There are several varieties of Sussex now in the United States. Originally there were only the Red and Speckled Sussex, admitted in 1914, and the Light Sussex, admitted to the APA Standard in 1929. Thanks to dedicated importers, we now also enjoy the Coronation, Buff, and Silver Sussex - absolutely stunning color varieties.

The Sussex is generally a large, dual purpose bird. Unfortunately, as heritage breeds fell out of favor, the work to keep the breed to established standards was rarely undertaken in later decades, and as such, the original 3 have shrunk considerably in size and weight. We are working to bring the true size of these birds back to the described Standards. It is also difficult to find the original varieties in acceptable Standard colors and patterns, as that too has been overlooked. Breeders have their hands full bringing these back to where they should be, that said, these are such fascinating birds they are worth every moment of time.

Here at Waltz's Ark we are working diligently with each variety to bring them true to type, size, and coloring. We have several different lines to work with, so genetic diversity is built-in to each breeding pen. We hatch hundreds of each type and each line every year and select only the best of each year's progeny to go forward with the breeding program. This ensures the stability of each line, and helps our customers continue the work with confidence in their breeding birds.

The Sussex was originally developed in England to be a fast-growing large table bird that has the added benefit of being a prolific layer. Of all the breeds we work with here, the Sussex are the ones that feed us best! Our Sussex varieties are almost always laying when other breeds have stopped. Sussex pullets tend to be the first in any grow-out pen to start laying. They take short breaks through the year, but are the ones that are always laying during the winter months, and also tend to be the only ones laying through long high heat spells. Indeed these birds grow Fast! The males especially seem to have an incredible growth spurt between 2 and 4 months of age. We can tell you from much experience that the meat from Sussex is tender, juicy, and there is a lot of it on the dressed bird.

The Sussex breed tends to be calm, attentive, and usually gentle. There is the occasional rooster that gets aggressive and ends up immediately on the dinner plate. But overall, these birds get along well with other breeds, get along well with humans (including children), and enjoy their days to the fullest. If you are looking for a great dual-purpose bird to feed your family well, you can't go wrong with any of the Sussex varieties.

The Light variety is the Sussex we started with. I grew up on a farm where Lights were a part of the barnyard for many years. So when we reached the point in our lives where we could start doing as we pleased instead of just providing for the family, I decided to explore bringing to the ranch the poultry I remembered as a child. I was very surprised when I received my first few Light Sussex breeders. They were a lot smaller than I remembered them being. So I sought out others. And was just as disappointed with each group I raised. Still had the great egg-production, but as a table bird, not so much. In a stroke of luck, about 4 years ago I came across a breeder offering some Light Sussex that had originated from a line brought across the border from Canada. Aaaahhhh...........there was the size again! But, the hackles were all almost solid black, there was a lot of smutty feathers throughout the birds, and there were a lot of messy black feathers in the wings where there should have been white. But, the potential was there, and our first Light Sussex project began. Through diligent culling, we were able to keep the size and return many of the breeders we kept back to near the APA Standard for the breed. We still have some work to do, but we are getting those neck hackles correct, and the smuttiness is leaving, and they look like a real Light Sussex again!

Then we met some birds from the Australian line of Lights that Paul Bradshaw imported into America. His original reason for importation was the realization that the American lines had shrunk so much that it was going to take some outcrossing to get them back up to size. Enter the Aussies. Enormous birds. Great feather pattern. But, as many APA judges/critics harped on, way too much fluff. And some produced chicks with leg feathering. Okay folks, like any other breed of bird, work needs to be done to meet Standards. Here we look at the Australian line just as we view all breeds that haven't seen attention in some time - there are lots and lots of positives, and you selectively breed to eliminate the negatives!! And that's just what we are doing here. As with any other breed on this planet, proper choices in pairings, diligent and ruthless culling, and attention to detail will get you plenty of rewards in the end. Instead of griping about it, do something about it! In this day and age, preserving genetic diversity is more important than ever. Even the British complain that their own production Lights are not where they should be! So take those Australian Lights and those Canadian Lights and Lights you can get your hands on from anywhere else and work, work, work! In the end, we all win as a breed is preserved with enough genetic diversity to continue producing true to Standard as a great production breed for centuries to come.

Lights are often used to add genetic diversity to the other varieties, particularly the Coronation, as the lavender in the hackles and tail do need the same attention required in all lavender birds. Under the guidance of two British breeders, we also learned that the Light crosses well on the Buff, bringing out the hackle pattern in the Buff and enabling additional genetic diversity with both varieties. We feel that genetic diversity is important enough to have maintained a separate flock of pure Australian birds, a separate flock of all American lines, and a separate flock of Canadian birds. We are now starting to work with breeding these lines together to see if we can achieve a more perfect Light Sussex.

This variety features very pretty lacing on the neck hackles and sickles. According to the APA Standard, the male should weigh 9 pounds, the hen 7 pounds.

What We Breed For in the Light Sussex

We breed to the APA Standard, closely monitoring adult weights, hackle/sickle definition, and egg production. We cull poor layers, bad combs on both sexes, smuttiness on the body/wings, lack of hackle/sickle definition, and bad attitudes.

to give an idea of size, the bottom pen board in the photo above is a true 1x6, and they've dug the dirt down about 2 inches below that

The Reds are stunning - when their color is correct! This is an ongoing problem working with both the American and British lines, along with the size issue. When we purchased our first juvenile Reds, we were not at all pleased with what they looked like after their juvenile molt. At least we could see what needed to be fixed! But that brought about the next issue - finding Reds that not only looked like Reds, but actually reproduced Red Sussex! Ah, but the challenges are there to be overcome by the diligent breeders, and the reward is a beautiful bird to see. We steadily strive for correct deep mahogany red birds that come to the weight of the Standard. We are working with both an American line of reds and an English line of reds. The Britannic Rare Breeds Society states that the Red Sussex was derived from the Speckled variety, and the Brown Sussex was derived from the Red. They also state that the Red was considered extinct in Britain in the middle of the 20th century, and stock was brought in from Germany to rebuild the British numbers. It was discovered that some other variety had been crossed in while in Germany, and subsequently many Reds come out today with dark spangling on the chest. That explains some of the early issues breeders in the States have had with getting a good Red.

What We Breed For in the Red Sussex

We breed to the APA Standard, closely monitoring adult weights, hackle/sickle definition, and egg production. We cull poor layers, bad combs on both sexes, dark spangling on the body/wings, lack of hackle/sickle definition, and bad attitudes.

Speckled Sussex remain popular with backyard chicken enthusiasts, thanks to several hatcheries offering them. Still, these need a lot of work to bring them up to the weight and color pattern set forth in the APA Standard. The bird is tri-colored, which makes getting those patterns and even the solid areas correct a tad difficult. The Standard states that the feathers should be mahogany bay, each tipped with white, then a black bar dividing the white from the rest of the feather. So far they have been challenging, but worth every moment. Another ongoing breeding project!

What We Breed For in the Speckled Sussex

We breed to the APA Standard, closely watching weight and size, egg production, and feather markings. We cull bad combs, bad attitudes, poor layers, and birds that carry too much white, as the white increases with age.

Ooo Laa Laa!! Such a beautiful color pattern, such a regal, wonderful bird!! The Coronation variety was imported to America by way of Australia, and as such are of very good size and weight. Rare today even in their home country of origin, Great Britain, we are working hard to do our part in being a good steward of this variety. We can't imagine the bird yards without these spread around the pens! We are working with a large number of pure Coronations, splits, and subsequent generations of the two branches to bring about a genetic diversity that has added a good deal of vigor to the birds in our breeding pens.

A word here about "splits" - this is not an evil thing. The Coronation obviously utilizes the Lavender gene. This gene is very well known to cause birds to have rather ratty looking feathers after just a generation or two. Just like with a Lavender Orpington (or any other lavender poultry) the cure for this issue is to breed to black, and then back to lavender, squashing the effects of the tattered feather problem for another few generations. To keep the lavender color confined to the hackles and tai where it belongs on this variety, the Light Sussex is used. We have done this several times now with our Coronations, and will continue to do so to preserve the integrity of the variety. In so doing, we've been able to use Lights from all three of our separate flocks, ensuring that our Coronations have as diverse a genetic background as possible.

The British Poultry Standard states that the Coronation was bred in 1936 and presented to the King on his coronation. According to the Standard for this variety, they use the term "blue" to describe the coloring. The hackle feathers should be surrounded by a white margin, the tail should be blue, and the flight feathers should also be blue. The weight for large fowl Sussex of all varieties in England should be 9 pounds minimum for males, 7 pounds minimum for the females.

What We Breed For in the Coronation Sussex

As the Coronation is not yet a variety recognized by the APA, we breed to the British Poultry Standard. We cull bad combs, incorrect feather pattern/color, poor layers, and bad attitudes.

The Silver Sussex is such a breathtaking bird! Yes, there are a lot of them being sold that do not look like a correct Silver, and yes, we are working hard to correct that. As with the Coronation and the Light, we are working with large numbers of pure Silver Sussex as well as splits to breed a genetically diverse bird with correct feather patterning. The delicate lacing is difficult to achieve, and requires diligence to maintain, but oh so beautiful when the goal is reached! These big fluffy hardy birds are something we could sit and stare at for hours on end - and sometimes do!

We first saw a Silver Sussex in the book "Bantams In Colour",published in 1984 by the Domestic Fowl Trust in Great Britain. On page 41 is a photo of a gorgeous male bird. We were quite sad to discover none of these beautiful creatures were in the US at that time. Thankfully they were finally brought in just a few years ago! The British Standard states that the Silver is the latest Sussex variety in their country. By the way, on page 291 of the British Poultry Standard (Sixth Edition) is a photo of the female of the variety. We're so happy as we have two actual photos to use as reference to guide our breeding program in the correct direction!

The males are to have head, neck, and saddle feathers that are striped with black, with the black center of each feather completely surrounded by a white margin. The back and the wing bow should be white. The breast should be black with white shafts, and have silver lacing around the feathers. The tail should be black, as well as the flight feathers, with the undercolor being dark grey. The female should have the same patterning on the head and neck, and the back and wing bow should also have white shafts with silver lacing around the feathers. Her tail and flight feathers should also be black, with the same dark grey undercoloring.

What We Breed For in the Silver Sussex

As with the Coronation, the Silver variety is not APA recognized. Therefore we breed to the British Standard. We cull bad combs, bad attitudes, poor layers, and any bird that exhibits a feather pattern that can't be worked with to improve the variety.

The Buff Sussex is so very easy on the eyes! We just love the color of this variety. It is basically the Light Sussex, with the rich golden color replacing the white. Under the guidance of a couple of British breeders, we have experimented with breeding the Light to the Buff to sharpen the hackle pattern as well as to provide some genetic diversity to the Buff lines. We are happy to report that it works very well! That's great news for all of us who love the Buff variety, as it is rare in this country, and most are related, with the exception of a Canadian line that exists here.

The British Standard states that Buffs appeared in England around 1920. The variety should have an even-colored body, with the head and neck hackles buff that is striped with black. The wings should be buff, with black flight feathers and tail and coverts. Buff undercolor is preferred, but darker is accepted.

What We Breed For in the Buff Sussex

As with the Coronation and the Silver, the Buff variety is not recognized by the APA, so we breed our Buffs to the British Standard. We cull for bad combs, poor layers, bad attitudes, and deviations from the correct feather patterns.