Speckled Sussex as meat bird?

[NevadaRon]

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I have an insatiable curiosity about places and maps, so I looked up Beaufort MO - US 50 goes through there! I'm about 1 mile south of US 50 - and only 1850 miles west of you!

Hmmm.... just a couple minutes away - interesting.

Do you know where University Heights is? Never been there, but my brother lives there.

No... But then again, I'm in Dayton Nevada, not Ohio!

 

[AlbionWood]

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We got some straight run SS last year. The two cockerels went to freezer camp at 18 weeks. The meat was very good quality; fine-textured and pale. Breast meat tender enough to fry; thighs and legs a bit chewier, better simmered for a while. Yield was a little disappointing though. We had the SS along with Delaware, Orpington, and New Hampshire cockerels, all at the same time, and the SS were a little smaller than those. I think we got a 3.5 lb and a 4.0 lb carcass, whereas the others went around 4.2 to 4.5 lbs. (The Dels were the best, hands-down.)

If you process them when they begin to crow - probably 12 to 14 weeks - they will be more tender, but less meat.

I would say, in your situation, they are definitely worth it - the SS hens are wonderful birds (maybe not the best layers, but really sweet personalities), and the cockerels will provide good food. One problem with the SS as a meat bird, the cockerels are so gorgeous you won't want to kill them - ours were like walking jewel-boxes. But as they began to get sexed-up they were mean to the pullets, so off to freezer camp!

 

[newt13]

White skin, not common yellow color. Hefty. Roos will weigh 9 lbs, but will begin crowing at 5-6 lbs. A bit slow to grow, actually. Nice meat, but their conversion of feed to weight isn't anywhere near other breeds, if that matters to you. In other words, you'll have more in them.

 

[newt13]

is there a heritage breed with a good feed conversion?