Speckled Sussex
The Speckled Sussex is a dual-purpose chicken (Which means that they are meaty birds, and also good egg layers. Most chicken breeds are specialized, you get either meat OR eggs) that is a great layer of light brown or tinted eggs. The feathering is of a rich mahogany with individual feathers ending in a white tip separated by a black bar. They are a calm and curious chicken that is very cold hardy. Average mature weight of roosters: 9 lbs. Average mature weight of hens: 7 lbs.
One of the reasons we chose to raise Speckled Sussex chickens here on our homestead is because they still have the instinct to “go broody”. Broody means that the chicken will sit on a clutch of eggs and raise the chicks. Of course this means that the chicken stops laying eggs!
Broodiness has been bred out of most of the modern breeds . Commercial egg producers don’t want a chicken to go broody because that means the hen won’t be laying eggs to sell. For example, a breed of chicken that most people are familiar with — the Rhode Island Red — is a great layer but almost never goes broody.
For a homesteader though, broodiness is a bonus, as one of the items we look for is the ability to be self-sustaining. These mamas sit on the eggs until they hatch, and then take them out and protect them, and teach them to forage. It's a sight that always makes me smile, a broody hen and her clutch of chicks, out in the yard, catching bugs and just being chickens.
Contact Us at [email protected]
One of the reasons we chose to raise Speckled Sussex chickens here on our homestead is because they still have the instinct to “go broody”. Broody means that the chicken will sit on a clutch of eggs and raise the chicks. Of course this means that the chicken stops laying eggs!
Broodiness has been bred out of most of the modern breeds . Commercial egg producers don’t want a chicken to go broody because that means the hen won’t be laying eggs to sell. For example, a breed of chicken that most people are familiar with — the Rhode Island Red — is a great layer but almost never goes broody.
For a homesteader though, broodiness is a bonus, as one of the items we look for is the ability to be self-sustaining. These mamas sit on the eggs until they hatch, and then take them out and protect them, and teach them to forage. It's a sight that always makes me smile, a broody hen and her clutch of chicks, out in the yard, catching bugs and just being chickens.
Contact Us at [email protected]