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Sussex is a breed of chickens, considered one of the oldest breeds in England. The first Sussexes were presented at an exhibition in 1845. When developing standards for chickens, the Sussex was forgotten at first. The standard for Sussex chickens was developed only in 1902 and at first included only three colors: Columbian, red and parcel. The latter was the oldest color of the Sussex chickens. In the 20s, yellow, lavender and white appeared. The most recent color was recognized as silver.
The variety of colors of the Sussex breed, most likely, was influenced by the influx of blood from Indian chickens: the Brahma, as well as the English silver-gray Dorkling.
The Poultry Breeders 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: Colombian, red and parcel.
The history of the breeds claims that the Sussex chickens were bred in Sussex, but is silent in which one.
During the Second World War, Sussexes and Rhode Islands were the main breeds for the production of chicken in England. At the same time, the foundation was laid for the development of utilitarian lines of Sussex chickens. The industrial lines of the Sussex breed of chicken were inferior in grace and beauty to the “old” type, but were more productive.
With the development of industrial production of meat and egg chicken, with a bias towards obtaining meat, the Sussex breed began to be hybridized to increase egg production. An industrial strain of Sussex dominants d 104 egg direction appeared.
Breed of chickens Sussex, 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 the original breed or already 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 highsex egg hybrid, which has nothing to do with the Sussexes. This also includes “high sussex brown chickens”. The highsex hybrid exists in two color variations: white and brown. Neither variety has anything to do with the English Sussexes. Hisex was created in Holland by Eurybrid on the basis of Leggorn and New Hampshire. The confusion arose from the original English reading of the word Sussex, which, when properly pronounced, sounds like “Sussex”.
Description of original Sussex chickens:
- general impression: graceful slender bird;
- the head is large, long, with a red leaf-shaped crest;
- face, urine and earrings, depending on the color, may differ in color;
- the eyes are red in birds with a dark color and orange in light chickens;
- the neck is short, vertically set;
- the back and loin are wide, straight;
- the top line forms the letter “U”;
- the shoulders are broad, the wings are tightly pressed to the body;
- the chest is elongated, deep, well muscled;
- tail of medium length, bushy. The braids are short;
- legs rather short with non-feathered metatarsus.
The weight of a Sussex rooster is 4,1 kg, chickens – about 3,2 kg. Egg production 180 – 200 eggs per year. Egg strains can carry up to 250 eggs per year. Eggshells can be beige, white, or mottled.
Photo and description of colors of Sussex chickens
With colors, there is about the same confusion as with the “High Sussexes”. Some colors, depending on the language of the country, may have several different names. The oldest color of Sussex has at least three names denoting 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 feather, hens have frequent white spots scattered. When breeding, it is difficult to achieve high-quality coloring, so the density of white spots may be different.
Porcelain Sussex chicks are light beige in color with a dark stripe down their back when they hatch.
Sussex Colombian.
White body with black neck and tail feathers. Each black neck feather is edged with a white stripe. The tail feathers of the tail and braids of the rooster are black, 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 wings tightly pressed to the body, black is not visible.
Silver.
Almost a negative of the Colombian color, but the tail is black, and the chest is gray. The long feather on the lower back of the rooster also has a light color – the legacy of the dorkling.
Rooster Sussex lavender.
In fact, this is a Colombian color, which was superimposed by the action of the clarifier 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. The “royal” Sussex chickens disappeared during the Second World War.
In the 80s of the last century, the color was first recreated on a dwarf version of the Sussex. Considering that the 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 for chickens is not lethal, but it is recessive. Under such conditions, it is very easy to fix this color. The large “royal” version of the birds of this breed is still rare, but little by little their number is increasing.
Sussex brown, aka brown.
This color variant adds confusion in the names of breeds of chickens with the same colors. This is just a normal dark brown color with a slight darkening to black feathers on the neck and tail.
Pale yellow.
The color is similar to the Colombian, but the main color of the body is fawn.
Red.
Not every specialist will be able to distinguish red Sussexes from industrial hybrids. Even the black feather on the neck, which is characteristic of light colors, is absent.
White.
White Sussex – chicken of the usual white color. Orlington is in the background.
Features of the breed
Chickens are unpretentious to the conditions of detention. They have a calm and friendly nature. Funny reviews of foreign owners about chickens of the Sussex breed:
- pros: independent, consider themselves in charge, happy, friendly, chatty;
- Cons: She will pester you until she gets what she wants.
There is an opposite opinion: good laying hens, but noisy, angry and hooligan.
Old-type Sussexes are good laying hens and hens, but the industrial line of dominants 104 Sussex is already devoid of the instinct of incubation.
Dominant chicken breed Sussex
Egg-laying line of hens of the Sussex breed. It is very popular in private backyards of European countries, due to its good adaptation to various climatic conditions. Dominant hens Sussex 104 feel equally good in the mountainous regions of Switzerland, the forests of Poland and the dry climate of Italy.
The plumage is similar to the Colombian color of the old-type chicken. Bred 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. Males receive a dominant allele K from hens and fledge slowly, hens with a recessive allele fledge much faster.
The egg production of dominant hens of Sussex 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 layers 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. Disease resistance, ability to produce autosex chicks. True, in the latter case it is necessary to understand genetics.
The disadvantages are their “talkativeness”, which often creates problems with neighbors. Some chickens may show increased aggressiveness towards their brethren. But it is better to cull such birds from breeding.
Conditions of detention
For chickens of this breed, floor content on a deep litter is optimal. But it does not negate the need for Sussex chickens in long walks in the aviary. In the southern regions of Our Country, the chicken coop can not be insulated; these chickens tolerate frost well. But in server regions, it’s best not to put them at risk. In addition, even if everything is in order with the chicken, egg production at low room temperatures will certainly fall. It’s best to let the chickens choose whether they want 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 do just fine with the usual village feed, which includes 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 compound feed, you can feed them with 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 advantageous to take an industrial line of Sussex chickens bred in Sergiev Posad. Show lines are not as productive, but they usually have a much better build and beautiful plumage. Considering that the show lines are an old type of breed, focused more on meat, chicken meat can be obtained from “show” chickens instead of eggs.