show quality speckled sussex ??

[zinia8]

Welcome crazychickens09.
How long have you had your SS?

 

[3riverschick]

That is pretty much it! I am pretty sure most people do similar things in the states. The one thing that is hard is the culling.

Don't rush when you cull!!! Take your time and never get pushed into selling stuff you are not sure about. You'll end up regretting it!


Thank you very much,
Brian Woods www.erpoultry.weebly.com

Hi Brian,
When do you cull for cushions and at what point do you
consider a cushion a problem? By prominence of cushion,
age it appears , or? Is there a point when a cushion is not cullable?
Is a cushion indicative of some negative structural trait?
Where does it come from and why does it show up?
How to you get rid of it in a female?
Thanks,
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[bhj123]

This may be a stupid question but from reading the previous posts, is white not desired in the speckled Sussex?

 

[3riverschick]

This may be a stupid question but from reading the previous posts, is white not desired in the speckled Sussex?

Hi Bhj,
White is needed but only as a complimentary color. All white feathers aren't desired.
When the white parts of a Speckled Sussex are too numerous or too large in area ( extra large tip to feather)., we say the bird is "gay". That means the color is too "gaily arrayed". When this happens, it distracts the eye from appreciating the overall beauty of the color pattern, a negative thing. When the white is lacking we say the bird is "plain" ( not enough white to make the bird's color "eye-catching").
The good thing about this is one can change the color ratios by breeding one color extreme to another. If your bird is too gay, breed it to a plainer bird and vice versa. However, breeding properly colored birds together isn't a recipe to continue that perfection. The chicks will usually resemble "off center" towards one extreme or another. So it is a color balancing act with three colors. This is what makes the Speckled Sussex the hardest color of Sussex to breed. Why it takes decades to stabilize the color genes so the pattern is reliably transmitted thru the generations. Why, esp. in this color, one should always buy their foundation stock from a veteran line-bred consistently winning strain which is decades old. And then line-breed on it. There is so much genetic variation in this color variety, linebreeding on that established gene pool is still a challenge. Here in America, we have several sources for foundation stock which meet these requirements in both large fowl and bantam Speckled Sussex.
There is good news tho. It is possible to cull your chicks for color in the chick down. The old time breeders were very specific about that. No, you won't get a perfect culling for color, but it will help you cull for color extremes so you aren't raising as many chicks which obviously aren't going to color correctly.
Back in the 19teens, many of the Speckled Sussex had a lighter ground color. It was more of a ginger http://tinyurl.com/lte8bbu (1911)
than a mahogany. http://tinyurl.com/a6vanrs (1931)
Along came Mr. Falkenstein. He specialized in darkening the ground color and clearing it of stippling. He succeeded greatly and lectured to the fancy on how to accomplish it. He is credited with greatly influencing the fancy which resulted in the overall darkening of the ground color to that rich mahogany. In 1917, Falkenstein wrote a wonderful article to the now defunct American Sussex Club back in those days. ( we have a new club now http://www.americansussex.org/ ). It explained "The Proper Color of Speckled Sussex". And included how to cull for color in the chick down. We are fortunate it has been scanned and is available online here:
http://tinyurl.com/m63wto8
Best Regards,
Karen and the Light Sussex
in western PA, USA

 

[zinia8]

Thanks for the link Karen.

 

[sassybirds]

Hello all,

I have been following this thread for a while now, but have just now decided to post on it. What a great amount of information! I absolutely love the SS, and want to breed my birds towards the SOP, but it is so hard to locate quality birds!! I currently have some chicks that I am growing out and my question is: When do you cull for too high of a tail set? The chicks are 6+ weeks old and some of them have an extremely high tail set- almost 90 degrees. I know that 45 and 40 is ideal for the cockerels and pullets, respectively. Will their tail set change as they mature, or is what they have going on now a good indicator of what they will look like as adults?

Thanks!!!

 

[Shesinthebarn]

Hi everyone,
I have been lurking this thread for quite some time. I am about two thirds through reading the entire thing. I am interested in speckled sussex and the president of my poultry association has located a breeder for me. Now, after reading through the thread, I am hesitant about the breed! I am new to exhibition poultry and maybe I am trying to bite off more than I can chew with this breed. We don't have the room to have multiple pens of breeders and this seems to be what is required to produce a few good show birds. Am I wrong here? I had my heart set on this breed but maybe it's just not a good fit??

 

[Arielle]

Hi everyone,
I have been lurking this thread for quite some time. I am about two thirds through reading the entire thing. I am interested in speckled sussex and the president of my poultry association has located a breeder for me. Now, after reading through the thread, I am hesitant about the breed! I am new to exhibition poultry and maybe I am trying to bite off more than I can chew with this breed. We don't have the room to have multiple pens of breeders and this seems to be what is required to produce a few good show birds. Am I wrong here? I had my heart set on this breed but maybe it's just not a good fit??

hmmm. . . I don't show . . . but love the SS . . . . I am workind with what I have to improve my breeding skills, not sure I will ever attain SQ birds. . . . .

If having SQ is your highest priority, talk with the breeder you prez found, and why not work with some of the birds you can get. Try them. You may enjoy them and find the clallenge invigorating. If you r goal is to have SQ right off the bat. . . . that is not attainable be even the best breeders. THAT takes effort and years of work. Even one of the best poultrymen inthe country doesn't always win-- but he enjoys the challenges and the fun of showing. He is also a judge and a master breeder.

THe SS can use all the help they can get. If you are in love with variety, that is a good begining.

 

[Arielle]

Hello all,

I have been following this thread for a while now, but have just now decided to post on it. What a great amount of information! I absolutely love the SS, and want to breed my birds towards the SOP, but it is so hard to locate quality birds!! I currently have some chicks that I am growing out and my question is: When do you cull for too high of a tail set? The chicks are 6+ weeks old and some of them have an extremely high tail set- almost 90 degrees. I know that 45 and 40 is ideal for the cockerels and pullets, respectively. Will their tail set change as they mature, or is what they have going on now a good indicator of what they will look like as adults?

Thanks!!!

THe tail position is only a symptom of another thing going on-- the back. My understanding is that to lengthen the back will help get the tail set correct.

ALLL my boys have this problem-- so I have a lot to work on too.

 

[Shesinthebarn]

My ultimate goal is to show. I do not expect my very first birds to be show ready, but what I am getting from this thread is that people who do eventually get show birds have large numbers of breeders. I just don't have the room to hatch out 80-100 birds to get a handful of show worthy specimens. Maybe I am misinterpreting but that is the impression I am getting! Realistically I will hatch maybe 24 a year. So it is possible that any progress I might make will be much much slower, if I move ahead at all. I love the breed but I do want to show in the next few years...and I am new to exhibition and breeding for that purpose. Now I have bred horses for racing and sport for a long time, so I have the general inclination of what All goes I to selection etc...but with the chickens the process will move quite a bit faster!

My point is that with the limited number of SS I will be able to have, it will be many many many years before I have birds good enough. It seems with the SS that so few turn out to be good enough even to add to breeding programs. With my friends wyandottes she had excellent quality in two generations and was doing extremely well in exhibition. Is this because that breed maybe breeds more true?? Just sooo many questions. I was so set on this breed and am now a little intimidated!