Speckled Sussex?

[verlaj]

My husband mentioned the other day that when he sees me out early in the morning in my long robe with the chickens that I have just let out of the coop, it looks like I am floating on a cloud of chickens, because they move everywhere I go and my feet aren't visible! It's entirely the SS and my PPRs that are so friendly that they cluster around me like that - chatting all the time! I really enjoy them!

 

[math ace]

So, I checked out the APA SOP book from the library and have been reading the standard for SS.
The standard calls for white tipped feathers EVERYWHERE - - head, neck, chest, wing, etc. ( I don't know about the tail . . .)

So the question is - - - If everything is white tipped, then the pullets / hens should be very speckled form the beginning, then this seems to conflict what I have read in other places about the SS getting more speckly each time they molt - - or as they age.

How do they get more specks? Do the specks get larger each molt? OR Do they start out with a small percentage of evenly distributed specks and then each molt more and more feathers get speckled?

The SOP doesn't say anything about a min amount of speckling being acceptable for the pullets and then more be required for hens - - - It says the feathers in each part of the body should be tipped in white....

Anybody breeding these birds to SOP or seen some SOP birds that can give me feed back? I have yet to be to a chicken show that had any SS on display - - so I "BLIND" and need help to see the light or "Speckles" in this case. . . .

 

[verlaj]

math ace - Well, I can't answer most of your questions, but I have SS that I got from Ideal spring of 2009, they molted this fall and came in substantially whiter than they were in their first year. One hen in particular is quite white all over. The white tips are much bigger than they were originally - that is at least one reason for more white overall.

 

[3riverschick]

So the question is - - - If everything is white tipped, then the pullets / hens should be very speckled form the beginning, then this seems to conflict what I have read in other places about the SS getting more speckly each time they molt - - or as they age.

How do they get more specks? Do the specks get larger each molt? OR Do they start out with a small percentage of evenly distributed specks and then each molt more and more feathers get speckled?

====================
Hi Math Ace,
Sharp discusses this and how to manage it in a breeding program in his book.
Best Regards,
Karen Tewart

 

[math ace]

Quote:
Thanks - - I really will check into the book. There is JUST so much out there to read and so little time

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
So shall we consider you a feather-legged breed?

 

[verlaj]

Quote:
So shall we consider you a feather-legged breed?

I suppose so!

 

[kmksmommy]

We got 8 straight run SS chicks at TSC. These are the first chicks we've kept. Here is how they looked when we brought them home:

3 weeks old

4 weeks

5 weeks

I'm sorry some of them are huge

 

[math ace]

Quote:
Thanks for posting all the pictures. It is GREAT that you have posted pics of them chronologically. When you do this it provides a phtographic HISTORY of GROWTH. In another 6 months, you will be so GLAD you did this. A year from now, you won't even remember that they had the little chipmunk markings on them when you first got them!

NICE JOB and a GREAT HABIT to get into!

My first SS were from ideal. . . . I don't know where TSC gets their from. I have NEVER regretted ordering or raising this breed. They are one of our very favorites. They are like a dog with feathers. They walk all over the yard with us and search us out if we are working in the yard and they are free ranging. GREAT BREED, just so very PEOPLE friendly.


I have not figured out how to sex these chicks early. By three weeks I know which ones are most likely to be cockerels in the marans and delawares that I keep too. . . . I can not do it with the speckled sussex. One of our favorite hens made such roo like crowing sounds that we thought she was cockerel right up to the point that she laid an egg

Needless to say, I sure hope I've learned what they should look like because like you - - - - I have a bunch a SS chicks running aound right now.

 

[verlaj]

Beautiful chicks and beautiful photos! Thanks so much for posting them! You make me want to get some chicks - unlike math ace, I don't have any SS chicks this year. I have gotten SS chicks in the past 2 years from Ideal and from Mt. Healthy. I love them, too! I got them in the first place because I read so many posts on BYC telling how friendly they are. Enjoy! And I am looking forward to seeing more photos of yours as they grow.