“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.”
“I ordered a dozen chicks in May, including various pairs. All were great but the two speckled Sussex are my favs, so friendly, always jumping up on my lap to be stroked, even at feeding time! They were also always trying to get out the door of their cage to explore even when day old chicks. Great personalities. So sweet.”
“I decided to go with just one breed, I have seven speckled sussex they are now six and a half months old. They all get along, no problems with hen pecking none zero. To not have a physically beat up hen is wonderful. They will run toward each other and display but nothing physical. Their feathers are perfect.”
“So we were one of the 10% to get a sexing error...bummer. Our Speckled Sussex, April - misnamed because he was tagged as an EE - is a Rooster. We are first time chicken owners so didn‚Äôt realize he was a Roo until he started crowing at about 3 months - now at 6 months he has quite a voice. MPC was very good about responding to their policy and issuing us a refund. Although we have neighbors that are a bit close on one side of us, they haven‚Äôt complained, and we have enough acreage that we should be able to keep him even if they do. There is an upside: personality wise he is friendly enough to people - no chasing, likes treats and can be hand fed, and follows me around the yard looking for treats. He is a stunning bird, his markings are really beautiful and he has gorgeous tail feathers. He is starting to (try) to get frisky with the hens, so hopefully he won‚Äôt get mean after he has a flock to protect - at the moment he is always wandering away from them, although he does let them know if there is a hawk or predator around, and shares tasty things he finds in the yard (except tomatoes, he steals all the tomatoes for himself.)”
“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.”
