The Sussex thread!

[call ducks]

Well maybe my wording was off, by that i mean the ones that i am getting well not meet the SOP. But yes with sussex breeding for dual purposeness (is that a word?) should bring you very close to meating the SOP.


As a side note, if i rembere correclty the first sussex chicken was black but they found that they never picked cleanly to well, and that is why the Light Sussex was born.

 

[3riverschick]

Well maybe my wording was off, by that i mean the ones that i am getting well not meet the SOP. But yes with sussex breeding for dual purposeness (is that a word?) should bring you very close to meating the SOP.
As a side note, if i rembere correclty the first sussex chicken was black but they found that they never picked cleanly to well, and that is why the Light Sussex was born.

I just finished adding to and proof-reading my original post.
Yes, I know what you mean. The first color was Speckled. There was a Black which was developed by a breeder from his strain of Brown Sussex which were quite dark in color . I don't think it exists anymore. From what Outram writes in 1926, I extrapolate the Black seems to have died out when its creator died. Outram also discusses the Cuckoo Sussex which was being developed on an British island off the coast of England. He was quite the fan of the Cuckoo and hoped it would survive.
Best,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

I never knew she used tents! We have chated over email for almost two years and i never knew that! I have made two runs that i well be using for my breeders. I may just hatch some light sussex this year!
Yes, it's kinda cute. She buys camping tents for about $89.00 USD each. Then they last for about 1 year because eventually the bird's toes pierce the canvas and the tent tears. Emily says it's a great way to shelter the birds and they can be easily moved.

I am sure she would get you some sussex some how. It's not that hard to import live birds from Canada, one of the provincal vets has to come down get blood (maybe) and test it to make sure they are free from X desises.
Very happy it's so easy. I am hoping to bring down some ON Lights later this year. Time will tell.
Best,
Karen

 

[cowchick11]

3Riverschick - Please tell more about this tenting system for chickens!
Also please explain further about skin texture aligning with egg production ability. I'm interested in hearing more. Thanks!

 

[call ducks]

I well see what i can find from Emily Cow chick. But she is away at a weeding this week.

But see raises several hundred chicks per year ( this year she has 460 chicks to pick her breeders) i am getting some of her best breeders of this year. She only keeps breeders for one year

 

[3riverschick]

3Riverschick - Please tell more about this tenting system for chickens!
Also please explain further about skin texture aligning with egg production ability. I'm interested in hearing more. Thanks!

Emily buys 4-6 person camping tents and puts them up in her safely fenced fields. I think she uses about one tent for every 50 chickens. Double check with her on that. They're the kind of tent that is an "easy-up" with the criss/cross flexible poles to hold it up. Easy to lift and move. Out here, we would have to stake them down because of wind. I don't know if Emily does that or not. As I understand it, the tents offer shelter and sleeping quarters for the birds during the warm breeding/growing season.
Eventually, as the birds grow, they scratch the covering and it tears, usually limiting use of the tent to one season. But if you're growing out hundreds of chicks like Emily, it's a great cheap way to shelter them.
----------------------------------------------
Also please explain further about skin texture aligning with egg production ability. I'm interested in hearing more. Thanks!

The SOP says the skin texture on Sussex fowl should be "fine". The fine skin texture allows the skin to expand . This allows the organs associated with egg production to expand as they will when egg laying happens. Coarse skin is more inflexible. It also tends to harbor a layer of fat which makes the skin less able to stretch.
I have read (written by experts in classic lit) that the size and texture of the scales on the legs can be an indicator of the texture of the skin. The Sussex SOP also says the scales on the legs should be "fine"

Best,
Karen

 

[flitter]

Is this possibly a Sussex? She's @ 10 weeks old and I got her with a batch of day old Spitzhaubens... sure doesn't look very "Spitzies"!

No crest, no spangles, wrong eye color, the neck is kinda "wrong" too. Any ideas? Besides just a very poor Spitz...

 

[call ducks]

Early morning for me tommrow. Going to pick up the light sussex gang at 6:20 tommrow!

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
It's very untypical for a Sussex. Body structure is entirely wrong on many angles. Sussex have whitish/pinkish shanks.
That said, the bird does have Columbian coloring. The "Light" coloring, same as the Light Sussex.
I don't think this is a Sussex, except for having the same coloring.
Best Regards,
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[flitter]

It's probably just a real messed up Spitz... the body type and feet/legs are right... a pretty bird.