I was curious whether my
Light Sussex had been getting enough to eat on their strict
diet. I
figured that if the combination of storebought feed and scavenged feed
were below the optimal levels, we’d have a wide variation in chicken
sizes — some big ones that were able to forage best (or hog the feed)
and some small ones who just couldn’t find their own food.
One pullet seemed to
support that hypothesis. Even though we straightened out her foot
as best we could, the chick born with curled toe stayed the runt, clocking in
at a final dressed weight of only 0.87 pounds. But she’s not
really a fair data point since I can envision how having only one foot
to scratch with would slow a chicken down even under the best of
conditions. How did the other chickens do?
The chart below compares
our poorly fed Light Sussex to our third batch of chicks, which were
overfed in my opinion. In both cases, I split the birds up into
pullets and cockerels since the latter are naturally larger than the
former. I also deleted the curled toe
pullet since she unfairly skewed the results.
I was interested to see
that there was actually less
variation in size among the Sussex than the Australorp cockerels.
The pullets showed more variation, perhaps because they are smaller
than cockerels and thus got less of the storebought feed? Or
maybe the pullet variation was because of three hybrid pullets who
clearly weren’t purebred Light Sussex (they had gray instead of black
neck markings) and who grew much faster than their sisters.
I was careful to select
only the largest pullets and cockerel to keep as the foundation of our
new flock, so hopefully that means I will have chosen the best
foragers. Maybe the next generation will have a feed
conversion rate
better than 5.3:1 at 12 weeks. Yes, that means my darling Light
Sussex didn’t quite beat my spring
Australorps, but
they came close.
Size of broilers Are better foragers bigger
About The Author
Anna & Mark
Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton are a pair of back-to-the-landers who have been homesteading for over a decade.
I’m sorry to see that your trial of Light Sussex was done with Australian Light Sussex, not the production Light Sussex that we have in Canada. In the 50’s LS were the best meat bird in Canada and were used to glean grain fields. Like all heritage breeds, they have declined badly since then. Don’t believe what you read about LS on American sites — someone has taken data from other eras and other countries and ascribed it all to the LS he was selling… it’s just not true of the Australian LS!
But what is true, at least of my birds, is that my pasture-reared boys get up to 5 lbs (live weight) by 16 weeks old, dressing out as nice fryers. They do of course get much bigger in the following month, but also tough. As for laying, my birds are excellent winter layers — they are laying over 90% now (mid-February) but they will taper off in May and take long breaks till fall. Average egg weight is 54 grams. I don’t have exact numbers, but I estimate 180 to 200 eggs per hen in the first year of lay.
The Australian LS are a slow growing, bigger, fluffier bird — not a production bird at all. It’s very annoying that they were so hyped in the U.S. by Greenfire — it’s hard to buy LS in the States now that haven’t been crossed with Australians.
Emily — Fascinating to hear about the different types of Light Sussex! I suspect I had a similar problem with Barred Rocks — there are so many strains now being bred only for looks that it’s tough to find a real homestead bird. At the moment, my solution is to create my own hybrid that matches our land, but I’d be curious if you know of sources for hatching eggs or chicks that have been bred to work.
Yes, Emily’s Light Sussex do everything she says they do. She is using population genetics up in Vancouver to revitalize utility virtues in the variety. her birds have great diversity yet because in Sussex the production virtues are so closely allied to the demands of the APA SOP, her birds also win at the shows. Jan Childs, a chef owning Cornerstone Farms, ( website) in the US has brought down Emily’s birds to her place. You can get some there.
I have a strain of Light Sussex which are pure English uncrossed with any other strain. They are from Walt Boese in Deer Lodge , Montana. Mine are also show stock, the sire of my foundation trio being a 3x APA Grand Champion. The 2 pullets from my foundation trio being daughters of APA Reserve Champions. It has been a frigid two polar vortexes here in one month in western PA, USA. Still, the Sussex are laying thru it tho the egg number is somewhat reduced.
Looking forward to Spring warm-up and the onset of breeding season to increase the size of my flock.
Hi,
Come on over to the Heritage Large Fowl thread at backyardchickens. Started by our late beloved mentor Bob Blosl, the purpose of this thread it to help folk decide which heritage large fowl breed they want. Then match them up with top quality breeders. It is “the” place to come to if one is seeking a heritage large fowl still bred true to its heritage. It’s a special place Bob created. With a special. welcoming family atmosphere. It’ all about the birds and preserving them true to their original intent. Utility and Beauty. Now that Bob has passed away, the original thread has been archived on BYC. The thread continues under the name Heritage Large Fowl – Phase II . Still holding forth the purpose of the original thread in Bob’s memory.
Best,
Karen