“I saw a review of Cochins in which someone was amazed at her 6-yr-old hen. So I was inspired to tell about my special speckled Sussex.
Zamboni got her name from the flecks of "ice" on her red feathers. I clicker-trained her to jump through a hoop, ring a bell, climb steps, etc. She liked being held and petted.
One winter, when Zamboni was about 8, she disappeared. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground. The temperatures dipped into the single digits. About three weeks passed. To make the story short - I found her in the flower bed on a nest of 20 eggs. She was fine.
Zamboni lived to be 11, then disappeared. She sure was a great chicken!”
“Out of my order of 6 different breed chicks from April 2020, my Speckled Sussex is the lowest in the pecking order. She is zany and will follow us around trying to steal my kids‚Äô snacks (she‚Äôs their favorite). She‚Äôs a pretty chicken, but she lays teeny tiny cream colored eggs, most of the time right on the poop board. She is our worst layer, but her personality is fun!”
“I have fifteen hens representing 8 different breeds, two of whom are Speckled Sussex. Run I enter the run, Dotty is the very first chicken to come running up to me to greet me and allow me to stroke her. She'll eat out my hand and occasionally will be allowed to pick her up. I find the breed friendly and relatively bright.”
“I ordered a Speckled Sussex chick back in 2016, out of my flock of 20 hens, she is still to this day my favorite. She follows me everywhere, insists on being held as I walk around my yard and barn. She is a real character, always a party favorite when we have family over for BBQs as she will steal food off of their plates when they aren't looking. Her only downside is she is a little assertive with my two Easter Eggers and will sometimes pluck their beard feathers.”
“We ordered 2 speckled Sussex, 1 lavender Orpington and 2 silkies. The speckled Sussex are beautiful, assertive chickens. Fern is standoffish and at the top of the pecking order. I thought she might be a rooster, but she is just a loud, bossy hen. Charlotte is very social and loves being held. She will peck my ankles until I pick her up or fly onto me and then settle into my lap. I wish she was a little sweeter towards the silkies who are at the bottom of the pecking order. I would give Fern 3 stars and Charlotte 4.5. Though I am very satisfied with all our chickens and just submitted a second order for chicks through MPC.”
“Piper the speckled sussex came in an assortment in July. She is SUCH a character! Contrary to most of these reviews, she actually doesn't enjoy being held. But she will follow me around. She is very talkative. As a chick it was adorable, now as an adult we call it "raptor noises" and it's hilarious. If you have close neighbors who don't like noise this might not be the ideal breed. She is laying about every other day. There were many hidden eggs at first but now I keep all the birds penned til afternoon so I can collect the eggs. Piper is our "class clown" and a welcome addition to our little flock.”
“LOVE!!! By far the friendliest, least flighty gal we have ever had. "AJ" is so social and sweet. Dependable layer and gets along with everyone. Will always have one of these in our flock. She came with our fauvacana and blue easter egger from MPC and those three are stuck together like glue!”
“I've had two Speckled Sussex hens and both were stellar pets. They are very inquisitive, friendly birds and will always come running when you go out to check on them. They willingly eat out of your hand and are easy to pick up, making them terrific chickens if you have a lot of visitors or close neighbors. They are also good with other chickens and are very accepting of new members to the flock (after quarantining).
The breed is more vocal compared to my other hens. Lupe (my daughter's chicken) always lets loose with her distinctive chortle whenever she lays! We hear her *every* time, LOL.
They are good layers, but be forewarned, they frequently won't lay in the coop. For example, Lupe has set up a nest under our backyard stairs, and she insists on laying there. She will even move straw and leaves into the spot to make it more comfortable if we clean it out (which is on concrete, under wooden deck stairs). Our other Sussex will also lay in oddball locations, making it more likely for us to discover a random egg when watering the plants, weeding in the vegetable garden or raking leaves in the fall. Lupe is a determined layer and produces 5-6 eggs every week for us (she is 2, so in prime egg laying age). The other Sussex does 3-4/week... if we can find them.
They are active and aggressive foragers, making them awesome in your veggie garden. They *will* find that caterpillar that's been eating the leaves of the zucchini. They *will* eat that mouse they spotted over by the garage wall (yes, chickens are omnivores and eat animals--even mammals--given the chance). They also do a lot of scratch and dig, turning over soil and leaves while foraging. The downside of this is that you will need to protect seedlings and transplants for a while or they can get clawed up by the hens.
Our girls will also roost in/on bushes and our fruit trees. This is disconcerting when you are trying to make sure all the hens are in bed at night. We have a rose of Sharon viburnum that is chicken central for some reason and the Speckled Sussex's are always there before any other hens. They will perch right over my nice rocking bench (poop bombing it if I don't shag them away!)
They are a handsome breed, of a nice size (not too big) and without a big comb that might be frostbit in the cold. And they play well with other chickens.
Just a really nice breed.”
