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The Sussex is a breed of chicken considered to be one of the oldest breeds in England. The first Sussexes were presented at the exhibition in 1845. When developing standards for chickens, the Sussex chicken was initially forgotten. The standard for Sussex chickens was developed only in 1902 and initially included only three colors: Columbian, red and parcel. The latter was the oldest color of Sussex chickens. In the 20s of the twentieth century, yellow, lavender and white appeared. The most recent color was recognized as silver.
The variety of colors of the Sussex breed was most likely influenced by the influx of Indian blood chickens: brams, as well as the English Silver Gray Dorkling.
The Poultry Association of Great Britain today recognizes 8 color options:
- Colombian;
- brown (brown);
- fawn (buff);
- red;
- lavender;
- silver;
- parcel;
- white.
The American Association recognizes only three colors: Columbian, Red and Parcelian.
Breed history states that Sussex chickens were bred in Sussex County, but is silent on which county.
During the Second World War the Sussexes and rhode islands were the main breeds for chicken production in England. At the same time, the foundation was laid for the development of utilitarian lines of Sussex chickens. Industrial lines of Sussex chicken breeds were inferior in grace and beauty to the “old” type, but were more productive.
With the development of industrial production of egg-meat chicken, with a focus on meat production, the Sussex breed began to be hybridized to increase egg production. An industrial strain of dominant Sussex D 104 of the egg direction has appeared.
Breed of Sussex chickens, description with photos of colors
Sussex is a breed of chickens, the description of which in terms of productivity may differ depending on whether it is an original breed or an industrial hybrid. There are also names of Sussex types that do not actually exist.
“High Sussex chickens” is most likely a distortion of the original name of the High Sussex egg hybrid, which has nothing to do with Sussex. This also includes “High Sussex Brown chickens”. The highsex hybrid exists in two color variations: white and brown. Neither one nor the other variety has anything to do with the English Sussexes. Hisex was created in Holland by the Eurybrid company on the basis of Leghorn and New Hampshire. The confusion stems from the original English reading of the word Sussex, which when correctly pronounced sounds like "Sussex".
Description of the original Sussex chickens:
- general impression: graceful, slender bird;
- the head is large, long, with a red leaf-shaped crest;
- the face, urine and earrings may differ in color depending on the color;
- the eyes are red in dark-colored birds and orange in light-colored chickens;
- the neck is short, vertically set;
- the back and lower back are wide and straight;
- the top line forms the letter “U”;
- the shoulders are wide, the wings are pressed tightly to the body;
- the chest is elongated, deep, well muscled;
- tail of medium length, bushy. The braids are short;
- the legs are rather short with unfeathered metatarsals.
The weight of a Sussex rooster is 4.1 kg, and that of chickens is about 3.2 kg. Egg production 180 – 200 eggs per year. Egg strains can lay up to 250 eggs per year. Egg shells may be beige, white or spotted.
Photos and descriptions of colors of Sussex chickens
There is about the same confusion with colors as with the “High Sussex”. Some colors, depending on the language of the country, may have several different names. The oldest Sussex color has at least three names that mean the same thing.
Variegated color
Chickens of this color are also called “Porcelain Sussex” or “Parcel Sussex”. On the main dark brown or red background of the feathers of chickens, frequent white spots are scattered. When breeding, it is difficult to achieve high-quality coloring, so the density of white spots may vary.
When hatching, Porcelain Sussex chickens are light beige in color with a dark stripe on the back.
Sussex Colombian.
White body with black feathers on neck and tail. Each black neck feather is edged with a white stripe. The tail feathers and braids of the rooster are black, and the feathers covering them can also be black with a white border. The reverse side of the flight feathers on the wing is black. With the wings pressed tightly to the body, the black color is not visible.
Silver.
Almost a negative Colombian color, but the tail is black and the chest is gray.The long feather on the rooster's lower back is also light in color - a legacy of the dorkling.
Sussex lavender rooster.
In fact, this is a Colombian color, which is influenced by the lightening gene. Lavender Sussexes have a second name - “royal”. The color was created in honor of the future coronation of Edward VIII, which did not happen. It was believed that the color of these chickens would have the same colors as the flag of the United Kingdom. "Royal" Sussex chickens disappeared during the Second World War.
In the 80s of the last century, the color was first recreated on the dwarf version of the Sussex. Considering that mutations leading to the appearance of lavender color in chickens occur quite often, it was not difficult to restore the “royal” color. The lavender gene is not lethal for chickens, but it is recessive. Under such conditions, it is very easy to fix this color. The large “royal” version of birds of this breed is still rare, but their number is gradually increasing.
Sussex brown, also known as brown.
This color variation adds to the confusion in the names of chicken breeds with the same colors. It is just a regular dark brown color with some darkening to black feathers on the neck and tail.
Pale yellow.
The color is similar to the Colombian, but the main body color is fawn.
Red.
Not every specialist will be able to distinguish red Sussexes from industrial hybrids. Even the black neck feather characteristic of light colors is missing.
White.
White Sussex is a regular white chicken. Orlington in the background.
Breed Features
Chickens are unpretentious to living conditions. They have a calm, friendly character.Funny reviews from foreign owners about Sussex chickens:
- pros: independent, consider themselves in charge, happy, friendly, talkative;
- Cons: She will pester you until she gets what she wants.
There is also the opposite opinion: good layers, but noisy, angry and hooligan.
Old-type Sussexes are good layers and hens, but the industrial line of dominants 104 Sussex is already devoid of the brooding instinct.
Dominant Sussex chicken breed
Egg-laying line of Sussex chickens. It is very popular in private households in European countries, due to its good adaptation to various climatic conditions. Dominant Sussex 104 chickens thrive equally well in the mountainous regions of Switzerland, the forests of Poland and the dry climate of Italy.
The plumage is similar to the Columbian color of the old-type chicken. Created by crossing a line of slow-feathering Sussex roosters with fast-feathering hens of the same breed.
Due to this, the dominant Sussex is an autosex line. Cockerels receive the dominant K allele from hens and fledge slowly, while hens with the recessive allele fledge much faster.
The egg production of dominant Sussex chickens is not much inferior to industrial egg crosses. They lay up to 300 eggs in 74 weeks of production. The weight of the eggs is 62 g. The weight of the laying hens of this line is 1.8 kg.
"Official" pros and cons
The advantages of the breed include their unpretentiousness, high meat productivity of the old type and high egg production of the modern industrial line. Resistance to diseases, the ability to produce autosex chickens. True, in the latter case you need to understand genetics.
The disadvantages are their “talkativeness”, which often creates problems with neighbors.Some chickens may exhibit increased aggressiveness towards their fellow chickens. But it is better to cull such birds from breeding.
Conditions of detention
For chickens of this breed, floor keeping on deep litter is optimal. But it does not eliminate the need for Sussex chickens to take long walks in the enclosure. In the southern regions of Russia, the chicken coop does not need to be insulated; these chickens tolerate frost well. But in server regions it is better not to expose them to risk. In addition, even if everything is fine with the chicken, its egg production will probably drop at low indoor temperatures. It is best to give the chickens the opportunity to choose whether to stay in the coop today or go outside.
Diet
It is best to feed adult Sussex chickens with industrial feed. If the supply of industrial feed is tight, these birds will get along just fine with ordinary village food, including grain mixtures and wet mash.
The situation is similar with small chickens. If there is, then it is better to give starter feed. If there is no feed, you can feed them boiled millet and finely chopped eggs with the addition of a drop of fish oil.
Reviews about the Sussex breed
Conclusion
To obtain egg products, it is profitable to take an industrial line of Sussex chickens bred in Sergiev Posad. Show lines are not as productive, but they usually have much better conformation and beautiful plumage. Considering that show lines are an older type of breed, focused more on meat, you can get chicken from “show” chickens instead of eggs.
