Our 25 (with one extra) straight run Speckled Sussex arrived today from Cackle Hatchery, and are now happily eating and drinking in their brooder. I am wondering how obvious the difference between roosters and hens in this variety is; anyone know? We got them because they're supposed to be good dual purpose birds and good layers. And we get a new breed every year so we can tell how old each batch of birds is.
Such cute little balls of fluff!
New Speckled Sussex!
I could tell easily with the Speckled Sussex. The females are much darker....that is the "V" on the top of their heads is much more defined and intense.
Oh, here! I found a picture on "feathersite" that shows the difference. The pullet is on the right, the cockerel on the left.
Oh, wow, thanks, Catsy! I did notice that there was a difference; now I'll have to see if I can figure out how many I have of each. Does that characteristic persist as they mature?
It does to the extent that the little boys seem to have more "white" on their faces as they grow, but about the same time that becomes apparent, the boys' combs start to grow and you can tell from that pretty well too. The fully grown roos are dark coloured. They are pretty sturdily built too..
My experience with Speckled Sussex is that they have lovely personalities and lay well, although mine have all laid more medium to large eggs. Very lovely, shiny, light tan coloured.eggs but not as large as, say, a RIR's.
I hope they're not too timid to deal with the older hens once they're released among the others. That won't be until they're almost full-sized, but I've noticed that we have a pretty aggressive Cuckoo Maran who likes to rule the roost and keep others away from the good stuff.
This morning four chicks were on the floor, having fallen out of the brooder. If I open the slots wide enough for them to eat and drink easily (the trays for food and water are hooked on the outside) some of them seem able to get out. DH saw that and closed down the slots a little more last night and they could barely eat, and some still escaped. I opened the slots back up a fraction and the chicks attacked the food ravenously. The ones on the floor were fine once I returned them to their friends so I think I'll just leave the slots as is and deal with the escapees.
They are not really timid, just pleasant and easy to work with. Bold enough to come up to you and act curious, but not throwing their weight around with the other birds.
The most timid chickens I've owned were Faverolles.
I agree - we had some Faverolles and I loved the way they looked but they were just too timid. Most of them got bullied by the other hens and didn't thrive, and our last one got killed in the Great Mink Massacre.