Reviews by BReeder!

My experience with Sussex is limited to our single Speckled Sussex named Bear. She is by far my 21 month old son's favorite hen within our backyard flock of 7. Bear was named after a character in a favorite cartoon of my son's - we also have a GLW named Goldie. Bear let's my little guy pet her, comes running any time we enter the coop, and is willing to take handfed treats of seeds and leaves. My son likes to grab a long stemmed weed and let Bear eat the leaves -it looks like he is fishing for chickens. Bear is willing to be held, and is always my go to when guests come over and want to see the chickens. I'll pick her up and she'll let anybody pet her. She'll even let my son pick her up - which I have to be careful of since he doesn't really pick her up the safest way. Yet Bear doesn't squawk or peck. She let's him carry her around. Additionally, we can count a 4-5 eggs a week from her so far. She is still young, but the eggs are bigger than our GLW's (same age and started laying about the same time). Additionally, she started laying at 16 weeks old - early layer for sure.

I noted as a con, that the Sussex can and will fly. This is because our Bear has flown over the coop that stand over 5' tall and I've seen her fly at my eye level (I'm 5'10") a distance of over 10' just because she wanted to get around the garden fence to be by us. The chicken run is surrounded in 6' fence though and she (nor any of our other chickens) has not flown over the tall fence

Lastly, I cannot nor will I ever be able to comment on their meat quality. That's because our Sussex, Bear, has won over our hearts and is part of the family. The Sussex is a great breed for any backyard chicken keeper.

I have two light brahmas, and I love them! They are interesting birds with their huge body mass and feathered feet. Mine are too yound still to lay eggs but should start in a few months. I expect them to be decent year-round egg layers. They handled a few cool nights already, and seem to be a cold hardy bird. They have a ton of fluffy feathers and even feathered feet to keep warm. I do worry about the summer heat given all of the insulation these birds sport, but we have ensured they chickens will have shade and plenty of air flow in the coop during the summer.
They are very calm birds - far more relaxed than my cuckoo maran. I have no issues keeping them with our smaller Gold-Laced Wyandotte and Spotted Sussex. They are great around my toddler too.