show quality speckled sussex ??

[math ace]

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

Mary,

Sorry about your losses. The SS roosters are a mixed bag unlike any other breed I own. They can be super timid or super Bold.
The good news is that since starting this thread, several of us have been working on acquiring some stock from the breeders with the better stock.
It should be easier for you to find some non-hatchery stock this next Spring

 

[math ace]

Mary,

I haven't seen anyone in the US have birds as nice as the ones clucksworth posted. How far are you willing to go to get those chicks in the Spring?

See Post # 1680
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/429217/show-quality-speckled-sussex/1670

This is my favorite picture of this 8 month old PULLET...
Post # 1686

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: Hi props88,

That's a lot of reading! Good for you! World can be a small place sometimes. My Sussex are Montana birds. I got my Light Sussex from Walt Boese in Deer Lodge. He imported a pure English strain from Canada years ago and has been quietly breeding them up there. Just lovely birds. I really like the way these Montana birds handle the winters. Lay right thru blizzards and all other kinds of foul weather. Can't wait to see pics of your birds.
Best,
Karen
I still remember that 2 week fishing trip to Flathead Lake in the 60's. My grandparents made it an annual vacation to fish for Dolly Varden and Steelhead. One year our family went along. Lotsa fun and the fish tasted fantastic. Grandpa would have his catch smoked and dole it out in small portions all year long at family functions.
Always a game to see if we could snag more than our portion, VBG.

 

[Pozees]

Haven't posted here in a while myself. WIll try to get pics this weekend. I lost half my ALbritton SS to Marek's this spring. My fault. I have hatchery birds here that have been vaccinated, and they shed the live chicken virus when they have been vaccinated by the hatcheries. Heartbreaking. Those left are 4 months of age, 2 months until I will hopefully be out of the woods.

 

[snowbird]

I see several saying get some SS and do not ad any other bloodlines. What I would like to know is what good would this do in the upgrading of your ss. There is not a SS in USA that some new blood would hurt. The only time to worry about adding new blood is when you have a good product to start with. I have seen most of the supposed super strain SS show birds and fail to see any that new blood would hurt.

If you close breed these strains out there now real close all you are going to get is more SS with white in Wing and Tail. Now if this is what you are looking for by all means raise all the White wing and White Tail fowl you can. If you breed these White feather Sussex you will most certainly get more of the same.

Give me a good station and type SS and I do not care where it came from. If you breed close bred junk you will get more of the same.

 

[math ace]

I see several saying get some SS and do not ad any other bloodlines. What I would like to know is what good would this do in the upgrading of your ss. There is not a SS in USA that some new blood would hurt. The only time to worry about adding new blood is when you have a good product to start with. I have seen most of the supposed super strain SS show birds and fail to see any that new blood would hurt.

If you close breed these strains out there now real close all you are going to get is more SS with white in Wing and Tail. Now if this is what you are looking for by all means raise all the White wing and White Tail fowl you can. If you breed these White feather Sussex you will most certainly get more of the same.

Give me a good station and type SS and I do not care where it came from. If you breed close bred junk you will get more of the same.

Good Evening Don,

I believe the message that Karen and I meant to convey was "do not breed willy nilly."
From what I have hatched and raised, my birds from Walt Reichert were way better than the birds I received from most other sources.
I would breed them to any other bird that I thought was as good.

We could go back and look at some photos of my previous SS that I acquired through ebay, hatcheries, and a breeder and you would agree that their "new blood" would hurt my current stock.

The poster did not ask for a critique of his birds, so I did not offer advice about the white tail or white wing feather. These two particular issues were not as abundant in my breeder stock from Walt. Hence, my advice not to mix the birds was a very delicate way of conveying the same message you just posted.

OBTW.... IF you find some SS with good type and good station, send them my way and I will gladly open my flock to them. In fact, I have a SS roo that would absolutely love to see a few more SS hens in his pen.

 

[Folly's place]

Hi everyone, the drool was running down my chin seeing clucksworth's pullet!!! No trips to the UK planned, but she is really nice! I will have to say that my Meyers Hatchery birds, now all dead, were at least standard weights. Next spring will be better... Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Hi everyone, the drool was running down my chin seeing clucksworth's pullet!!! No trips to the UK planned, but she is really nice! I will have to say that my Meyers Hatchery birds, now all dead, were at least standard weights. Next spring will be better... Mary

 

[Peneliva]

I just want to say my SS pullet (local hatchery quality) is hands down my favorite. Shes goofy and friendly and crawls all over me for treats. She makes me laugh so much.

Truely a delightful breed.

 

[snowbird]

Good Evening Don,

I believe the message that Karen and I meant to convey was "do not breed willy nilly."
From what I have hatched and raised, my birds from Walt Reichert were way better than the birds I received from most other sources.
I would breed them to any other bird that I thought was as good.

We could go back and look at some photos of my previous SS that I acquired through ebay, hatcheries, and a breeder and you would agree that their "new blood" would hurt my current stock.

The poster did not ask for a critique of his birds, so I did not offer advice about the white tail or white wing feather. These two particular issues were not as abundant in my breeder stock from Walt. Hence, my advice not to mix the birds was a very delicate way of conveying the same message you just posted.

OBTW.... IF you find some SS with good type and good station, send them my way and I will gladly open my flock to them. In fact, I have a SS roo that would absolutely love to see a few more SS hens in his pen.

Hi Lisa, I guess what really gripes me most is going to the shows and seeing the Super strains of SS and most have white wing and tail feathers. They will not try and upgrade as long as they are winning. The SOP is there for us to try and breed as much as we can to to the words wrote there. For the past 20 years the quality of the SS has gradually went backward as the few breeders are winning and see no need to improve.

Will try and hatch a few SS this fall and see what I can do with improving the quality a little. The SS I see at shows look for like Leghorns when it comes to type. I remember the good type and overall good Sussex. The only way to really improve any breed is raise large numbers starting off with the best you can find. Cull most of the young and I do not mean sell them to someone else as show fowl.

With the Sussex at this point in the game I would not worry about what line they were. The most important thing is single mate everything until you are getting a few acceptable young fowl. Basically you are starting at ground zero.