Speckled Sussex Question

[lukkyseven]

All,

So my long term goal is a dual purpose bird. Speckled Sussex is what I ended up going with, but the more I start reading the less happy I am about my choice. I'm 30 chickens deep at this point so I need to move forward. My wife would kill me if I started over.

What I wanted was a bird that could get big fast as well as produce a decent amount of eggs that was pretty docile in nature.

From this point I wanted to work towards the SOP for fun. The problem I'm running into is that I cannot find birds of good size. I'm so hamstrung by this issue that I kind of cannot move forward with the SOP. Most of my birds that are above the rest of their class in size have a ton of faults from what I can gather based on my very limited knowledge of the SOP.

I want to move towards the dual purpose nature that these birds used to have, but I feel like if I do with my current stock I will start breeding faults into my line.

So with what I will call the wife factor (not going to let me get any more genetics until probably summer when I can wear on her), how would you select down to 8 hens and a rooster?

 

[Folly's place]

Breeding is HARD!!!
In theory, it's best to start with birds from a show breeder, but that's tricky too. What were their goals? If it's all about good looks, egg production may have been ignored, not helpful at all. And, birds out of the 'best stock' will still show a lot of variation.
Some hatchery stock is better than others, but you won't know until you try with different hatcheries. I've been happiest overall with birds from Cackle, BTW.
With the birds you have, decide on cull points. Any with obvious physical defects, or poor temperaments should go. Then, I'd pick for large size, and eliminate the smallest. Look for body type and wide frames.
Order more chicks in spring, maybe from a different source, and continue to save your top picks.
Years ago I read about a breeder who wanted to work on a different breed, i think Buckeyes, although that doesn't really matter. He bought a total of 200 chicks from three different sources, and culled down to something like twenty birds (at most!) that first year. I can't do 200 chicks at once either, but that turned into success for him.
Mary

 

[lukkyseven]

Thanks Mary. I had a hard time locating a breeder who's goals lined up with mine. I felt like it would be fun to just go at it myself with hatchery stock. In the end I'm only doing this as a hobby and the results really don't matter.

I think my biggest problem is going to be selecting a good rooster. I did give myself some choices, but keeping only 1 of them I feel like he needs to be a really solid roo.

I need to figure out what my cull points actually are over the next week or so. Aggressive birds will surely go as it's not something I like to tolerate. Hopefully I have enough birds without disqualifications that I can at least start there.

 

[Folly's place]

I like to keep two cockerels, or a cockerel and a cock bird, so there's a 'spare' if something goes wrong with one of them.
And years ago I too wanted to raise SS, and had difficulties with aggression in many of the cockerels, and gave up on breeding them. May you have better boys than we had here!
My goals are the same as yours, and wish you all the best. Keep updating!
Mary

 

[lukkyseven]

I have one who already lets me hold him, but I have not really started checking him for disqualifications or faults.

You raise a good point about having a 2nd rooster. I have a 2nd pen I had planned to use when my hens got fertile so I could separate them. I didn't really want to have to keep two completely separate flocks though.

If keeping a 2nd rooster, would you allow it to stay in the main run? I feel like that might be a bad idea.

 

[Folly's place]

Here we overwinter about forty birds, including usually six males, two for each breeding group. They have to co-exist peacefully, given that the coop has five separate areas the are open to each other but out of sight lines. And several feeders and two or three waterers.
Cockerels raised together often will get along reasonably well, the issue can be having enough females so none of them are harassed.
So, it just depends, but it's worth trying, if you happen to have more than one 'keeper'.
Here we want nice birds, productive, up to the breed standard as much as possible, but we won't ever take any to poultry shows.
Mary

 

[lukkyseven]

Mary,

That's exactly what I want - productive, large and friendly birds. I went with SS for the reason that they were historically perfect for what I want. But as said earlier, I just fear that they are not to the same standards any more.

One of my biggest concerns moving forward is that I do not want to use an incubator. This is also why I went with SS. They appear to be a very broody mother with repeated hatches year to year. I have significantly better luck with chicks that are hatched and raised naturally. Personally I have better survival rates and chicks without foot and leg issues.

I do recognize that with this limited supply of new chicks each year, it would be a very long and problematic journey to achieve a show worthy chicken. I suspect I will be adding new external stock for some time until I can get a flock I'm happy with.

 

[Folly's place]

You might need or want to get a few other hens noted for broodiness, if you SS aren't. That won't interfere with the SS breeding program, especially if you pick hens who produce eggs of other colors. I've had broody French Marans and BLR Wyandottes, for example. And the big game hens are supposed to excel at broodiness! Bantams too, but those little hens can't hatch as many big eggs at once.
Mary

 

[lukkyseven]

I could always get some Orpingtons... I will give this bunch a good trial. All of the Guides to Speckled Sussex say that this breed is supposed to be broody. I may make extra notes on which ones go broody in the long run and hope to keep that within the breed.

 

[Folly's place]

Value your broodies! Mine stay for life here!
I use zip tie leg bands, a different color for every year, and you can get numbered zip ties through poultry supply sites. Figure out some way to ID your birds, because over time, it will get hard.
Now that I'm doing white Chanteclers, it's especially hard!
Mary