Sussex are a traditional dual-purpose breed used for both meat and eggs. They were the standard table bird in England, their country of origin, but are no longer in such high favor and have actually become harder to find and a slightly threatened breed. In the UK the Light Sussex is by far the most common but in the United States Speckled Sussex are found more readily. All Sussex lay anywhere from 240-260 light brown eggs a year, and rarely go broody, though the Speckled variety is most likely to do so.
Sussex chickens come in a variety of colors: Brown, Buff, Light, Red, Speckled, Silver, and White, as well as the beautiful Coronation Sussex--a now rare color variation of the breed which was created to celebrate the coronation of one of the King Georges of England.
The variation pictured here is Speckled Sussex. They grow a mixture of mahogany and black feathers with white tips, and each year's successive molt will result in more white appearing in their feathers.
Sussex are a larger breed, growing to seven to nine pounds; and are a friendly, inquisitive, docile breed that do well in Wisconsin weather and in confinement, though they are quite good foragers, as well.
