sussex lovers post here!

[chickiebaby]

Okay, here's what I love about Sussex:
1. Lay with great regularity
2. Curious about and interested in everything: My friend Helene who has had a few sussex at all times for almost twenty years and has named every one of them simply "curious hen."
3. Mine care not a whit for pecking order politics but simply do their own thing. The are neither pcickers or pickees, and generally shift for themselves.
4. They are curious and yet content. Not big escapers.
5. Free rage very nicely but don't seem to mind being kept to the run, either.
6. Lovely shape to the body, and beautiful speckled feathers.

 

[Redfeathers]

I love my Speckled Sussex for her personality. She is a riot to watch and is in everybody's business. She doesn't lay worth a darn though. She laid for one month and then quit completely. I'm hoping come spring she will start again. It was still warm with long days when she quit laying, so I don't think I can blame the temp or daylight hours.

 

[Portia]

I agree with chickiebaby 100%. I used to have 4 speckled sussex hens, but 2 were taken out by a hawk...reason being, they are independent foragers and will roam far and wide in comparison to most of the other hens in my flock. My favorite sussex is Little Speck, she follows me EVERYWHERE when I head out into the back yard. When I look behind me, she and my beagle mix are walking side by side following me; when I stop they both find something to do nearby. Little Speck 'talks' to me the entire time with adorable little chuckles that seem to say, "oh there you are", "hey, look at this", etc.

My sussex are easily broody and incredibly attentive mothers, they usually lay an egg a day even as they days shorten. My husband would like me to hatch out a few more for our flock this coming spring.

A couple gratuitous pictures

Love this one

 

[chickalator]

does anybody have columbian sussex? ive be debaiting buying a few of those.

 

[Katy]

Here's a couple of my roos. I realized I really don't have any decent pictures of any of my hens. I like how friendly and calm mine are.

 

[Chirpy]

I have two Speckled Sussex hens. They surely are beautiful!

They were raised with Guineas and thus one of them has figured out that she can use things in the run to jump up on (goat toys) and then 'fly' up to the top of the 6 ft. fence, jump down and spend the whole day free ranging. All my chickens get let out to free range just after lunch every day but she always has to be first out in the morning.

She has also decided that she doesn't like to lay her eggs in the nest boxes and has found a special spot in the barn. Thankfully she's consistent in the barn so it's been easy to go get her egg every day.

I had one night last week where the rest of the chickens didn't get let out to roost because I was gone all day. When my kids went out to lock up the coop they called and told me to tell me she wasn't there. Since the other chickens hadn't been let out she couldn't get back into the run and thus into the coop. They scoured the barn and couldn't find her. I got home and went out with a flashlight and looked everywhere and couldn't find her. I actually figured she must have been taken by a hawk or something (I'm ashamed to say I even briefly thought me sweet dog ate her

) although I've not lost any chickens to predators.

The next morning I jumped out of bed and looked out to the barn to see her scratching contentedly around in the goat pen. Silly girl. I think I need to clip her wing.

I'd love to see pictures of the other colors of Sussex also.

 

[chickiebaby]

ooooooh, beautiful birds! I will try to go get a picture right now. I'm usually hopeless about that, but now I feel I have to live up to all of you!

 

[Big Blue]

A
Quote:
Are they the same as Light Sussex?

 

[chickalator]

yes. duhh silly me. i was just wondering about the temperment and how well they lay.

 

[stoneunhenged]

I love Sussex and have done some pretty nutty things to get my hands on the best breeding stock I could find. You can check out my lights, buff, silver, and coronations here:

www.greenfirefarms.com

And yes, I know they're expensive. But they're a fraction of what I paid for my breeding stock.