speckled sussex hen are butterballs . . . R the roos good eating ?

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

The Speckled Sussex was one of the premier meat birds in the UK. We like the SS as meat birds, they are full bodied and have a nice flavor.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

I kept one Speckled Sussex rooster out of the breeds in my signature and ate the rest of the roosters. Mine was a limited sample but I certainly had no complaints about them from a meat bird perspective. The only other rooster I got out of that order was a Delaware and he was pretty good too. I purposely kept the largest SS rooster because meat birds tops my goals, although I still want good egg layers.

I only kept one SS hen and she is small compared to some of my other hens, but I have a Delaware aned a BA that are about the same size the SS is. I have Delaware, BA, and BO hens that are larger than those too. I suspect size difference is an individual characteristic, not a breed specific characteristic. The hen will certainly be smaller than the rooster.

I hatched roosters from the SS rooster and the Delaware and Black Australorp hens. Call them crosses, mutts, whatever. Here are a couple of shots of the SS/Delaware rooster that will father my chicks next year.

I processed his brother last week. He was about the same size, although I did not weight him. Great thighs and good drumsticks. The breasts don't match the size of the broiler breed, but they were certainly big enough. I did not get any roosters from the SS or BO hens, but some of the roosters from the BA hens were also impressive. Some roosters from the Delaware and BA were not as big as these. Size is an individual thing, but breed gives you some good guidelines as to what to expect. If you are raising them for meat, or meat and eggs, I don't see anything wrong with a cross. If you are wanting to sell the eggs as hatching eggs, that becomes a different matter.

One thing to consider if you are looking at meat birds. Before the Broiler Breeds were developed, the Light Sussex, Delaware, and White Rock were among the main meat breeds. This was because of the pin feathers. The lighter colored birds give a prettier carcass when you pluck them because you can't see the pin feathers as well as you can on the darker birds. The New Hampshire Red was developed as a meatier version of the Rhode Island Red. The carcass is heavier and the lighter golden-red feathers give a prettier carcass than the RIR. THe Buff Orps also give a nice carcass. If you skin this does not matter, but if you pluck, it might.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
yipee - - I have heard some not nice things about the ss roos. What have your experiences with them been like ?

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
yipee - - I have heard some not nice things about the ss roos. What have your experiences with them been like ?

We have never had any trouble with ours, they aren't overly friendly but they have never shown any signs of aggression.

Steve

 

[AlbionWood]

The two SS roos we just slaughtered did not produce as nice a carcass as the Delawares. The SS were much narrower, in breast and hips (making them more difficult to eviscerate cleanly) and at the same age (18 weeks) were not as heavy as the Dels. The SS roosters had very different body shape than the pullets - much taller and narrower. I wonder if they've lost some of their meat characteristics through breeding for appearance, in the long time since they were a commercial meat breed. I was a little disappointed in them.

As for personality, both SS roos were mean to the pullets, which is why they both went to Freezer Camp (originally I wanted to keep one). The SS pullets on the other hand are the sweetest girls! Delawares mostly are nice, but we had two mean roos; both of them were all-white, though, so probably not very good breeding. The one we kept is the best-marked and has a wonderful personality.

We also had one NHR roo - very different carcass, mostly leg and thigh (thighs alone over 1/2 lb each), long narrow breast. I'm seriously considering getting more NHR roos next year specifically for thigh meat for chicken-apple sausage. (Though I probably won't - I'll get more Dels instead - almost as much leg meat, and a lot more breast)

It will be interesting to see what the offspring of the Delaware over Sussex are like next year!

 

[math ace]

Quote:
I noticed this when I goggled images for SS. . . I wonder if the SS roos 50 years ago were more like the hens in that butterball aspect ? ?

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

It sounds like it might be beneficial for folks to mention the source of their birds, since there can be a good deal of variation between hatcheries/strains.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Feathered appearance can be deceiving. Especially this time of year when they are all fluffed up. I imagine there is less breast meat there than you would think from their appearanace.

I have SS from Cackle Hatchery. One Roo is somewhat human agressive but the BEST flock rooster, as he protects the hens, watches the sky and gives a remarkable hawk warning call, finds them food, dances for them, waits for a squat and will not try to mount girls that are too small for him. And he doesn't fight forever with the other roosters, just squabbles one day to set the order and then lives and lets live. He currently suppervises the 20-week old pullets.

SS roo over Delaware Hen makes all light-downed boys and all red/gold downed girls at hatch. Sometimes it is good to know at hatch what you are getting. The cross is only so-so as a meat bird.

In my experience, Delaware hens lay larger eggs and more productively than SS, and both breeds easily lose their fear of their keepers.

I believe the traditional English roasting bird was expected to be long and narrow. Americans prefer birds with a more squarish carcass, so Buckeyes and Delawares lean more that way (broad and deep).

You cannot expect the breast on any heritage breed to approach the CornX.

Delaware cockerels from Whitmore Farms were very tasty at 16weeks, but human agressive and pullet abusive. Only had one Delaware Cockerel from Sand Hill, his coloring did not match SOP and he was butchered very recently.

Our SS hatch on day 20, and then have to hang out till the other eggs hatch a day or two later. Cutest little chipmunk golf balls with legs you ever saw. Delaware chicks are just blond, but they are very assertive in the brooder. Both breeds are very attractive on the lawn.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Quote:
Looks like your boy has the white legs of the SS side. Our crosses did too.

We are going to try Buckeye roo over Del hens next year, going for the same light boy / redbrown girl sex-link, but with yellow legs/skin and hopefully a squarer frame.

Please let us know how the cross Rooster's offspring look. You could get just about anything, it will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[bigredfeather]

My extra SS roos have made great chicken dinners. They have been dressing out of 4-5 pounds at 20-22 weeks. They have a nice square body which gives them a better apperance than other DPs. My hens seem to be a bit petite to bost as a good DP, but they still taste like chicken. I read in an earlier post about being the table bird of England, and that is very true. 100 years ago, they were a very popular table bird. I would guess that years of breeding more for eggs has taken away from that purpose a bit, but with some selected breeding, I bet you could develop a carcus a bit better for the table.