show quality speckled sussex ??

[zinia8]

Maybe this post isn't appropriate for this thread but...Please tell me the eggs get bigger with age, cause the ones the pullets are laying are..... pitiful.now keep in mind they are nothing but hatchery quailty.
And I need help choosing a cockeral to keep. I didn't start out thinking of the SOP but with all the the commets here my thinking has changed. I don't have SQ birds but I would like to keep the best I have.

 

[zinia8]

Edited forfat fingers. And small keyboard. Mobile.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

As they get older the eggs will get larger. I did notice that the Sussex tends to have a more medium egg than other breeds.

I separated out all my bantam tonight. Looks like I have close to 15 or 20 now. Makes me feel a lot better than just having the two!

 

[math ace]

I separated out all my bantam tonight. Looks like I have close to 15 or 20 now. Makes me feel a lot better than just having the two!

AMEN to that! I kept only one mature mating pair from last year's hatch from Walt Reichert's stock. This year, I hatched only two more chicks from shipped eggs. I will breathe so much easier once I get some more feet on the ground....

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I was so careful with these birds. Most did really well, two of them refused to live and kept getting wry neck. Culled them last night, obviously a weakness as all the others are the picture of health.

 

[props88]

Wow! What a source of great info. I just spent the last three days reading all 173 pages and I learned TONS!

I started this spring with 25 chicks from the feed store that all reportedly came from Murray McMurray. Some of them started laying a couple of weeks ago. Assuming they were a week old when I bought them they were born the last week of February 2013.

My son (10 years old)) and I went into this together with the intent to get all Speckled Sussex. We picked the breed together from our research on cold hardy and dual purpose chickens and we liked the pretty colors! Unfortunately a combination of limited SS chicks at the store and all the other choices, we ended up in a mixed flock. We did get 8 SS and one is a cockerel.

Last week we went to the fair to watch the 4H poultry competition. There were no Speckled Sussex which surprised me. That, and just wondering how "nice" our birds were started me searching and I came across this thread.

After reading it, we are on board with trying to breed some SOP SS birds.

I spoke with Tony Albritton yesterday and we will meet up with him a a local show in October to order some SOP breeding stock. Till then we are happy with our gals as layers and our cockerel "Cody" provides some nice background noise and antics.

Somewhere in the thread it was mentioned how the birds from different hatcheries looked. Here's a couple samples from MM Hatchery. I just banded them yesterday and tried to weigh them (see what you guys and gals did to me!) but our bathroom scale didn't work out.

-Pete

 

[3riverschick]

Quote:

 

[props88]

Yep I know not to cross them. I really did read all 173 pages...I am disappointed to learn I have hatchery quality, but I did get them from a hatchery! Some have nice qualities but none are anything special like some have posted

I grew up in Waynesburg, about 45 miles southwest of you 3 rivers. I still get there often to visit family (and go to Sarris candies in Canonsburg!)

Funny how I grew up in a farming type community but never had any desire to do any farm stuff till I moved to Montana.

 

[Folly's place]

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in a long while; this was not a good year for my flock. We had a daytime fox attack this spring, wiped out most of my hens. Then the only remaining SS hen died under the tractor, and my rooster became very human aggressive. Right now I've got NO Sussex, a sad state to be in. Hopefully in spring some chicks will arrive, this time not hatchery quality. Love those SS! Mary

 

[math ace]

Wow! What a source of great info. I just spent the last three days reading all 173 pages and I learned TONS!

I started this spring with 25 chicks from the feed store that all reportedly came from Murray McMurray. Some of them started laying a couple of weeks ago. Assuming they were a week old when I bought them they were born the last week of February 2013.

My son (10 years old)) and I went into this together with the intent to get all Speckled Sussex. We picked the breed together from our research on cold hardy and dual purpose chickens and we liked the pretty colors! Unfortunately a combination of limited SS chicks at the store and all the other choices, we ended up in a mixed flock. We did get 8 SS and one is a cockerel.

Last week we went to the fair to watch the 4H poultry competition. There were no Speckled Sussex which surprised me. That, and just wondering how "nice" our birds were started me searching and I came across this thread.

After reading it, we are on board with trying to breed some SOP SS birds.

I spoke with Tony Albritton yesterday and we will meet up with him a a local show in October to order some SOP breeding stock. Till then we are happy with our gals as layers and our cockerel "Cody" provides some nice background noise and antics.

Somewhere in the thread it was mentioned how the birds from different hatcheries looked. Here's a couple samples from MM Hatchery. I just banded them yesterday and tried to weigh them (see what you guys and gals did to me!) but our bathroom scale didn't work out.

-Pete

Thank you for posting the pics of MM hatchery's stock. It is really good to see what each hatchery is producing.
The SS is a delightful breed to own, SQ or not.
I am so glad you took the time to read through this thread. It has been set up as an educational thread from the very beginning.
I agree with Karen, KEEP TONY'S STOCK SEPARATE FROM ANY HATCHERY STOCK.
You were so lucky to only come home with one cockerel from feed store. LOL...
If you are getting chicks from Tony, they will be unsexed. Expect 50% to me males.
Wait as long as possible before selecting the one you want to keep. With the males, make sure you open their wings to judge color.
They can hide long white feathers in their wings when they are folded against their body.