The Speckled Sussex is a true example of a gorgeous chicken. My first experience with this breed was when I received a female chick in my order of Mrs. Meyers Assortment chicks. This hen’s plumage was striking with the brown mahogany coloring, accented by green and white. I was quickly attached to this friendly and beautiful chicken, and she was a model mother when she hatched some babies. As I watched this idyllic chicken lead her babies around the barnyard, I knew I now had a favorite chicken breed! 


The Speckled Sussex is friendly and calm and an ideal dual-purpose breed. You can expect hens to begin laying around 16-20 weeks old and consistently lay 4-6 large, light brown eggs each week. Hens average 7 pounds, while roosters average 9 pounds. These hens are known to go broody and make great mothers. Foraging comes easy to this charming and curious breed, but they can also thrive in confinement. They are hardy and well-suited to all types of climates. 





History of Sussex Chickens

The Sussex chicken is one of the oldest chicken breeds that is still around today.
They are believed to have originated in England around the time of the Roman invasion in 43 AD.
However, the original birds would have looked very different to the Sussex we know. They were then bred with chickens the Romans brought with them to help develop the breed.
In the Victorian era, chicken ownership suddenly spiked in popularity. Many people who had never owned birds before were now poultry enthusiasts.
This was referred to as Hen Fever and is believed to have been inspired by Queen Victoria’s love of poultry.
Many new chicken breeds were introduced to England and used to mix with the existing breeds.
It is believed Sussex chickens had Brahmas, Cochins and Dorkings mixed in with them to create the modern Sussex we know today.
The Sussex chicken was hugely popular in England’s Sussex, Kent and Surry counties. Suppliers from these areas brought Sussex chickens to the London markets, which helped spread them across Great Britain.
In 1845, the first ever poultry show was held in London. Sussex chickens were one of the breeds exhibited and were referred to as ‘Sussex/Kentish Fowl’. The exhibition helped to recognise them as a breed and grow their popularity even more.
For a long time, Sussex were the most popular table bird. However, in the 1950’s as the broiler industry grew, heritage breeds such as the Sussex began to decrease in demand.
The Livestock Conservancy continued to breed Sussex to keep the breed in existence.
Today, Sussex are prized by backyard chicken owners but are less popular in the commercial egg or broiler industries.

Look-Alike Chicks

As chicks, Speckled Sussex can look very similar to other breeds, such as Welsummer or Light Brown Leghorn. Still, one slight difference is that they have a distinct eye line that curves up while Welsummer chicks have an eye line that goes straight back or slightly downward. To further identify a Speckled Sussex chick, look for clean, white legs, four toes, and brown striping down their back. A Speckled Sussex hen was recently featured on the 2020 cover of the Meyer Hatchery catalog and is consistently a customer favorite.

Egg Color and Size

Sussex hens lay large eggs. They are light brown in colour.



Egg Laying

Sussex hens can lay between 200-250 light brown eggs per year. That is around 4 eggs per week per hen!
They usually begin laying at around eight months old, which is later than other breeds.
Sussex are a great breed if you want eggs all year around. Unlike many other chickens, their egg laying will continue through the cold, winter months.
However, it will realistically slow down a bit until spring-time when it warms back up again.
The only time they will stop laying is when they are molting, as all chickens do. During molting time, chickens are using all their nutrients to replenish their feathers and are unable to also produce eggs.
Think of it as a time for them to recharge and come back to laying feeling refreshed.
They will lay the most eggs within the first few years of their life. Egg production will gradually begin to slow down when they are around five years old, laying less and less as they age.

Sussex Chickens as Pets

Sussex not only supply your family with fresh eggs but make great pets too. They are friendly and suitable to be kept by families with children.
They are low maintenance and therefore a good chicken for beginners. They are a hardy breed and suitable to live in cold climates, such as their native England.
They are very talkative but not necessarily loud or annoying.




Temperament: Sussex are not aggressive toward people or other chickens; roosters reared together do not usually fight and hens are friendly and easily trained to be pets. Children can gather the eggs without getting pecked. Light Sussex are usually accepting of new flock members and tolerant of other hen’s chicks.

Care and feeding: raise them like any other standard heritage chicken. They need to be fed even if they are on pasture. [Most pasture greenery lacks digestible protein and carbs.] Keeping pullets active and on a bit of a diet will enhance their future laying; don’t let hens get fat.