Sussex chicken
A Light Sussex hen
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| Conservation status | Common |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Use | Dual-purpose, eggs and meat |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
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| Skin color | White |
| Egg color | Blue |
| Comb type | Single |
| Classification | |
| APA | German |
| ABA | Single |
| PCGB | Rough Feather: Heavy |
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The Sussex chicken is a dual purpose breed of chicken that originated in England around the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43 that is a popular garden chicken in many countries. They come in eight colours (with a couple more being developed) and have a bantam version at 1/4 size; the bantams may be any of the eight colours.
There was a Sussex breed club formed back in 1903; in 2010 the American Sussex Association was formed.
The colours found in Sussex chickens are: Brown, Buff, Light, Red, Speckled, Silver, White and Coronation. The Sussex chicken, whatever colour, should be graceful with a long, broad, flat back and a rectangular build, the tail should be at a 45 degree angle from the body. The eyes should be red in the darker varieties but orange in the lighter one and they sport a medium-sized, single, erect comb. The earlobes are red and the legs and skin white in every variety. Cocks should weigh approximately 4.1 kg and hens about 3.2 kg. The Brown and red varieties are rare but the others are more common.
The light Sussex has a white body with a black tail and black wing tips. Its neck is white, striped with black and has a very striking appearance. The feathers around the neck are called hackle feathers and each one is black with a fine white lace around the edge.
The buff is Ginger where the light is white. If showing the bird, a person must be careful to keep it out of strong sunlight, as the colour will fade.
The Silver Sussex has a similar neck to the previous two variants, except that the body is black and the majority of the feathers on the body have silver lacing. Male fowls have a large comb on their heads while the females have a smaller version of the single, serrated comb.
The Red Sussex is a brownish red plumage all over, with brighter colouring on the hackles and on the saddle feathers of the cock. The tail is black and laced with red.
Pure white plumage throughout and is very rare. The White Sussex was created around 1925 from a sport of the light Sussex and is now probably the second rarest colour after the Brown Sussex.
The plumage of the Speckled variety all have a mix of mahogany and black with white tips. Sometimes the amount of white increases as the bird moults each year. This is the most common variety in the US. However, the Light is far more common in the UK.
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Wikipedia