Cape Town, South Africa

[chicken-herder]

Yay! Congratulations!! Please send update pics as they fluff out!

 

[BoereMeisie]

Will do. They may require a bit of a rinse-off before they will be nice and fluffy - They had a lot of sticky goo on them which has dried giving them a "wet look".

 

[BoereMeisie]

Chicken herder, are your Light Sussex all cockerels? How many do you have? Where did you originally get them from?

 

[chicken-herder]

I have the 3 Sussex- 2 roos and 1 hen, I got them from Issabella from Guineaglen in Plett (she has a website- just google guineaglen) when I was on holiday down there. She does not sell sexed Sussex hence my search for baby hens- but she does send to Ct! I just can't take the chance and get more Roos- thankfully my Dad has excitedly claimed one of mine

 

[chicken-herder]

By the way did you hatch your chicks in a incubator you made yourself?

 

[BoereMeisie]

Yes I used a styrofoam container that I obtained from the pet shop here in Melkbosstrand. They get their fish in it and then toss them out, so I have an arrangement to collect the boxes from them. It works well, but I'll have to add more humidity next time as they hatched sticky. That's a great lead for the Sussex chicks - I will be sure to look them up! I can have Roosters and just raise the extras for meat, as they get quite big! If you ever buy chicks that turn out to be Roosters you can just contact me and we can negotiate a price

If you are comfortable with the fact that they will be raised as meat birds...

 

[chicken-herder]

That's amazing - congrats on your incubator
I am a bit of a softie when it comes to the Roos I only gave my Dad the other Roo because he has promised not to let anyone eat him! But I will let you know if I find a lead for Sussex hens in CT, please let me know if you find one too! Happy chick rearing!

 

[BoereMeisie]

Great - I will definitely let you know. I am starting a breeding project on them, but obviously that takes a while to establish. Eventually I plan to be a supplier of Sussex chickens in Cape Town because they are so rare. In the meantime, if I track someone down who sells sexed Sussex I will let you know.

 

[chicken-herder]

Yay, great stuff there is def a need for them! I will be your first customer! :yiipchick it might really be worth your while to contact Guineauglen- as for as I can remember the chicks are R25- she sends from 10 upward and I think travel is R200- but you will have to check

 

[BoereMeisie]

I've sent an email and awaiting their response. It's really important to me that I get my first stock from a variety of suppliers so that the chickens are not inbred. I have these two from the Altro Pets eggs and planning to get a few chicks from them when they have stock again, if I buy a few from Guineaglen and some hatching eggs from Henmar chickens in Johannesburg, then I will have 3 different sources to work with and pair the best birds together... No to do a bit of looking up for a breed standard and some more looking up on how to go about selecting birds for breeding... That's why I love BYC - Lots of looking up can be done on this site!