The Sussex thread!

[Faraday40]

Thanks.
DS= Dear Son
I'll pass along the complement.
I'm very happy he has a SS now. His 1st hen was a leghorn mix named Firefighter. He loved her & requested to eat only her eggs. We all loved her giant eggs! And yes, he could tell by the size & color! However her eggs were about all we liked. She wan't as much "fun" as Chizzy. Chizzy joins DS on all his outside adventures and runs to greet him as soon as he steps foot outside.

This was DS's Firefighter. She had to be put down last year when her shells became so thin they cracked 4-5xs per week. (The flock began cleaning up the gooey nest boxes, so we had to remove the temptation or possibly risk having to kill a flock of egg eaters.) She was 3 yrs old.


Although DS doesn't care about the appearance of his chicken, I sort of talked him into a SS because of all the pretty pics I saw on this thread.

Now I finally get to post pretty pics of our own SS here.
.... but of course it's the sussex personality that truly has won me over!

 

[Faraday40]

Poor Poor Chizzy!
Tonight as we were putting the chickens to bed, DS found Chizzy's comb bleeding. The whole middle part of her comb was ripped off. (Maybe 3-4 points! Only the 1st & last points look untouched.) It was not dripping blood, so I sprayed with some Veterycin to avoid touching it. She's acting OK & even ran up to DS to be picked up. She no longer "looks pretty," but I doubt it's fatal. DS cried for 30 min. for his poor little sussex. He wants her to stay pretty.

 

[Faraday40]

DS's SS chicken, Chizzy, has healed but looks very weird. I feel that her remaining comb may fall off if she has another incident. DS cried for days out of sympathy for his pretty pullet, but through it all Chizzy laid an egg almost daily. She's a tough bird and now has the looks to prove it.

 

[Faraday40]

DS's SS chicken, Chizzy, has healed but looks very weird. I feel that her remaining comb may fall off if she has another incident. DS cried for days out of sympathy for his pretty pullet, but through it all Chizzy laid an egg almost daily. She's a tough bird and now has the looks to prove it.


View attachment 1114219

 

[3riverschick]

Tell DS that even though it looks weird it doesn't affect her egg-laying ability. Best of all she's got DS to love her! And that's what really counts!
Regards,
Karen

 

[Faraday40]

Thanks.
Yes, Chizzy is all HIS! When we are gone all day & finally return home, one of the 1st things they do is run out back to hug their chickens. (DS has Chizzy & DD has her 2 silkies.) Going back to school next week is going to be an adjustment for all.

 

[Faraday40]

DS still loves his Chizzy! His teacher already knows all about her, and both are adjusting to being apart throughout much of the day. It's so sweet to see him playing in the backyard with his chicken after school.

 

[Leela NH]

Love knows no bounds! Love doesn't care about pretty.

 

[3riverschick]

I have been relying on resources here and what I can find online. I've been going through the pullets recently since they are getting close to 12 weeks and already have them sorted in my mind for body length/width. I only have two Roos. One with this batch of pullets and one about 2 yo.
When do you consider them adult?
Am I wasting my time because I'm not dealing with special birds?
Only hatchery stock from 4 different hatcheries.

_---------
Hi,
No you are not wasting your time. Just need to tweak your path a little.
Buy the best quality cock you can find from a breeder who is winning at big shows and has been linebreeding the birds for a bunch if generations. It takes time to stabilize that gene pool in a tri-color variety.
1.Then breed him to all your girls. Take all the best daughters back to their sire.
2. Now find the best girls and breed them back to their grandsire . Now your birds are 75 percent of the top cocks' blood.
3. If you think you need even more of his blood, breed all the granddaughters to him and their get will be 7/8 the cocks blood. (A good idea)
4. Now breed the 7/8s siblings together and choose the best.
By now you understand your gene pool and how it inherits faults and virtues and will know how to proceed from there.
Just make sure this top cock is the very best from a line-bred strain.
Best,
Karen and the Light Sussex in Western PA

 

[Faraday40]

DS wanted to bring in a good pic of "his" chicken for Show & Tell
Here's the one we made:
(Her shark-fin comb came from a former injury. It sort of fits her rough/tough personality, so it's not all bad. I'm sure we'll be sharing the many adventures of Chizzy in future posts.)

Of course while trying to take a nice hen portrait there are always some strange poses.
Look! A Tap dancing chicken!