BREEDING SUPPORT

Despite their friendly nature, Light Sussex hens do not make particularly good mothers. “They have a high fertility rate, but they don’t go broody,” says breeder Kirk. “When they do start to sit on a clutch, they tend to get off halfway through.” Instead, a broody hen of another breed or an electric incubator is used to hatch Sussex chicks, keeping the eggs warm and regularly turned for the entire 21 days until hatching.

When using a broody hen, she is put in a separate ‘broody house’ with the nest of eggs, away from the rest of the flock. “When they hatch, Light Sussex chicks are the cutest yellow-white fluff balls,” says Kirk. Chicks hatched in an incubator will be moved to a ‘brooder unit’, while those with a hen remain in the broody house. After a couple of days, the hen will lead the chicks out into the main run while the rest of the flock are not about. Under her guidance, they will start to forage, but will also be fed chick crumbs, specially formulated for growing chicks, four times a day.

“After a few days, the white feathers start to come through, and the black hackles develop by three weeks old,” says Kirk. “They go through a number of moults while growing, but by six to eight weeks, they look like Light Sussex hens. The cockerels and hens can also be identified by then, as the cockerels get taller, and the combs on their heads develop more.”

At this age, the young birds are called pullets and can be introduced to the rest of the flock. The broody hen will then leave them naturally and return to her place in the flock. The pullets start their place in the flock at the bottom of the ‘pecking order’ and need to be kept in a separate house, with a smaller entrance to keep the larger birds out, until they reach their adult size at four to five months. They become of more interest and importance to the cockerel once they start laying.