“I ordered 2 hens this spring (2020) and they are absolutely delightful. They are inquisitive and definite leaders in the flock of spring chicks, without being bullies. Hazel follows me when I walk to the mailbox with the dogs and is the first to come running every time I walk out the door. They do love to forage, and they make me a little nervous as they scratch along the edge of the woods. When/if I am not working from home, I'll have to restrict their freedom because they are very bold. Expecting eggs in another month or so, hopefully in the nest box!”
“These girls are beautiful and friendly! There are two things I wish I'd known before choosing them though. They are great foragers- i.e. if kept in a backyard they will be the first to tear out grass or uproot things other chickens may ignore. AND they love to hide their eggs. I keep thinking they haven't been laying, but then I discover a huge cache of eggs in some out-of-the-way spot. They do not go broody which is good in my book, but now at 3 years old I am only getting an egg every three days out of my two sussex while my older chickens are producing significantly more.”
“At 10 weeks, our pair of hens are bright, friendly, confident and curious. They are funky-looking girls, and I'm looking forward to seeing them as adults.”
“Our speckled sussex has always been the most bold and curious bird out of our 10, day old, mixed breed chicks we got from MPC. Unfortunately she was extremely slow to feather, and by 12 weeks her flock mates (which were all feathered) started plucking her to the point of bleeding. She was separated for 2 weeks while her feathers grew back, but then she came down, extremely suddenly, with wryneck/stargazing. After $500 in vet visits, it was determined she had a deficiency in gut biota and vitamins (B, E) and the vet said since the other birds didn't have this issue it was probably genetically related. (They may have been affected by medicated chick feed, but only this bird had such a severe issue and was immuno-compromised- low white blood cell count and immunoglobulins). I hadn't seen anyone comment about issues like this on the reviews, but I have seen issues like this on the backyard chicken forums. She's only 3.5 months old, and the vet isn't sure if she will have life-long immune issues. For now, she's an indoor chicken after recovering from her vitamin deficiency (it was ROUGH and we didn't know if she'd make it) and is getting extra probiotics and vitamins daily. WONDERFUL breed but I would probably be afraid to get another in the future because of this experience. She's very chatty and likes to sit with us. She didn't at first- she was a very independent chicken when she was out in the run, but indoors, we've become her "flock" and she likes to be around us.”
“I ordered 4 Speckled Sussex pullets in October 2017. Purchase and receipt were very easy--just be ready to pick up from the central city post office during opening hours the day they arrive. They make a great flock, tolerate being petted and picked up, and are super curious, follow people around the yard, and come running for treats. They can fly up to perches about 3.5 feet high, and will fly down from much greater heights (which is unnerving). They can be a bit noisy, clucking at predators and calling for a few minutes to announce they've laid an egg, and they lay about 5 eggs/week each in their second year. They first started laying at age 22 weeks. In each of their two winters so far, they have molted, taking about 6-8 weeks off from laying. The description on mypetchicken is spot on for this breed. They've been awesome pets.”
“We received a speckled sussex through an assortment and let me tell you, next time we need chicks I will definitely be adding one of these ladies to the order. She is my sweetest, most outgoing hen. Our educational flock has a lot of visitors and she is always one of the first to let kids love on her. Everyone always comments on how pretty she is. A good layer, great in the flock (not a bully or pushover), and curious about everything I do - the perfect chicken.”
“I have owned many breeds over the years. This is my go to bird. They are fantastic egg layers and extremely friendly. They are easy keepers and never minded being "pets" to my kids. They readily adjusted to being held and petted. Awesome birds!”
