show quality speckled sussex ??

[Folly's place]

Hi Karen, thanks for your reply. It is frustrating to have a small flock, cull down to one rooster, and then decide he's gotta go soon! This week my sweet two year old hen died in a barn accident; she wasn't part of the breeding group, but so sweet, and will be missed. I would rather raise chicks instead of buying adult birds; anyone selling day olds? Mary

 

[jockeyeba]

looks good... are any of her tail feathers pure white???

My 22 month old SS pullet that we hatched from eggs we got from a breeder in the San Antonio area. How does she look?

I checked her out today & I didn't see any that were completely white......is that good or bad?

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

good...

I checked her out today & I didn't see any that were completely white......is that good or bad?

 

[math ace]

Have you had chicks from Tony Albritton?

Sorry, I am not quicker with my responses...

I live in Florida and Tony WAS in Washington State. I did not feel confident hatching eggs from that distance so I did not order from him. I difinitely did not want to ship chicks that far. I live in one of those very Rural areas where my post office is only opened part time. All the mail carriers have to drive 15 miles to the next town to big up mail and then deliver it to the routes in this town. It is just crazy... I've had mail come from Jacksonville, get shipped to the town 15 miles away, and then those folks but it on the wrong truck and ship it back to Jacksonvile INSTEAD of forwarding it on to us...

CRAZY...


Needless to say, I got mine from Walt. He was winning on the East Coast Shows AND only lives as far away as Kentucky

 

[math ace]

The 2012 group from a different hatchery, now young adults, are good sized, the pullets are friendly, BUT the cockrel will sometimes attack me. DARN!!! I'm not interested in showing, but would like birds that resemble the standard as to size and production qualities, truly dual purpose fowl, and roosters that aren't manfighters. Is this doable? Will show lines still produce reasonable egg numbers? Will SQ roosters have good temperments? Thanks, Mary

Mary,

Man, oh Man, Can I relate to this issue... I have raised my fair share of Speckled Sussex! The hens are always great! The roosters are a mixed bag. I've had gentle and timid souls, I've had some very delightful people friendly and social roosters, AND I've had the manfighters. This breed seems to lack consistency in rooster personalities like I've experienced in my other breeds. It opens a whole new can of worms because you are looking for birds that best meet the SOP and then you have to deal with the personality issues of the males too.

ADVICE: The nastiness in a rooster can be a genetic issue. If it is the result of bad genes and not ignorance of the handler, then the bird should not be used for breeding.

The only way you are going to get the size you want is to go the SQ route. . . . . and you will still have to cull for personality issues.

 

[math ace]

Hi Karen, thanks for your reply. It is frustrating to have a small flock, cull down to one rooster, and then decide he's gotta go soon! This week my sweet two year old hen died in a barn accident; she wasn't part of the breeding group, but so sweet, and will be missed. I would rather raise chicks instead of buying adult birds; anyone selling day olds? Mary

Mary,

Where are you located?

 

[math ace]

My 22 month old SS pullet that we hatched from eggs we got from a breeder in the San Antonio area. How does she look?

Why does this say "22 month old pullet"?

How old is she...surely not 22 months?

Did you get any other birds or is she the only one?

What are your goals? Are you looking to show ?

 

[Folly's place]

Mathace, thanks for your reply. I'm in southern Michigan. The rooster issue is such a pain! My boy is going into the pot very soon; he's not getting the message at all. I've had chickens for over twenty years; started with Belgian d'Uccles, still going on with them. Cute!! Anyone up this way, or anyone shipping chicks? So far I don't have Mareks disease, and getting older birds worries me from a disease standpoint. Mary

 

[jockeyeba]

My 22 month old SS pullet that we hatched from eggs we got from a breeder in the San Antonio area. How does she look?

[COLOR=800080]Why does this say "22 month old pullet"?[/COLOR] [COLOR=800080]How old is she...surely not 22 months?[/COLOR] [COLOR=800080]Did you get any other birds or is she the only one?[/COLOR] [COLOR=800080]What are your goals? Are you looking to show ?[/COLOR]

So sorry I meant to say 22 weeks. We bought 6 Speckled Sussex & 4 Silver Sussex eggs to incubate but had a terrible 1st attempt at incubating, only 1 made it out of the 10 eggs & 9 BR's out of 2 doz eggs. If she is good enough quality I would be interested in showing her locally. She is so gentle, I pet her very day,can't say the same for her Welsummer & Bk Orpington buddies. This picture is them at 25 weeks old

 

[cowchick11]

Now that I have a replacement rooster that, other than his tail angle and extra large comb, Tony Albritton said he was o.k. I hope to have my breeding pen set up before next weekend. Don't worry it has been over a month and he has been in quarentine. Tony just happened to be at the show and the owner and I asked him if he would evaluate the cockerel. By the way Tony Albritton is living in Idaho right now but when I was chatting with him about my two pullets at the same show (cause they came from him) he said they might be moving back into Northeast WA in the next year or so. I don't feel bad

getting 3 and 4 in breed when they were pretty much all Tony's birds

!!! It was very cool to chat with him and ask him questions about his birds and breeding program. Sounds like this year was a slow egg year for him and he said to get my ording in early at the end of this year. Cause I got it in early this year and he had already hit his cut off

Anyway he told us that this cockerel and my pullets (now hens) should make a good female line if I watch the tail angle and comb size

This will be about my last set up for this year. Is anyone or has anyone else been breeding this year???