Here is my speckled sussex (SS) "project rooster" He is not show quality for a number of reasons but he is 9 pounds. He is standing next to a large Good Shepard hen for scale.
You always hear the comment about building a barn before painting it, so this is my attempt at building a bigger barn.
I have gotten the SS sized up by crossing with large light sussex and then breeding the F1.
I bred him back to light sussex this spring and we are now looking at supersized F1. I will breed the F1 of the back cross this fall to make some more SS.
Lots of chicks.... but a fun project.
As an aside: If you look closely you will see he has a knot in his foot and he hops when he has to move fast. Any chicken Dr in here who may know what the foot ailment is and how to fix it.
I have had some very large light sussex that lay only medium eggs. The chicks are not bigger at hatching, how could they be, but they grow a lot faster than the other breeds like my rocks.
I have easter eggers that are half their body size that lay jumbo eggs. If you want a hen that lays larger eggs select from larger eggs. All my sussex lay medium sized eggs. I have had very large birds grow up from smallish pullet eggs that I had shipped to me. I was surprised. I never set eggs that small from home flock but since I paid for them I figured why not try.
Andy
You always hear the comment about building a barn before painting it, so this is my attempt at building a bigger barn.
I have gotten the SS sized up by crossing with large light sussex and then breeding the F1.
I bred him back to light sussex this spring and we are now looking at supersized F1. I will breed the F1 of the back cross this fall to make some more SS.
Lots of chicks.... but a fun project.
As an aside: If you look closely you will see he has a knot in his foot and he hops when he has to move fast. Any chicken Dr in here who may know what the foot ailment is and how to fix it.
I have had some very large light sussex that lay only medium eggs. The chicks are not bigger at hatching, how could they be, but they grow a lot faster than the other breeds like my rocks.
I have easter eggers that are half their body size that lay jumbo eggs. If you want a hen that lays larger eggs select from larger eggs. All my sussex lay medium sized eggs. I have had very large birds grow up from smallish pullet eggs that I had shipped to me. I was surprised. I never set eggs that small from home flock but since I paid for them I figured why not try.
Andy
