700.jpg
700.jpg

Sussex

The Sussex was developed in Sussex County, England over 100 years ago. It was famous...
Overview Reviews (106) Gallery
Leave a rating

General Information

Breed Purpose
Dual Purpose
Comb
Single
Broodiness
Frequent
Climate Tolerance
All Climates
Egg Productivity
High
Egg Size
Large
Egg Color
Brown tinted
Breed Colors/Varieties
Speckled and Light
Breed Size
Large Fowl
700.jpg

The Sussex is a dual purpose breed that originated in England around the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, making them one of the oldest known breeds. Today they are a popular breed for show exhibitions as well as a garden breed.

The Sussex is an alert, docile breed that can adapt to any surroundings. They are comfortable in both free range or confined spaces and in the presence of humans, although they will mate and breed better in larger spaces. The breed frequently goes broody in the warmer months. They are good foragers and are generally vigorous and hardy as a garden fowl.

333622f7_9.8.12firstegg.jpeg
Sussex egg

chicks.jpg
Sussex chicks

hen.jpg
Sussex hen

rooster.jpg
Sussex rooster

For more information on this breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-sussex.1154699/
  • Like
Reactions: Old Grey Mare, Ladies-Eight, BlueHorse17 and 12 others

Latest reviews

btagg
Love these birds!
Pros: Very friendly, beautiful
Cons: Hard to find any color other than the speckled variety.
I have just loved this breed of chicken. I got my first light Sussex about a decade ago and am currently looking for a breeder to obtain more in the spring. They have been my friendliest birds along with my Delaware and Dorkings. I will always have them in my flock from this point forward.
Purchase Price
5-50$ depending on the breeder
Purchase Date
3/2012
triciayoung
Love My Speckled Sussex Chickens
Pros: Calm
Friendly
Nice
Beautiful
Cons: Too nice get bullied
Loud (if this is a problem)
I have a flock of 11. I was supposed to have 3-speckled Sussex hens, but 2 ended up being roosters. All three are very calm, extremely friendly, and easy to care for. My hen, Lucy, is too nice and ends up being low on the pecking order scale, only above the 3- Silkies. She is a good egg producer and started laying at 20-weeks.
Purchase Price
$5.00
Purchase Date
06/01/2022

Attachments

  • A81D5DCB-871B-4714-82AE-F10B8F722CB6.jpeg
    A81D5DCB-871B-4714-82AE-F10B8F722CB6.jpeg
    1.2 MB · Views: 130
  • 4B4280E4-3079-4DE8-BC50-4EA4F2848511.jpeg
    4B4280E4-3079-4DE8-BC50-4EA4F2848511.jpeg
    779.8 KB · Views: 134
  • Like
Reactions: Old Grey Mare
SesameRoad
Speckled Sussex pullet...
Pros: Very pretty plumage
Cons: loud, food crazed, not friendly, skittish
Got her with a few others at Coastal farm store as chicks. Never was friendly. Lays every 2 days or so. Avoids me unless there are treats. Got for the plumage, but just disappointed in the breed, at least the quality from Coastal farm.
Won't be purchasing again unfortunately.
Purchase Price
$4
Purchase Date
August 8nd 2021
  • Like
Reactions: SmotherHen
Read more…

Comments

Anuthatch
Wonderful! I got my first chics last week. 4 SS pullets. We started with 5 but one was too weak upon arrival. I hope mine grow up to be nice hens. I'd love to have a hen raise some chicks some day.
 
Sandrachx
on of my favorite breeds. know up front that they are chatty, chatty, chatty birds! they will talk with you nonstop until you feed them - and not plain ole' food - treats (scratch).
 
Sandrachx
by anyone, do you mean human? or chicken? if human, and you want them to be super friendly, you could pick them up and hold them gently on a regular basis while still young, speaking to them in a quiet voice. they will get used to you and not run as far away. but they may always be a little stand-offish.
 
Outpost JWB
We have a SS Roo. He is little over a year. He is much meaner than our other roos. He will flog or bite anyone who gets near him. I constantly have scratch marks from him. Loves his girls, but does not like people. He will wait until the girls have eaten (clucking the whole time they are eating,) then he will eat. My girls are sweeties so far, but they are young.
 
foghornleghorn9
I have some pullets - about 6 weeks old. They're still young but they seem very aloof. They are in with some buff orps. The buff orps are very flighty for some reason - not like my buff orp hens at all. Are your SS friendly? Mine seem curious but still haven't readily let me pet them or stay still with me. They are already very beautiful. These are my first SS and I can tell you that pics don't do them justice. They are truly beautiful birds and I hope they will be friendly. Appreciate your opinion/answers. Thanks and God Bless.

Tommy D
 
N F C
We got 2 SS chicks with our Murray McMurray order and they are now about 10 days old. They are the prettiest chicks of the various breeds we got. They are very curious, both about what all the other chicks are busy doing and about us. So far they don't like to be picked up but they will come right up to eat out of our hands so I'm thinking they will make friends with us soon enough. It will be fun to see how their speckles change as they get older.
 
Outpost JWB
My SS are definitely more curious than the other breeds. Our roo ran around our back yard last year when he was 3months old, eating leeches while the other chickens were scared of them. They are not the friendliest though. Last year we had a SS hen that got sick. When we isolated her, she grew closer to us. She sadly passed away:( I only have one buff orp and she is very friendly. Our RIR have proven to be the friendliest ones we have had.
 
BooeyBird
I just got an SS pullet. She's about 1 month old and we named her Pox (as in chicken pox
because all of the dots she has on her). She's in with our 1 month old silkie x cochin cross and our 2 month old ameraucana. They get along great!
 
Turk Raphael
So, I gather this is a fun-loving, in-your-face kind of bird, huh? To me, that might be a downer, if you can't walk for having them under-foot.

After you have had them through a winter and they have shown what they are made of, please write another review, giving details about their value as poultry and not a 'chum'. If they really work out to be good layers, I might give them a try. Thanks in advance!
 
foghornleghorn9
Yes, I will be glad to write another review down the road. We live in AZ so we really don't have winter. The are handling the heat extremely well though. We have been over 100 degrees everyday for several weeks now. They are not the in-your-face annoying type at all. They are just curious and I have to admit, I encourage them to be under foot with me. I got them for their great eggs and to be more of a pet. A pet that gives me breakfast, but still a pet, lol. I will never be able to give you their value as poultry because I don't cull my birds. They die of old age (hopefully) and not for dinner. I don't knock it, it's just not for me. I have to be honest, I may start breeding my Speckled Sussex and perhaps my Silkies also. I'm getting soft in my old age, lol. Good luck with your birds. Thank you for your comment.
 
Julic
I got 2 Speckled Sussex chicks about 3 weeks ago and I have fallen in love with one of them. My brooder has walls that are about 3 ft high. When I stand by it or lean down to talk to the chicks, she stretches her neck up high and will jump straight up in the air while looking at me. I will reach in to get her and she will stay still. This morning she climbed on my hand when I reached in. WHAT!? I have raised 23 chicks in that brooder and never had one that curious or friendly even when I held them all the time.
 
chiklee
The only bad thing about the Sussex is they all go broody at the same time . I had a hen house full of broody. 4 out of 6 at once. they fought over the nest and the eggs crazy little Hens But they are wonderful mothers. Very protective of their chicks . I like mine a lot. I will keep them my favorite breed .
 
fatcatx
Only one of ours would try and go broody but she could be easily dissuaded after a few days of pushing her off the nest. Our other one has shown no signs of broodiness - yet!
 
JRobichaud
I have two that look like this. I can't figure out if they are male or female! Does your girl have green feathers on her tail?
 
N F C
Enjoyed reading your review! Your Rosie sounds like our SS, great birds...very entertaining and beautiful. Have to say though, for such pretty birds, they have the craziest voices. They make us laugh every day.
 

Item information

Category
Chicken Breeds
Added by
bilbothebanty
Views
95,653
Watchers
32
Comments
126
Reviews
106
Last update
Rating
4.53 star(s) 109 ratings

More in Chicken Breeds

Share this item

Back
Top Bottom