Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[MaryJanet]

The whole family helps look after them, but it's particularly my dad and me.
And yes, apart from 1 RIR and 3 Orpingtons they're all Sussex.
Interestingly the Sussex hens have been laying all through the winter, something I was pleasantly surprised about.

Eggs in winter is a bonus! All four of the hens at my place are on their winter holidays

I really like what I've heard about Sussexes and they're on my wish list. But I'm curious about any negatives. If you could change one thing about that breed, what would it be?

 

[Sussex19]

I really like what I've heard about Sussexes and they're on my wish list. But I'm curious about any negatives. If you could change one thing about that breed, what would it be?

Well... they go broody a lot, can be escape artists(as in flying over fences) and are quite independent.
All these things I actually quite like, and I'm struggling to really think of any negatives.
I guess that's why I've got so many of them!
I have got one speckled one that's not my favourite, it's a bit small and poorly built.
You can see some photos of them in this thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-there-any-sussex-experts.1537406/

 

[ChookieG]

Hello everyone,
I am from Dubbo NSW and am about to pick up 3 golden laced wyandotte chooks, I'm getting 1 roo who is 13months old and 2 hens who are 10 and 13 months old. The weather is quite temperamental at the moment ranging from 13's to 20's, our hens have slowed down laying due to the temp and we are only getting a few eggs. I have built a cage for my 3 new birds so they are separated from the main flock and will start selling fertile eggs when they start laying again. We will also be selling our light Sussex eggs. Both these Sussex and wyandotte's are amazing blood Lines and will produce awesome chicks. If anyone is interested in some eggs please contact me at 0401130341 or here. I can post in express egg press safe box or can be picked up from Dubbo.
Thanks, Will

Hi Will just curious whether your birds are regular or bantam sized ones.. and whether that actually affects their laying capacity during the cold weather.. as I've got several pullets around the same ages as yours and they range from between regular and bantam size but they're still laying consistently (5-6 eggs/wk) - except for the 2 smallest bantams who still lay but 1-2 eggs less per week. The temperature here are probably around like yours - between 12 - 15 deg C at the moment and temperatures were around -1 deg C the past couple of nights.

Thanks!

 

[ChookieG]

Hello everyone, I've quite recently joined and I was wondering if any there's any other members around here?
We live in the south east corner of NSW

G'day I'm right smacked in the Central West, NSW with nine Easter Egger pullets and one cat who's on a kitt-o diet as he's carrying a massive pot-belly ATM...

 

[Sussex19]

G'day I'm right smacked in the Central West, NSW with nine Easter Egger pullets and one cat who's on a kitt-o diet as he's carrying a massive pot-belly ATM...

Hi!
How's things around there?
It's cold, damp and slightly miserable here!
How do you find your Easter Eggers? I've been wondering about getting some; however I don't think that's going to happen in the near future, as we're got to many chickens at the moment.
And oh dear with the cat, make sure he gets enough exercise, our horse could do with bit more of that!

 

[ChookieG]

Hi!
How's things around there?
It's cold, damp and slightly miserable here!

Yeah same here! Really really cold!

And oh dear with the cat, make sure he gets enough exercise, our horse could do with bit more of that!

Yeah he gets plenty of exercise... but unfortunately he loves to eat too!

 

[Sussex19]

Yeah he gets plenty of exercise... but unfortunately he loves to eat too!

That's always the problem, isn't it!
I'm really looking forward to spring now, nice warm weather and broody hens, what could be better!
Good night all, I'm heading for bed.

 

[ChookieG]

That's always the problem, isn't it!
I'm really looking forward to spring now, nice warm weather and broody hens, what could be better!
Good night all, I'm heading for bed.

Nite nite... or rather... morning!

 

[Sussex19]

Morning!
Rather windy today.

 

[InterestingChickens]

Hi Will just curious whether your birds are regular or bantam sized ones.. and whether that actually affects their laying capacity during the cold weather..

Bantam's of standard birds should average the same ammount of eggs between their breed, if not more, compared to their full sized counterpart. Of course, the eggs are smaller. As for if bantam's lay in the winter, it depends on their breed and the individual bird. Hope this helps.