Sussex
History
The Sussex originated, unsurprisingly, in the county of Sussex. They were prized table birds more than 100 years ago. The original colours were brown, red and speckled. The Sussex today is still a very popular breed to keep. Bred to be a dual purpose bird, it is one of the most productive breeds we have today. The hen will lay around 260 large eggs that are cream to light brown in colour. The Sussex is one of the oldest breeds that are still in existence today.
Behaviour
The Sussex chicken is an alert but docile breed that can adapt to any surrounding easily. They are good foragers. Whilst they are quite happy to be free range, they will also be fine if kept in a confined space. They can occasionally but not very often go broody. The speckled is the most likely of the breed to do this.
Varieties we breed
The Sussex chickens we have are the buff, light and speckled types. The Sussex chicken whatever its colour should be graceful. The eyes are red in the darker varieties but are orange in the lighter ones. They have a medium sized single comb. The earlobes are red and the legs and skin are white in every variety. The brown and red varieties are rare now with the other colours being quite common.
Images
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