tell you the truth), I've been pleasantly surprised at her spunk. She is quiet (she coos like a pigeon more than she clucks) and is second to last in our pecking order, when out free ranging in the yard, she keeps to herself. That is, unless she sees any human around, she'll follow us anywhere, waiting for a 'treat'. When we dig in the yard, she stands on the shovel as we dig! She totally loves the attention!

While I swore that our backyard flock weren't going to be PETS and if things happened, we weren't going to go to extraordinary measures to 'save' them, when we had a unfortunate raccoon incident (I forgot to shut one coop window one night...never again, believe me), Apples had a bloody beak. I watched her for a couple of days and she just wasn't bouncing back. Well, guess who found the premier avian vet in our area and carted Miss Apples 45 minutes away to see him. All the neighbors were so glad that Apples was going to be okay (he said her beak had been 'degloved' *shudder*). She's definitely the favorite in our flock. Her sleek, speckled feathers lay down tight and give her a round appearance, but she's all muscle underneath. Skin/feet is white based in color. She's a beauty and a riot to be around.

I will also say that her eggs are the same sized all our other standard chickens.

Coco seemed to be very independent and great forager from day one. We didn't give her enough attention, so be sure to give your Sussex lots of tactile stimulation from day one. She is the biggest bird but at the bottom of the four chick pecking order. I would equate her to the fat girl being bullied in school. We give her lots of attention now and she thinks she is a inside (the house) chick. She stands at the back door and knocks, with her beak. So cute. Our Dominique was our favorite until several months ago, and then it was like a switch flipped in her, and now she is aggressive and literally bites us so hard that she draws blood. She used to sit in my lap all the time and let me love on her. She is third in the pecking order and really picks on Coco.
I wonder if there is a way to influence the establishment of the pecking order??????

I have one speckled sussex that is a very good layer of 5-6 eggs a week. Mine happens to lay smaller eggs, but I know thats not standard for the breed and I have no problem tolerating it for such a friendly bird. She's the first to come running when the back door opens and will be the first to pick stuff out of my hand. The only cons I have for this bird is that she's a bit loud and the eggs are smaller but both of those vary bird to bird, so its not a con to the breed. If i had to pick one bird to build an entire flock around, this breed would definitely be in the running.