show quality speckled sussex ??

[Orange Ribbon]

I am ready to post some pictures now of the older birds. The older birds have never been handled much and are flighty and I can't get them to sit still while I hold them. Out of 44 pictures I only got a few that I can tell who is who. They mostly huddled together in a corner, and I didn't have anyone around who could help me. I have 3 hens and the rooster in the following posts. I'll split each bird into its own post. The lady said they have just gone through a molt, but several of them are losing feathers like crazy. One of them, and I suppose it is the one that jumped into the pen of mean mixed roosters has one eye swollen and I think she is going to be blind, but I never could get a good picture of her. It would be just my luck they all got some rare disease that makes their feathers fall out and their eyeballs pop out.

The rooster has a crooked toe as does one of the hens.

Now, I've been tickled to find these birds, but even so, I know they are not perfect and there are going to be culls. There is still lots I don't know what to look for. Tell everything thing you see whether it is good or bad. The only person who can ever hurt my feelings is me, and believe me I do it all the time. Especially when I go back later and see some of the dumb stuff I've said. My apologies to everyone for having to put up with that!

First picture is of the pen I built in my old shop. After looking at Don's set up I see I have a long way to go before I even begin to understand what all is involved in this. The second picture is of the group of 6 sitting on the perch.

 

[Orange Ribbon]

This is SS Hen #1.

Right side:

Left side:

Back:

Tail from behind:

 

[Orange Ribbon]

This is SS Hen #2. Sorry this is all I got of her that was decent. Her tail stands up like that all the time.

 

[Orange Ribbon]

This is SS Hen #3. Again the best pictures I could get. Sorry. Her tail doesn't stand up quite as tall as #2, but it is really puffy. Not sure it that is part of the molting going on or what. I'm sure some of you can tell me. Also you can see where she has a couple bald spots. Oh, and I just realized she is the one with the swollen right eye. You can see it in the bottom picture with her head turned.

 

[Orange Ribbon]

Here is the big rooster.

This is of his back:

Close up of head and neck. I'm guessing his neck feathers haven't all come back in yet. ???

Broadside view outdoors:

 

[mrheinz77]

The first thing that I notice is hen #1 has a narrow back and pinched tail. The rooster also has a narrow back on the way to the tail. Without his tail feathers grown in I am thinking his tail is kind of low so it may not be a bad thing with the hens with the higher tails. I do like their colors.

Somebody that knows, is hen #2's tail considered a squirrel tail?

Overall, Jeff, I think these are very nice birds. Hopefully by putting the two groups together into different breeding pens, you can make much better birds. I, too, would be tickled to own these birds.

Best of luck with them.
Jim

 

[Orange Ribbon]

Notes on the above photos:

The hens have various amounts of white on their primaries, but I couldn't get them to sit still while I held them and tried to take a picture at the same time. Those pics were just a blurry mess. I will try to do better when I can get some help. The younger birds are all becoming very friendly toward me so I shouldn't have that problem when I get to them. I wanted to do the older birds first. Math Ace, you said something that I think was really good about doing away with this rooster and using the two young ones I have. Unless there happens to be a benefit of using him with a certain type bird, like a real dark one with very little speckles or something like that.

I don't know how these birds will actually rank until I get your input. Yes, I feel blessed to have found them regardless. I will be depending on some of you to help me know what to do. I have many questions, some of them are going to be dumb as a rock, but I just don't know much. Yeah, I know, it should have been some of you who found this flock instead of me. But I'm not giving them up!

BUT! Once things get underway I won't be stingy. I will see that some of you get some chicks or eggs in the future if you think they are worth having in your flock. Time will tell how it goes, but I will do my best. Please help me. I need it. I'll shut up now and just let you guys do your stuff.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Jeff can you take a closeup of the comb, just mainly the backend of the comb. If no one else is going to comment will start later today and give you a complete breeding stratigie on breeding them forward. I have not deserted you.

 

[mrheinz77]

Quote:
Jeff can you take a closeup of the comb, just mainly the backend of the comb. If no one else is going to comment will start later today and give you a complete breeding stratigie on breeding them forward. I have not deserted you.

Don,
Are you wondering if there is a spur or twist there? I noticed that too but wasn't sure if I was seeing things.
Jim

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Jeff can you take a closeup of the comb, just mainly the backend of the comb. If no one else is going to comment will start later today and give you a complete breeding stratigie on breeding them forward. I have not deserted you.

Don,
Are you wondering if there is a spur or twist there? I noticed that too but wasn't sure if I was seeing things.
Jim

Jim, yes it does look like some kind of mass there and would like to see what it is before commenting on her. At least we see the same thing. I might pull out my magnifying light I use for checking Glassware.