show quality speckled sussex ??

[stormylady]

I read the other day on another post that you can sex a welsumer buy the V on the head?? Does anybody know if we can use the same principle for sexing very young Speckled Sussex??? Just Curious. Thanks again Sandy

 

[cowchick11]

Math Ace- Tony toe punches his chicks and I mapped them all with the coloring and I'm going to follow that for a week or three. I'll have to do something else like leg bands when they really start to feather out. I'll try to take one week (or so) pics tomorrow. The chicks are now out in the bard brooder with about 3 times the space.

 

[math ace]

I read the other day on another post that you can sex a welsumer buy the V on the head?? Does anybody know if we can use the same principle for sexing very young Speckled Sussex??? Just Curious. Thanks again Sandy

Sorry to report Sandy, BUT it does not work with Speckled Sussex.

 

[math ace]

Math Ace- Tony toe punches his chicks and I mapped them all with the coloring and I'm going to follow that for a week or three. I'll have to do something else like leg bands when they really start to feather out. I'll try to take one week (or so) pics tomorrow. The chicks are now out in the bard brooder with about 3 times the space.

Toe punches are BETTER than zip ties because they are PERMANENT.
I don't toe punch yet, because I haven't figured out how I want to code them.
Don has a notebook he tracks each bird in and writes things he notices about them.
I am NOT organized enough to keep up with the notebook like that. PLUS, I am pretty sure that Don culls QUICKER than I do. I would need a notebook for EACH bird with how long it takes me to decide who to cull LOL...

Back to Zip Ties, I use those instead of a note book. For instance, I have three delaware roosters in three separate breeding pens. I don't usually know who the mom of a chick is. I can narrow it down to two or thee hens, but not the exact hen. I DO KNOW who the dad was. So, each rooster is wearing a zip tie band of one particular color. Every chick he sires is wearing a zip tie of the same color.

Another instance of Zip Ties, I spent last year hatching speckled sussex. Each hatch had a specific color zip tie attached to them. I NOW have three lines of SS on my property. If one hen jumps a fence, I take one look at her zip tie and KNOW which pen she has escaped from.

I raise delawares and am culling for leg color. After about 4 weeks or so, I start evaluating leg color. If the shanks are golden yellow, the chicks earn a yellow zip tie. If the leg color is grayish, they earn a gray zip tie. The shank color fades on all delawares once they start laying. So, it is a trait you must identify while the chicks are young.

By the time the delawares are 4 weeks old, they are wearing at least 2 zip ties. One signifies who the daddy was and the other represents leg color.

This is why I haven't switched over to toe punching. It is an excellent means of identifying / numbering a bird....

 

[cowchick11]

Math Ace, I like the toe punch method and had questions after

, I think someone on this thread, posted a toe punch chart. I am pretty good at hunting people down and asking questions. So, at the last show I was at I ask some of the older guys that I know if they toe punched. Some said no and some said yes. Those that said yes had some different methods. Of the ones that said no, one directed me to one of the judges that was there for the show. His method was very simple and I could understand right away. His was a pen punch not at hen punch if that makes sense. I'll find my notes and put those up.

Also, someone from another thread e-mailed me a toe punch chart. I will try for one batch of my own chicks from my Black Orpingtons that I got last spring and want to be ready to mark the chicks. But I will be marking the hen as it will be one rooster to only two hens and just one pen. I hope to pick up two toe punches at the next show I attend, WEEKEND AFTER NEXT!!! The judge that I talked to said always get at least two,

he is always mis-placing or loosing his. From the notes I took in "reading" the toe punches I have SS chicks from three different lines (pens) or hens.
Does anyone know if SS have a high rate of any genetic defects? Of my 10 chicks all arrived alive but one died at almost a week, I would say failure to thrive.

I just lost one today that I have been watching, from observation and really close examanation I would guess it was blind. He was drinking but I never noticed him eating. I kept him in the house in my smaller brooder with my chicks that I hatched out for Easter to have in a round pen and keep an eye on him. I am thinking that this might be from several generations of line breeding and only a few breeders in the U.S.? My other 8 are doing great and have been out in our larger rectangular brooder since Friday.

I will try to get 1 1/2 week old photos tonight when I'm out working on the brooder.
3 Rivers, thank you for the response, I'm still working my way through that one. I figured if I re-read it another time or two it might start to sink in.

 

[cowchick11]

Almost 2 weeks old. I took this on Sunday when we were cleaning the brooder. They are 13 days old!

 

[texaschickmom]

Hi again from Texas! I'm back needing the experts' advice on this rooster. About a month ago I posted photos of my 4 roosters that had "color" names and 3 different people chose Mr. Green, even though he has white in his tail and a crook in his comb. Now I'd like to know what you all think of this rooster from a different breeder. He has no white in his tail and his comb seems straight to me. I managed to get a short video and a few pics of him today. I'm not interested in showing, just want a good breeding rooster. Would really appreciate some good advice again.
Thanks so much!
Martha

 

[3riverschick]

Much better! Nicer comb. Good elevation to the tail. The breeder needs to fill him out a bit and put more weight on him.
He looks to have the structure to carry it. Nice strong legs, set well apart. As I remember your girls were a bit gay?
This boy has less white than normal on him so he should do well, mated to your girls. Produce some nicely colored chicks.
Best,
Karen

 

[math ace]

Hey Texas,

I just wanted to bring forward the previous birds so that everyone can be reminded of your previous post....

HELP NEEDED! PIC HEAVY!!
I've got 4 SS roosters that I hatched out and they are 4 months old now. I only want to keep 1 for breeding purposes and would like some SS expertise. I've put different colored zip ties on them so I can tell them apart. So their names are Green, White, Yellow and Black. The one I decide to keep will get a proper name.

So here goes. I've taken 4 shots of each one. I can take additional ones if needed. Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Green Rooster








Here's White Rooster:









Yellow Rooster:









And last, but not least, Black:

 

[math ace]

Hi again from Texas! I'm back needing the experts' advice on this rooster. About a month ago I posted photos of my 4 roosters that had "color" names and 3 different people chose Mr. Green, even though he has white in his tail and a crook in his comb. Now I'd like to know what you all think of this rooster from a different breeder. He has no white in his tail and his comb seems straight to me. I managed to get a short video and a few pics of him today. I'm not interested in showing, just want a good breeding rooster. Would really appreciate some good advice again.
Thanks so much!
Martha

How old is the new roo?
Could you get a photo from the front? I want to see his chest...