show quality speckled sussex ??

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FASCINATING! I have always read that they get MORE white as they get older, but clearly this girl has lost white...

My SS ( 20 - 22 weeks old now) are GREAT foragers. We call the whole group of SS "the NAUGHTY GIRLS".
The desire to forage seems to be more instinctive with this breed. They are not skittish at all. They come running from the four corners of the yard when they hear or see me.... but they do love to spread out and forage more than any other breed I have ever had.

I would be totally delighted with a hen that lays 5 eggs a week at three years of age. Somebody made a comment a few pages back about how they had been told that the closer you get the birds to SOP the less productive they are. This I just don't understand. . . . SOME of the SOP requirements are just for looks - -the size of the diamond or speckles , the shade of mahogany, perfect combs, etc.... BUT some things are structual and ensure the production of a heathly bird.
For example, a wide, not pinched, tail. Wide, not knocked kneed legs are another example. A wide back and chest... Personally, I think the issues with production are issues that are genetic and have to be culled for too.

If the hen lays a smaller egg or lays infrequently, then you don't hatch eggs from her. There are folks out there who are concentrating on egg size and egg production. Those folks don't care what the bird looks like. Then there are those folks who want to show. They don't care about the eggs. HOWEVER, I think if you want to do the breed justice, you will have to watch for BOTH -- - SOP and egg size / production. Originally, these were a dual purpose bird - - -MEAT and EGGS. Right now, more are neither. The breeders have selected poorly and the breed has lost size and my guess is egg laying ability was lost when size of the bird was reduced.

Thanks Math Ace! Um yeah Uno lost a lot of white her sister did too though, but she wasn't near a white as Uno was, Here is a pic. Of Dottie, Uno's sister when she was the same age as Unos baby pic.

Dottie
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And this again is Uno

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I don't have an adult picture of Dottie but she looked more like the chicks from Ideal posted here when she got older.

These up until I got the chicks from Ideal were the only experience Ive had with SS's. so I was having a hard time understanding the white getting whiter thing, but maybe it is just this line or perhaps something with Uno's parent's????

I will have to watch and see what happens with batch of chicks if they gain white or lose white.

Over all outside of the white issue what is your take on UNO, Is she worth hatching eggs from, if she is what features or Characteristics should the Roo have to counter her faults, I know that Howhardcanitbe said that her head was large, and her tail was two low, she doesn't always carry it like that but most of the time she does. If she gets excited it will come up , but Uno hardly ever gets excited shes a pretty laid back lady!

She has always been a good egg layer but I think she might be slacking off a bit, going to have to keep a tally on that from here on out. as she is getting alittle older. She is the best 3 yr. layer I have she is only beaten out by blossom, my 3yr old leghorn.
Is there an Age at which people stop hatching a hens eggs? This may be a silly Question, but I ask because in humans when women reach a certain age the percentage of having a child with birth defects goes up. So my Question is really this, Do professional Breeders Of SQ Chickens at some point retire the hens from a breeding program? Thanks again Sandy.



Editted to say: I forgot to mention Uno was a very late layer in the beginning she was probably around 30/32 weeks old when she started.
Is this possibly due to her coming from a Breeder rather than the Hatchery??? because one of the hatchery chicks started laying at 16 weeks.
 
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Browsing through this month's Poultry Press, on pg. 13 there is a SS hen that won Champ. English at the United Poultry Fanciers Show, in Iowa.
 
Im so sorry about the poor hatch, But so glad you got such a wonderful babie out of it! Looking forward to getting to see her when shes older!
 

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