Spotting which pullets are full breed speckled sussex

[KatsHerd]

Okay we got there! it's hot here today so they didn't want to play ball at first.
I've photographed 5 different chickens. I've left out the obvious boys. Hopefully these are good!! The final photo is the 19 weeker. 2nd last could still be a boy - but I included it as it isn't as blatantly obvious as the others (to me).

Oop, meant that the FIRST one could be the boy... I'm guessing the photos uploaded in a weird order.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

Okay we got there! it's hot here today so they didn't want to play ball at first.
I've photographed 5 different chickens. I've left out the obvious boys. Hopefully these are good!! The final photo is the 19 weeker. 2nd last could still be a boy - but I included it as it isn't as blatantly obvious as the others (to me).

So my understanding of the SS pattern is that the mottling is recessive. So if you cross to a non mottled chicken, unless they too carry/have mottling you will not get mottled chicks. The reason I can't say with certainty is because I think sometimes the spots will show while the birds are young and then when they moult it will disappear. Basically all chicks you hatched, only the purebred SS should be mottled.

This is my understanding though, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be able to come along and confirm or deny.

 

[KatsHerd]

So my understanding of the SS pattern is that the mottling is recessive. So if you cross to a non mottled chicken, unless they too carry/have mottling you will not get mottled chicks. The reason I can't say with certainty is because I think sometimes the spots will show while the birds are young and then when they moult it will disappear. Basically all chicks you hatched, only the purebred SS should be mottled.

This is my understanding though, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be able to come along and confirm or deny.

Right gotcha! That's interesting I really appreciate your help though!!

 

[AinaWGSD]

@Somewhere_In_The_Clouds is right, the speckled Sussex pattern is caused by mottling, which is a recessive gene and requires two copies for the white to show. The light Sussex and the GLW shouldn't be carrying a copy of the mottling gene, so in theory the speckled sussex hens would be the only ones that would produce mottled chicks with a speckled sussex rooster.

 

[KatsHerd]

@Somewhere_In_The_Clouds is right, the speckled Sussex pattern is caused by mottling, which is a recessive gene and requires two copies for the white to show. The light Sussex and the GLW shouldn't be carrying a copy of the mottling gene, so in theory the speckled sussex hens would be the only ones that would produce mottled chicks with a speckled sussex rooster.

Interesting.. thank you so much for that info!

 

[Hayleyeliza]

Okay we got there! it's hot here today so they didn't want to play ball at first.
I've photographed 5 different chickens. I've left out the obvious boys. Hopefully these are good!! The final photo is the 19 weeker. 2nd last could still be a boy - but I included it as it isn't as blatantly obvious as the others (to me).

These all look like speckled Sussex to me! I have two of them and they looked like this as pullets. Such a fun breed! Super curious!

 

[KatsHerd]

These all look like speckled Sussex to me! I have two of them and they looked like this as pullets. Such a fun breed! Super curious!

Thank you!
They're lovely little girls. Unfortunately we lost one due to her slipping off the roost bar a few nights ago. But the other girls are lovely. These are our first batch of speckled we've grown. We have 2 older hens & a rooster & they're amazing birds, but we've had them for almost 8 months & it took my OG hen (i only bought the 2nd hen 2 months ago) months to accept the rooster & allow her eggs to be fertilised! Thankfully we're finally there with her, and I've got more eggs of hers due in 3 days. They are wonderful birds

 

[Seaslug]

So I have a question... I have several speckled Sussex and your pullets look similar to my hens, but that is only because my hens are several years old. I thought that they add white with each molt, and those pullets have a lot of white on them to begin with. Does anyone know why?

 

[Finnie]

So I have a question... I have several speckled Sussex and your pullets look similar to my hens, but that is only because my hens are several years old. I thought that they add white with each molt, and those pullets have a lot of white on them to begin with. Does anyone know why?

The OP is in Australia, so maybe SS there look different than in the US.

I thought a lot of them look more like Swedish Flower Hen than Speckled Sussex. I wonder if her parent stock isn’t homozygous for the mahogany gene, thus causing some of the chicks to have more of a mille fleur look than the darker SS look.